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Tuesday, May 08, 2007
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James McBride
It's a sad reality that we have entered this new millenium shorn of wisdom, with the same appauling ignorance with which we entered the last; old men still send young men off to die in silly wars; countries are still run by politicans with the kind of ice-cold smiles that keep kids up at night; we still invent numerous ways to gas, annihilate, shoot, main, kill and destroy each other....
Family is the last line of reason in a world that still allows 125 million children to go to bed hungry every night. Without it, we are all a tribe of nomads, cut adrift, disconnected, wondering the earth with neither time nor place nor history to give our aching souls a home. We're like strangers at a disco, hundreds of people being lonely together, dancing wildly to some atrocious pounding, then dragging one another to strange quarters to make love at night, only to realize by the dawn's early light that we've made love to a perfect stranger. We all yearn for closeness, yet can't seem to find it in our instant-information-internet-dot-com age.....We're being globalized to death, our souls and history plagarized by anxious souls angling for a share of the percentage, while our families and tribes and cultures slowly and quietly vanish.
...It is the absurdity of family life, the raggedness of it that is at once its redemption and its true nobility. It is that raggedness that binds us, and we must not allow it to slip away. Life is not a perfect thing. It is a raggedy, funky experience, full of awful timing, sisters who tattletale, brothers who tease, horrid songs by distant old relatives, daddies with bad breath, mums who eat leftovers, smelly old grandpas led to the bathroom by reluctant young charges, alcoholic aunts, cigarette-fouled rooms, pissed off wives, boys with pockets full of string, laughing cousins, papas who pass away, old people who die slowly, and dogs who poop on the living room floor.
The world needs more of this kind of funk, not less...We need more old Chevys full of three generations of Cubans, and vans loaded with Turks trekking across Europe - Gypsies, gentiles, freaks, fat tourists all. Beacuse without these people, we have no funk, and without funk, what are we? Graceless, clean, lifeless blobs, living the equivalant of fast food, wearing the same clothes, driving the same cars, living the same clone-like existance, indifferent to the very things that make us special: our families.
5:57 AM
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Monday, April 16, 2007
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yellow brick road...
So the UK it is.
Some might say I have commitment issues, not being able to stay in any one place for more then a couple of months in the past few years, but hey, I just call it ... something else. Name escapes me at the moment.
On the 21st of May I'm going to fly away....and the dust has barely had time to settle on my pack. While I'm there, for the time being anyway, I have cheese rolling, bull running and camel rides all set to roll.
Thinking of doing a stint in France as well, but will see how things end up panning out.
I'm excited.
But I think alot of people are over it.... well...nerr nerr to them.
5:10 AM
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Friday, April 06, 2007
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who needs enemies?
When you've got mates like mine.
Don't be happy for me.
The favour will be returned.
9:05 PM
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Monday, March 26, 2007
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next trip in the works....
Egypt!
Woot woot!
Well first I'm off to melb for a quick get away this weekend....and then... and then... annnnnnnnnnd then.............
Come December I'm heading to Egypt.
I'm poor and have to plan things in advance so nerr. Sooo yeah, 2 weeks of treckking about it Egypt and 1 amazing week of diving in the Red Sea near Dahab!
So...do I have any takers?
....meh....I don't care....I've got myself booked! Now where did I leave that hair dye and fake tan....
5:17 AM
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Wednesday, March 07, 2007
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Grrrrrrrrrr things I HATE
The freaking construction industry.
Really.
Sure it's fun to run around wearing a hard hat and steel cap boots, but fuck me, I hate the industry. I hate the fuck tards that walk around in suits. I hate all the red tape bullshit and I hate the fact that the industry is so fucked.
Everyone wants every-single-freaking-thing their way. AND there is no compramise. Well how the fuck does anything get done then?
To all you fucking jerks out there (yeah, I know, cos you you'd read this piece of shit) I FUCKING HATE YOU. One sided fucking systems and polices. Just go and.... get big nasty paper cuts or something. GO. Now.
On a brighter note, I like the theraputic qualities of profanties.
Turdmongers.
Douchebags.
Fuckers.
Fuckety fuck fuck.
8:24 PM
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Monday, December 04, 2006
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eastern board and nordic loop
They tried to warn me in Latvia that Estonia would be boring. Boy were they wrong. Estonia was good fun, but much of that had to do with the crazy people in the hostel and the absurd amount of alcohol that was consumed. After Tallin, anything but 60% proof vodka is sink water.
So from Tallin to Helsinki on a cruise, 3hours of rushed drinking and old Finnish people passed out everywhere. It was very australian in an uncontrolled sort of way. Most the finnish people had bought a round ticket so had spent more then 3 hours on the boat drinking it up.
Helsinki was awesome, apart from the fact that it got dark at 2pm. I can understand why they have such high depression and suicide rates, in winter there is no day. No nothing. But they did have a booze tram and out door ice skating, old school style at the train station. Funny thing about Hel was that when ever we wanted to go somewhere or see something - it was all just near the trainstation. Also went to Lahti in Finland, but the only mentionable thing about that place was that one very ittty bitty finnish girl had to get her somach pumped...oh and drinking in every nook and cranny!
So...another booze boat, this one with much more catastrophic endings. 17hours. Much absinthe and sea sickness. Most were passed out and polietly dragged off the bed and out of the cabbin the next day by the cleaning lady. Just as well, drinking in Stockholm is next to impossible.
But wait, it doesnt end there. My destructive drinking path doesn´t stop... it just gets better. I find myself in Stockholm in a padded room with mattresses stacked to the ceiling. Who needs to go out? Not us. And now I am in Lubeck in Germany. Saturday night was massive and seeing as today is Monday I think I made an alright recovery.
One of my most favourite things is PUNSCH. Thats this hot chrissy wine at the Christmas markets. We dont get this sort of atmosphere back home.
So, if you havent already fallen asleep at the keyboard and drooled all over the place, I head to Hamburg in a day or two and then to BERLIN for a massive farwell to the wonderful people who have helped fuel my drinking expeditions.
5:08 AM
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Monday, May 22, 2006
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final countdown
10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1..
8 whole days before I fly away. Im set. Im ready. Im going.
See you in six months time.
7:50 PM
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
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18
All the important things are organized.
Free accomodation with wonderful and super generous people. The best drinking holes. Cheap bikes and awesome hikes.
The first two months are sorted. Germany (Frankfurt for the better part) then off to Prague for a little while. Berlin. Italy - north south and inbetween. Croatian coast and Bosnian mountains....
Come August - your guess is as good as mine, but I'm leaning towards Spain and Morocco followed by the UK and Belgium... or I might go the other way from Bosnia and head to Turkey!
Wish me luck and lots of wonderful adventures.
All I need to do before I leave is global-roamanize my phone, credit and key cards. International drivers licence and pack - good times.
12:25 AM
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Sunday, April 30, 2006
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31 days and then some....
31 days and then I leave.
I land in Germany on the 2nd, have a wedding to attend, there are a few World Cup games I would like to sit in a park with a few hundred strangers and watch.
I have come across a travel buddy, I will tag along with her and do the Croatian coast, then ferry to Italy and up towards inland again. From there she leaves to come home, from there I....?.....perhaps meet up with someone else that I know who will be Greek Island hopping...?....attach myself to random travellers I meet along the way...?....
Wonder around for a bit.
Today I bought some trekking shoes and my travel pack. As the departure date nears I can't help but feel that the loose ends will remain loose, I just need to convince myself that life existed before me, and it will forever after.
Will I stay abroad? My ticket has a return date. I like the thought of dissapearing though. There is little to return to here, the people who love me will love me where ever I am. Only time, cash and circumstance will tell.
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Currently
listening
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Try
By
Nelly Furtado
Release date: 25 May, 2004
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3:39 AM
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Saturday, April 22, 2006
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THE COUNTDOWN
Current mood:  complacent
Category: Travel and Places
There are 39 days to go until I leave the safety of what I know in Sydney and head over to Germany for the first time on my own.
Am I scared? Yeah. Will it suck? Probablly. Will I remember it? Of course!
I've ignored the departure date for some time now. Writting it down. 1 June 2006 makes it feel all that more real. 39 days to go. There is my deadline.
Have I done everything I need to? Have I adequately prepared those around me? Do I care?
Things will never be the same again. Only I realise this. The rest don't know the half of it.
Here's to excitement and adventure.
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Currently
listening
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Lady Day: The Best of Billie Holiday
By
Billie Holiday
Release date: 02 October, 2001
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9:23 AM
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