When The Circle Comes Around...

Put yourself in my place was truly Kylie Minogue's magnum opus. Probably one of the best chorus melodies I've heard in my life. I want to cover it.

Today saw a blast from the past, T-Man (as the other will know), called me up out of nowhere and we got chatting! He has not been up to much. Neither had I - then I got thinking that this is the story of my life. Many goings on from day to day, none worth mentioning. I want to do something! I said we should catch up ASAP, before the new year hits, and he was down with that. Too bad the other is not here to enjoy the catch up too.

34-1. Those are my current love odds. 34 fails (that I can remember)! Haha that's HUGE when you think about it. But it could be more, due to the failure of my memory. But regardless, it doesn't matter how big the number on the left is, as long as the 1 is there, that's all that matters.

I really must get out of here, before I do something crazy. I just need to bide my time till I can see what's out there and go for it.

So I went over my download limit the other day and I got shaped. I have not been shaped for years! It really sucked, it felt like dial up days. I really need to fix up my internet situation some time soon! At least it was for only 2 days, so I didn't have to suffer too badly.

I have neglected my movies and tv shows, but I came across some older song ideas last night, and I am aiming to consolidate some of the ideas into a whole song, cause they fit, and there's good connection between the ideas. What more do you need? I need to complete these things damn it!

As mentioned, the Joaquin Rate List (JRL), will be updated soon. Only a few to put in this time around, but as the list is ridiculously huge, it's still a feat in itself!

I keep having these dreams that I used to have as a kid. I of course had forgotten them since I was a kid, but they were memorable - at that time. Now they are disturbing. I still haven't been able to make sense of them now. But there is a sense of peace underneath it all.

That's it for today folks. Have a nice day. Joaquin out!

May I Remind You Of Who You Are?

I had a really odd experience last night. I was looking in the mirror (which is odd in itself, I only look in the mirror if I'm going out with female company, just to make sure there's nothing objectionable on my face or in my teeth) - and I would be the last person to be considered vain. Anyway, the more I looked, the less familiar my face became. This went on and on, till I did not recognise my face, and I did not know who I was. It was a stranger staring back at me, and had all my memories. I did not belong here. This was truly an identity crisis.

As guessed, I have a bit of Wii arm today - from my boxing exploits yesterday, so lifting weights was a slow and painfull process. Have to get in some movies and guitar today, I had some brilliant rhythms going yesterday!! Need to get some of these ideas down on paper and record them for the other.

I have a cut on my ankle!! How did that happen?! Ah, the mysteries of life! It was pretty decent, so I just have to put something on it to make sure it doesn't get infected...

In my opinion, the popularity of microshorts is directly correlated to the downfall of society. Listen to my point before you write it off! Previously, microshorts were very rare, you would only see a select few girls wearing them out. But, as society has declined - wars, global financial crisis, general uncertainty, microshorts have just ballooned in popularity. Now it is girls NOT wearing microshorts who are in the minority. Think about it!! Makes my days in summer very difficult! Everywhere you look, girls girls girls, legs legs legs, asses asses asses. Crazy town, and you know I'm right! Even larger girls who should not be wearing such shorts in public are now under the impression that they can pull this look off. When society is finally doomed, you'll see that every girl is wearing them.

I went to this wanky store today. It's called Unit Concepts as I had to help people (against my will) during the boxing day sales. Let me just say that this store is what's wrong with the world today. Overpriced, pretentious, tacky and just outright dreadful homeware/kitchenware/crapware - you name it, they have it. The people, don't get me started on them! The well to do numbskulls who offer nothing to society, but just take take take. More concerned about theirs, what they have, what more they can get. Sickening. That didn't stop the hotties showing up though. Damn nation. I should have shaved. I should have showered, I should have worn some decent clothes. Hahahahahahahaha, oh well. I'm nodding my head like yeahhhhh! You know I'm gonna be okay?? Oh my god, asstastic, hahaha.

I've got the Hannibal Quadrilogy (at least I think it's a quad series now), to get through.

That's it for today. Have a nice day folks! Joaquin out.

Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Lose, Sometimes You Have To Sing The Blues

And sometimes you really need to question what the hell is going on. I'm just in a state of flux right now. My mind cannot concentrate on a damn thing. My best laid plans are going to waste and I'm getting angry and unsettled.

The days are being taken away from me. I only get a certain number of days off per year, and they are being taken from me! I cannot enjoy my own time, my own piece of mind. Livid!!!!! Fucking livid here.

I realise I have been slack lately, and I did mention it before, but the update to the Joaquin Rate List (JRL) will be coming soon.

I was struck by a bout of nostalgia earlier. I was thinking about woodwork/metalwork class in highschool (around year 7 or 8). Anyway, my friend was slack and never finished his work, so I would let him take my works and hand that in to be marked. And he would get higher marks than me! Like what the hell?! We got arrogant about it, and one time I got something marked, passed it to him and 10 secs later the teacher saw it (again), and awarded it higher marks! It even worked the other way, when I would take his work and claim it as my own, I would get lower marks. We laughed about it at the time, but looking back, it really felt like I was discriminated against. So much for nostalgia huh?

Got up in some Wii Sports today, vs a bunch of kids (8-10 year olds). Hahah so I should have been nice and let them win, since it's Christmas and all, but I don't think that sets the right competitive edge in children. Wii Boxing - those kids just like to throw punches willy nilly, they don't care about accuracy, or openings. Work that dodge and block, wear them down, efficiency of movement don't get tired swinging. One big hit, they open up, you nail at least 3-4 more big hits in that range, work the advantage. To their credit, they did floor me a few times with some nasty body shots, but eventually I got up and it was just straight KO's in the first round for me. Beautiful.

Ahhh why am I so discontented with my life?? I need to get out of here. Another rut to be buried in. This is not welcome.

Joaquin out!

Routine is to time as inflation is to currency

The other seems to have disappeared off the face of the planet - but I do believe that is what he was intending through this trip, but it's all good. Getting away from the cyber world should be applauded when it's accomplished.

I've been watching movies as per usual - the latest being the live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Man I had no idea how annoying they were. I used to love those guys! But still watchable!

I bought some Nin 64 games - I'd never owned any games on it, and I did receive it as a birthday present, so I feel bad for never had games on it. But I got Goldeneye and Shadows of the Empire, so I am happy that work is over for this year and I can spend some time on games, movies and tv.

I have also procured myself ARMA 2, and Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising. Both games: awesome. I'm getting my butt kicked and I'm very happy about that. Re-learning tactics for gunpowder based combat. Hopefully should help my Empire Total War campaign once I get the net on the other computer.

So towards the end of my last week in my current area, I was actually busy as hell. My prediction was wrong, and I was working hard. Despite this, I still found time to read up on a lot of Final Fantasy! Hahaha, it was nice, considering I had not played a game since FF7-FF8. I, in fact, got in no chess at all and that is never good.

However, most of my work was not cerebral, in fact, a lot of it was mundane. I was copying file upon file. I spent all 4 days just sitting next to the copy machine and hitting start!! I was thinking "I went to uni for 5 years for this??!" It was hilarious, I actually felt really stupid.

My new team briefed me on the goings on in my area of responsibility for next year, and I have to say it is quite intense! Ridiculously busy, and I am really looking forward to it! I hope I have not slacked off the past 6 months with my cushiness.

Do I just have one of those faces?? When I go places with people, I am usually just ignored, or treated with emotionless disregard. But when I'm with other people, they get engaged with on such a personal level, it feels like I'm being spat on! Maybe it's just when I'm with girls and the other people are usually guys?? Nope, it happens when I'm with guys too! I thought I was affable and friendly - I guess I just bring a whole load of negativity with me wherever I go, and others don't like it! So I guess it is just me!

Oh well, that's it for now folks. Happy non-denominational holiday period to you all!

"Back and to the left, back and to the left"

Yes I just watched JFK for the first time and what an absolutely fantastic film. Regardless of what you think about the "conspiracy" or lack thereof, I think it was a well acted, well made film.

Attraction? What is it? Is it the thing that drives us? Not just on a physical level, but what attracts us to things? Activities, places, people. It's interesting, but I think it's just a phenomenon which cannot ever be explained.

Next week is my last week before my promotion, so I am looking forward to it and to tie up some loose ends work wise. I'm also aiming to get in a lot of chess and learn a bit about my new role before I start. I just know I'm going to be busy and have to learn a crapload of stuff I don't know how to currently do. But overall, it should be an easy week.

How come everyone that has gone to a public toilet cubicle before me seems to have had a bout of food poisoning or stomach trouble?? EVERYWHERE, always!! There's stuff that defies physics I tell you, even the magic fecal theory!

I think I've identified a key issue. I get an idea to blog, but when it actually comes time to blog, I'm just in a different frame of mind, and most of my motivation just goes out the window. I'm hoping to remedy that somehow, but I don't know how just yet.

Lately I have been getting absolutely smashed in chess. I put this down to my hastiness. Usually I have a lot of patience, but I am being rash with some decisions, and losing a lot of material on stupid moves, or losing valuable pieces on exchange which don't have the same value. I should re-evaluate and play properly!

I've also been listening to some J-Pop (japanese pop music) lately due to my anime loving. The melodies are fantastic, even if the understanding of the lyrics has been gone for some time. I really cannot speak or understand any japanese anymore.

Anyway, that's it for now folks. Have a nice day!

One day I feel I'm on top of the world

Yes I am forgetting to play guitar again but I will get back into the swing of things. Have had a dose of inspiration lately.

I have also been forgetting to note my blog ideas, cause I had some classics today, but alas, all disappeared into the dark recesses of my mind. To the anarchy they go now.

I saw a fire today, it was absolutely intense, it looked like it was going to engulf an office building next to it. I was wondering what the people inside were thinking, as they would have been able to see everything from the windows, and it was quite close.

People ask me whether it's better to be in uni or working. I have no honest answer. I like earning money, alas I don't spend much of it. I also enjoy not having work follow me home on weekends. I do miss holidays and sleeping in. I don't miss the stress of exams and assessment. I did not like doing all my work on the weekend, but I did like having my weeks free. I also enjoyed eating less cause I was up for less hours in the day, as such, I was in the best shape of my life during uni. Not so anymore!

Some people are disillusioned. I feel for them. That's something at least. Off to bed now. Joaquin out.

Day off

I took a day off at random to go visit a friend to play some games.

A lot of fun was had! COD MW2 is absolutely insane. I was playing it MP and it is even more enjoyable than the spec ops missions, I could not believe it was so good!

Also played GTA4 on the PC which looked even better than before.

I really must get the internet on my new computer so I can play this stuff!

I also wish a safe trip to the other on the other side of the world!

Look Alive; The World Is Changing

It was nice and overcast today. On days like that I always seem to feel more tired than usual when I wake up. I just don't want to get out of bed. Apparently this is the same with others. Why do humans sleep well when it's overcast or rainy? Maybe cause it's in our primitive brains that since it's overcast/rainy, it's a bad day to be out hunting so might as well stay in bed to conserve energy?

It was a busy day at work, which is always refreshing, as it makes the day go by quicker. I'm thinking next year, after my promotion, my slack days will be over! Oh well, it was fun while it lasted!

That's it for now folks. Joaquin out.

To Live and Die In L.A.

Such a bloody brilliant movie. I did not think it would be good. I was thinking it would just be 80's shlockness, but I was incredibly impressed at such a top rate thriller.

In some posts many years ago, I brought up the subject of Les Femme Anomaly. We used to be great friends. Then just before I left town she just stopped seeing me, then later on she just cut off all contact.

I don't know why this was. I felt upset and angry. Now I don't care. I realise what a bad friend she was, I was just blinded by my feelings for her. She forgot my birthdays, she'd never spend any time with me. I'd buy her heaps of stuff, and this was before I was working, so money was not in abundance for me in those times. What hurt the most was that it was completely juvenile and unfounded, something I thought she was not capable of.

I read somewhere that your circle of friends changes roughly every 7 years. I think that may be true. Then again, it would not explain the other and I, considering it's been almost 12 years since I met him. But I think of all the other friends I used to have and no longer talk to, or know the whereabouts of and I am just astonished how these sorts of things happened. I think they just shut me out of their lives. I would have kept them as friends, but oh well!! Nothing I can do about it now.

That's it for now folks. Have a nice day!

I Hope She's A Slut...

I really do.

There's a guy at work who outranks me (for at least a few more weeks anyway) - he has a girlfriend who is unbelieveably hot. Eurasian, just pure utterly beautiful. Anyway, I hate this guy, because he is a total doucebag alpha male type. He has one of those faces, the kind that you just want to punch.

So what did I do at the Christmas party? I did what any normal guy would do, I waited for her to get absolutely sloshed and then flirted my ass off with her in full view of her guy. Needless to say, he was not happy! Care factor zero - she is just that damn good.

Anyway, the work Christmas party was horrible. It felt like a third rate formal (prom) - complete with bad food, girls trying to be attractive and the same usual crapness. This was partly due to the fact that it was at the same venue that all my previous formals have been at!

Would I be better off with a bad girl? Sure you'd have to put up with her badness, but you'd stop worrying about the typical things.

I get to see the other tomorrow which should be good, and many a hi-jinks should be had.

Sometimes it's good to lose control. I was driving today in an area I had not been in for several years and the road was being re-done. There were no signs that there was no road up ahead, just some weird substitute with no grip. So I drive through and I lost control of the car twice. I fishtailed and slid out slightly - but it was fine cause I was going relatively slow. I corrected, turned back in and slid out again and then re-gathered. It felt good. I thought I had lost some of my driving skills that I used to have when I drove a lot in early uni days.

I'm bored with my life! I need a change! I'm just not feeling it.

That's it for now folks, have a nice day!

Joaquin and the Slackers

I don't even consider this working anymore! Am I so efficient that I can finish a day's worth of work within 2-3 hours? I knew I was awesome, and I guess that's why I'm being promoted!

It's wonderful, I can usually get in 2-3 games of chess per day, and then just relax. Today I spent a considerable amount of time on wiki reminiscing about Robotech and Neon Genesis Evangelion. What awesome shows! I'd advise all watch it now. Not just great action but wonderful human drama too.

Haha nope, nothing to report. Joaquin out!

Look Around & Ask Why

I'm just having an absolute blast blogging, so I should keep up this momentum while I can! Why do I blog? I have no idea, I don't think it's for the benefit of people reading this (obviously). I think it's just so I have a bookmark for some of the thoughts in my head, as I tend to forget things from day to day. So it's a nice reminder to have. As I've said a million times before, being introspective is a positive trait. However, it is important not to always get stuck in the past.

You know that since working in the Government, I have become privy to incredibly financially sensitive information? WAY more than I had for a year and a half of working for a financial services firm! How funny is that? I could be rich! Better start that short selling already, haha!

I am so happy that Malcolm In the Middle is back on tv and being shown from the start. I fell off the bandwagon some time back when the tv channel stopped showing it regularly. But I realised what an affinity I had with the character. Smart kid in a dysfunctional family. Yep that's me. I was there! I remember those advanced level classes! It was truly disturbing, haha it's good to reminisce!

Am I feeling numb? Have I just settled into this life of drudgery and given up? I hope not, cause even I don't know the answer to the question!

I had a funny training session at work today where some guy was pointing out all these flaws in the material provided at the course and these were absolutely brilliant pickups! I can't believe he was able to do that! I think even the hot woman running the course was impressed. Damn him!

Speaking of girls, where art thou? It's been a while since I've mentioned them! Yes, the Joaquin Rate List (JRL) will be updated shortly. The girl who had my job before I came in had a fantastic ass. Like INCREDIBLE. I remember one time I was walking to work in the morning, and she was walking in front of me and I was downwind of her getting a gentle whiff of her subtle perfume. I was walking in a happy dazed delirium of horniness. But I don't see her much, she's in a different area now! But having no talent at my work is good. I get more done and there's no distractions. Very different to my last work where we were all the same age. Here I'm the youngest by a good few decades!

So as I've mentioned before, yes a promotion is on its way to me! The documentation is on the way! When it comes through, I'm going to be dancing around and doing karate kicks and screams like when Gary Colemen was on The Simpsons "YAAAAH" "URGHH!" haha gold. The pay increase is going to be substantial!

Do we let attractive girls get away with more? Well besides being incredibly stupid? Haha wait a minute, I should qualify that I said girls and not people, cause I can only approach this as a straight male. I was waiting for my meal to be made (incidentally, at a Mexican place that the other introduced me to - absolutely fantastic), when an incredibly hot girl in front of me was taking ages to order, and seemed utterly confused by the simplest of questions. This would normally infuriate me, as I take only 30 minutes for lunch each day so I can claim more time back on flexible arrangements later on. This was eating into my time, and I would have been annoyed. But all I was doing was standing behind her admiring her well formed ass! Then I realised that I'm probably guilty of it too, so I cannot judge. But why?

That's it for now folks!

Have a nice day!

The guy looks like an ugly Ben Affleck

Friends who come with drama are a serious drain on my life. They stop me enjoying my own things! As I've said before, I'm a creature of habit, so when a disruption comes in the vein of you ranting about your problems and crying, needless to say, I am not impressed.

I need to cut these people out of my life.

I need to play some more guitar! I've been working on a few ideas that the other has laid down several years back and I am quite happy with the results. I can get this done! I'm hoping to get at least 5 complete ideas (guitar/lyrics wise) done by the time the other gets back from overseas.

I've been specifically working on this bit with one of the best melodies that I've ever heard. I don't know how the other came up with the right combo of chords but he did, and it's bloody fantastic, and a real pleasure to find complementary notes and chords to go with it.

I am also a big fan of what the other has done in terms of fixing up the comments section/procedure - it is a hell of a lot easier to use and better than everything that was there previously.

It has been a busy day at work, I just knew that things would turn out like that but I'm happy, I'm hoping to finish the big projects I have on my plate at the moment before we break for the end of the year. After that I can rest easy.

That's it for now folks. Have a nice day!

I will live with this forever!

It's going to be one of those weeks, I can just tell!

I should never take a day off! The whole place just falls apart without me!

Oh, I'm being promoted. Fastest promotion ever thank you!

I do rock.

Indignation

So what I thought was going to be a relaxing trip was in fact, one of the craziest brutal experiences I've ever had. I went to help friends move places (as they had helped me previously). Now, the killers: they had STACKS of stuff; they were moving to a place that was at least 50 minutes drive from their current place; they live on the top floor of a 4 level apartment complex; there was no elevator; they did not hire removalists to do most of the removing; and the place they were moving into was in a fair state of disrepair.

Goddamn, that's not even the half of it. The first night was ok cause I had gotten there a few hours before bed time anyway. Then bam, early morning, up and moving and this pattern did not end until 2-3am. What's worse is that they had a lot of old heavy stuff that they did not need or use anymore, but they refused to throw them away for some unknown reason. Therefore, I was forced to lug this stuff, dust and all into a van and then endure round trip after round trip into a dusty place. Did I mention that I'm allergic to dust? Well everyone is to a degree, but when I'm surrounded by it, my eyes go bright red, my nose runs and I sneeze like a mofo. So I had to put up with that every minute, and on top of that, I got very little sleep due to continuous early starts, and the insane heat which was exacerated by the lack of a fan. Needless to say, I am sore as hell now, after 2.5 days of this insanity. The lack of net was good, but since I was only doing one other thing, the variety in my activities was missing. I did also go without my watch for the entire time, which was refreshing. So just a few hours ago, I had my first shave since Wednesday night, and my first shower since Thursday morning. I'd like to apologise to the poor bastard next to me on the bus home. Not my fault buddy, I was working the whole time!

Moving can sometimes be a fun situation (as evidenced by a previous post when the other bought my old furniture, and real tetris was then played). But this was hell on Earth.

I've come to a realisation, I want to try to live my life with as minimal possessions as possible. Well besides the usual 21st century staples, ala tv, computer, game machine etc, but I want to avoid as much clutter as possible. Like, I don't require a bedside table, I've never had the need for one, and I hope I never will. Why do people need 2 dining tables? Informal and formal dining? That's stupid, just one for me thanks. I think you get the gist.

So I'm back, and tomorrow is already a work day, so the whole weekend has passed without some me time or relaxation, so I just gotta make it through this week, which is a pay week, and has a work function on Friday, so at least it's technically not a full week!

The other is heading off soon, so I'm hoping to meet up with him before he's out, and I can work on some more ideas. I am trying to pick up a non fixed pickup like the other had for his acoustic, so I can start overdubbing some guitars on our tracks.

That's it for now folks. Have a nice day! Joaquin out.

We need to justify this...

I have to sing the praises of San Pellegrino juices. For those not in the know, San Pellegrino is some wanky brand of mineral water. However, anyone who pays top dollar for water is an idiot. However, their brand of juices is incredible. They have exotic tastes that are unique in the marketplace. I was introduced to it when I was dining at an Italian restaurant with a friend. I remember the night well because the food was good, and I tried the Limonatta flavour and it was awesome! Now I've also grown to like the Aranciata Rossa flavour. I need to get some more of that, but of course, it can never replace my beloved Vanilla Coke.

I will be heading interstate on Thursday to help some friends move house, so I will be out of town for a few days. It'll be good to get out of here for a bit, away from work, the internet and the like, and just enjoy some food, relaxation, and guitar.

The other has told me that he will be heading overseas in a little bit for a few weeks on some personal business. I am aiming to look after the other's place while he is gone, to make sure no harm comes to it.

Besides that, not much else to report. Just getting up in some guitar. Have a nice day folks!

Cold Snap

The weather has turned. It has become cold out of nowhere and I don't feel like a full on guitar night. Therefore, I have just completed my warm up exercises and put the 6 stringer away. I have decided to hit up the beloved blog and I am feeling very happy.

Well at least until I need to go the bathroom and brush my teeth before bed time. Haha I'm a bit like Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory, but a little less scary!

There will be an update to the Joaquin Rate List (JRL) in the very near future, so keep an eye out for that.

I have been very busy with some song ideas that have made their way to dropbox so I am keen to start working on those with the other. However, the other is quite busy so I will get on to him when his workload has died down a bit.

Yes, I know I have been delaying it for a long time, but it is finally here. My blog about women being treated/seen as objects. Objects as in a tradeable, inanimate chattel (which the law actually saw them as during the 18th-19th century), or as sex objects. Either way, those are my terms of reference. Pornography, 'sleaze-ism', dickhead boyfriends, etc. the list goes on and on. These things are (mostly) where women get seen as objects, and become objectified. Then, by mass consumption, social pressures etc., it just becomes ingrained behaviour in males. This may be glossing over the issue quickly, but I have not had time to give this much thought. As per the themes of this blog, they are just thoughts in my mind.

Anyhow, let's take it down to the base issue here: sex. Are women objectified because of sex? Is there some sort of Freudian psychoanalysis weirdy thing that is going on where men are so horrified/disgusted at the thought of sex, that rejecting intimacy and objectifying a woman is the only respite available to escape with their sanity? After all, it is someone's daughter, could be someone's mother, we have women in our own families who we are close to and feel for. Hmm, but that doesn't make total sense now does it? Cause there's the other side of the coin, cause not all guys are like that. Then that means the hypothesis is broken right? I believe so, but hey, it's food for thought right? Give it a gander if you have the time.

So yes I know I have informed you all before, but I now work for the public sector. Is it very different to the private sector? Yes, it is ridiculously different. I think the private sector is definitely a lot more busy and stressful. This is why I favour the public sector. Yes, the private sector offers more money, but in today's economic climate, that's not always the case. Was it a right idea to leave? I believe so. The opportunities were better in a private sector job, due to networking, salary options, and have the prestige of a global brand behind you. But I was just unhappy with my life. My quality of life is much better here. I am being paid more, and saving more, I finish work a lot earlier than I used to (and start later than I used to). But here, I'm also not a slave to outmoded work principles. I learned well from my last job, and I have a fantastic work ethic. I'm able to be innovative here, and not have 50 middle management types come down on me like a ton of bricks for wasting time, then wait 4 months, and have the same idea come up, albeit in an inferior form and have one of them take credit for it. I also think here I have the opportunity to do more stuff and progress quicker.

Well that's my blognotes all out of the way. I feel relieved! Have a nice day folks. Joaquin out.

Everyone is a slut...some just get paid

Yes, serious backlog to get through, so here goes!

I am again deferring my women as objects speech until a time where I can blog without rushing!

One of my pet hates is people who take ages to read e-mails at work! You might e-mail them 2 bits of information. Then the next day they have replied to your first e-mail, but not the second, cause they haven't read it. The second probably told them to ignore the first e-mail!! I didn't have this issue in the private sector. As soon as something came up, I looked at the screen. I do that now still. I like to be alert and know what's always going on. I guess people like to say they don't get distracted and finish what they're doing, but seriously! It's an e-mail, not like you're trying to dismantle a bomb or something! What if something is urgent? An emergency? Not good I say!

I've seen these cars on the roads lately with decals (I think that's the term) on rear windows. Two examples: "SINNER" and the other "THROUGH ALL LIES". Seriously, what the hell? Sinner? Is it an anti-church sentiment? Is she uber religious and wants to put it out there that she's a sinner? And the other one? I have no idea. I'd like to ask the Sinner lady what's going on, but she is quite ugly, and she lives in the ghetto area near my house, so let's put that on the backburner shall we?

MILFs (yes I'm sure I've posted about this topic some time in the past). I usually prefer the younger women. But damn, since earlier this year, I had a blonde South African hottie MILF client who probably knew I was checking her out while trying to give her tax advice. But I don't think she cared, she was AWESOME! Hahah I still remember her name. Anyway, at work, there's a new boss in another section who is also a blonde milf! She's wowza! Has a body that'd put girls in their 20's to shame. Am I turning around to blondes now? Who knows? Haha maybe it's a MILF only thing.

Ahhh. Till I have more time people. Joaquin out!

Not feeling the apathy here...

I'm in a strange mood tonight.

Don't ever be someone's point of dependency. Cause they will drain you for all your worth, so that your life is unbearable!!

I am loving Kevin Rudolf's Let It Rock.

There are all these bloody flies around this room! They are checkmating me. Slowly but surely, they're easing themselves into positions around me so that I'm trapped, then BAM! My King is screwed. Help me!

It's 3am in the morning!

I'm not referring to the Matchbox 20 song 3am, but the song 3am by Eminem. The other introduced me to Travis Barker's remix of it on the weekend, and I have to say that is one bloody catchy chorus.

The remix is also bloody fantastic. If you ask me, Travis Barker is the heart and soul of Blink.

I am bloody mystified at how the other just keeps making the blog better and better with each re-design. But he does it, so kudos to him and for extending himself by learning some new coding techniques to make this truly unique. I can't wait to see what he has in store in the future.

The other has been working ridiculously hard these last few weeks. He's almost like a private sector worker - a pain I know all too well. However, that's a rant for another time.

Fuel - Shimmer ends with the lyrics "guess I'll let it go". That is something I just cannot do. I have a habit of holding on to things. Letting go is not my forte. And I don't think I should have to change. That's how God has made me and I refuse to change.

I'm not playing nearly enough guitar, nor am I writing enough ideas to post to the other. I will do it soon! Too much time being taken up at home on stupid stupid things.

Why the fuck do attractive women feel the need to wear oversized bug glasses (ala Paris Hilton)? They are not cool! They make you look odd. They do not fit the usual features of the human face. Stop being strange please!

I should have kept my mouth shut at work. I said I had no work. Now I have been flooded from every side imaginable! Oh well it's good to be busy at work, it makes the day fly by much faster. I've gotten much better at chess too! Checkmated the comp with 3 queens! Now that's just sheer brutality - considering I still had 2 rooks and 2 pawns left to play!

Anyway, anarchy inside my mind, the other's mind, your mind, our minds. Joaquin out.

Its not about you!

Quite often people lose sight of what this is all for. What is it all for? That question always reminds me of high fidelity. Its always important to remember why we do the things that we do in life. Nothing in this life is for free, so don't expect anything without a price. I know I've been ranting about designers for a while but there is just so much to say about them. Design is one of those fields where authority is always blurred. 'Designers' start the whole process with the wrong frame of mind. I'll break this up into pieces so its easier to follow.

Why does a designer study/choose to become a designer?

I think most designers are really passionate about what they do and this is one amazing thing about designers. A lot of people are just not as passionate, hence what they do is a 'job' and not a lifestyle. They truly believe in their work and what they can create. Design is a subjective field, sure what they do is absolutely amazing to them and often to others too. They study/choose to do designs because the world would be so much better with their art in it. Well I guess they have one thing right, doing something you love for work means you're not working at all.

Now lets go to the next step. Now that they are a certified/professional designer they need to their skills into a livelihood. And this is where it all falls apart. If you are a novelist, you can go out and write whatever you want; as long as its good and some people like it, you make money. You better bet your bottom dollar that the author took a considerable risk to make that novel happen. What happens if it bombs? Well they lose a lot of time and money, but they are doing it for them. That gives them the right to do what they want. Designers do not have that right! When a client hires you to do work for them, its not about you, its about them. They are not paying you to create your masterpiece, they are paying you to create theirs. This is where 73% of designers have it all wrong. You can suggest what you would do but at the end of the day the person who is paying you gets to do what they want. If you can't stomach that, find a different profession. Sooner or later, ever designer who is successful realizes - this is a job like any other. The person who pays your 'salary' has certain expectations of you. Its the way of the world, don't think you've escaped it because you've found a something to do that you are absolutely about. You only have complete freedom to do what you want when you take a ultimate risk and do it for nothing; if you get something out of it thats your reward not entitlement.

So I guess this goes to everyone who wants to do something their are passionate about but want to commercialize it. Don't think its all fun and games, you too have someone you have to listen to.

Cakie Please!

The new XML Blogger templates have been out for quite a while now but I hadn't implemented it as I always knew how to code the other one. I guess there are there are pros and cons to both. I feel as though I had more control over the old templates as they were regular CSS. I guess if I spend more time with it, I might be able to figure out more of the details of how they work.

Lately, I've been in the 'coding' mind frame. Been spending a lot of time learning how to accomplish a whole lot of web coding. Though it always feels like a never ending learning experience. I've been meaning to spend more time with JavaScript and will as soon as I get sometime. After next week I'm going to be busy again working on another play production. Though time flies really fast when you're working in the day and working on a show at night. Good thing is a whole bunch of my friends are in that cast, so it should be quite enjoyable.

Since I've been in the coding mind frame, I thought it was time to revamp this blog. So here is the new skin (which I like to call 'Blood Stained Newspaper') with Bloggers advanced navigation of there new (well they have been around for a while, but new to this blog none the less) templates.

On a different note, the other and I played an awesome game last night. Fat Princess. Its a game that you can buy at the Playstation store on the PS3 and it is awesome. How can a game where you have to feed a princess pieces of cake to make her fat not be awesome. Its cartoony, funny and a lot of fun. Imagine a strategy game like warcraft, with 32 characters on the map and everyone controls one character. It is a brilliant redesign of the classic strategy game interface.

On that note, I'm going to get a game in before I go to sleep. Its going to be a hectic couple of days. Our Season launches on Wednesday, so all the loose ends have to be tied...

Double dip...the taste of you on my fingertips

Haha I just had to get another one in there for today before I forget, or become too slack tomorrow.

I had a most funny dream - and before you start whingeing, yes I am aware that I had to consciously stop making this a dream diary a few months ago. However, this one is just too funny not to write about.

I dreamt that I was at home being bored out of my mind with something. Then I went out somewhere, then saw a girl who I used to work with just walking around in a swimsuit (?) - haha alas, I was not complaining as she's quite the fit one. Anyway, I got back home and I was even more bored out of my mind. So I decided to just get a bottle of cranberry juice and just drink it upstairs. However, the taste was not tart, it was extremely sweet. Then after I'd gotten through about a quarter of the bottle, I looked at the bottle - it was extremely weirdly shaped and it said that it was wine!! Hahaha, not having had any alcohol since 2007, it of course hit me (I don't know how my subconscious was aware of this though), and I was utterly wasted. I'm not even sure if it was a real wine, as all the wine I've had in my life has tasted like distilled filth. Maybe it was a dessert wine? But even then, how would I know what it tasted like? Regardless, I woke up and I felt extremely hungover! Hahaha, how could getting wasted in my dreams result in me being hungover in real life?? Ahh gold I say.

Red Dwarf Series 5 is pretty scary! I like it! Anyhow, I have some songs to write. Enjoy.

Conspiracies and legacies

Yeah yeah, I know I was meant to blog about women being objectified, but I will get to that when I'm actually awake.

Saturday was brilliant. Spent most of it at the other's place, playing guitar, getting into some games and walking around town. It saw some brilliant ideas. One example being the other tuning his guitar, and then playing a strange riff which we developed and then turned into a fully fledged song, with a fantastic breakdown and brutal bassline.

I got my butt handed to me in Fifa 10 several times. I think I may have to retire from that game in order to save some face now!

Also saw the brilliance of a game called Fat Princess! Hahaha it is a strange cross between a 3rd person strategy game, capture the flag, and RPG. It is simple on the face of it, but beneath the surface lurks an incredibly engaging and deeper game. It reminds me of the brilliant multiplayer madness of Super Bomberman and Super Smash Bros. However I think this has the potential to be much better. I must get rid of my old old computer, desk and tv and make way for a HD TV and new consoles.

The other has introduced me to this website called Dropbox, which is a cloud file sharing system, which can be accessed from anywhere. I have to say I'm loving it! I've seen these things before, even since I was on a dial up connection. But I gotta say, this is the cleanest interface and easiest to use by far. I am aiming to have all our song ideas on there and then start finalising stuff.

I have just been getting into stacks and stacks of Red Dwarf. I am now up to Season 5 (which I have never seen before) so I am looking forward to that.

Anyway, that's it for now folks!

Any way the wind blows

The rumours are true, I have turned 25 today. More on that later.

You know what I'm really looking forward to? On Wednesday (my first day back at work - after my second consecutive four day weekend) at lunch I will walk down to the pub and buy myself a slushie. A lime one, an extra large one. It's gonna be hot and I have not had one in years. Literally. Years! My problem is compounded by the fact that only one place in this city sells them. I remember years ago, there was a place right near my house that sold them (this particular type of slushie) but they sold out and they got rid of the machine. Then there was a place in the mall that sold up shop and disappeared. Now it's only available in this pub in the city - though they do usually put vodka in, but I like mine straight up thank you!

It's a good feeling to have such a craving for a simple pleasure that has been denied to you for so long, but then finally getting it.

Ahh yes, I did mention in my last post that I would mention something about the objectification of women, but I will now get to that in a later post.

Now, on to less optimistic news. As mentioned above, today was my 25th birthday. I'm not a materialistic person, but I have to say, gifts such as shirts, suits, trousers, wallets, or any other type of clothing or accessory is NOT FUCKING APPRECIATED. I have clothes. I work 5 days a week. I wear my suits there. Then on the weekend I will just wear my night clothes. If I need to go anywhere, I have plenty of casual clothes. My parents bought me a suit, trousers and a shit load of shirts and ties. This is horrific. This is stuff I can only wear to work. I figured (and have been told by superiors) that work is just a means to enjoy the stuff you want to do outside of work!

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, I would much prefer a card with a well written message. I can buy my own shit if I need it, thank you very much. Frivolous material possessions which have had no thought put behind them are not appreciated. Then the icing on the cake; I was forced to buy presents for my other relatives who have birthdays in November. There was 200 bucks down the drain on my birthday. Fucking wonderful. I live a frugal lifestyle, and I don't enjoy unwilling deductions to the bank account, especially on my birthday. These fucking birthdays are just getting worse and worse I tell you. No wonder I haven't celebrated them since I was 12.

When I was in Sydney, I realised that I don't like my family. I don't like talking to them, or having them talk to me. It's not good for my mental health. I was just going to work, then on weekends I was just watching movies and playing games. That was the fucking life I tell you. I had a sweet apartment, I was self sufficient. I was in fantastic shape. I got on well with the people who were worth getting along with at work. I didn't need anything else. Now I'm back here to be a glutton for punishment. Just for more pay and less hours. Why the fuck did I come back here??! I know previously I said that I won't live to see another 2 quarter centuries. At this rate, I don't know if I want to make it a few more birthdays!

I don't know if I've ever been depressed. Sad, in despair, despondent, yes. But depressed? Nope, I don't think so.

I hereby pass Resolution #3 (don't ask me what the fuck happened to the first two - I don't think they exist). I will try to get out of here, and I will no longer talk to, or associate with my family. Done and done.

Joaquin out.

Cutting aliens in half, I don't consider that daft - Blog intro/retrospective (Part 2 of 2).

Yes, it's finally here! After many weeks of promising, I have decided to get off my butt (or should that be sit on it?) and finally finish the blog intro/retrospective. For those not familiar with my original idea, the second part was to address any points of interest in the other's posts throughout the years. Basically, if the other had brought up a conversation point that I had not addressed, or if I had addressed it, my opinion had changed since then.

However, before I get to that point, I would like to continue with my original rantings first.

The other is back with a vengeance, and I gotta say it's good to have him back! He's had some fantastic posts.

So yes, I will be 25 soon. Just another year, another birthday I guess. It's dawned on me that on the balance of probabilities, I won't live to see another two of these (quarter centuries that is, not birthdays). I'm ok with that. Let's see what the future brings.

See me. Be me. Experience the things I have. Know how I think. See my world. Experience me.

You know what really irks me? When people have things called photographic essays! Essays require the use of words! Yes, I am well aware of the adage "a picture is worth a thousand words" but that is just the height of snobbery. A picture is a picture! It is not a photographic essay. How about a musical essay?? An essay of smells perhaps??

The other just has an amazing talent for sticking these weird riffs and chords together which just sound magical when put together. And then when we get together to jam, it all falls into place so well. I can layer my knowledge of theory and obscure chords (that I've probably just used once - when I was learning the mofo) and it is a well oiled machine.

My early 20's have been a good experience in terms of gaming. I have probably gotten into first person shooters more than I had in the past. But also in terms of non computer games, I learned how to play poker. I never had any idea in the past, and it was something I really wanted to do. I remember in High School I played some friends and just bluffed every hand, as I had no idea what cards I had. But now I am quite adept at it, and that did fill me with a sense of accomplishment.

However, another thing that stems even further back than high school was chess. I had no idea how to play, and I didn't even know how to set up the board. But all that changed last week. I had some free time at work, and I loaded up Chess Titans (which can show you how the pieces are meant to move). So of course, I became hooked, and despite losing at least 20 matches to the computer (on easy), I have been reading up on this and am now completely obsessed. I have to beat a human opponent at least once in my life. What an interesting game.

I have also been getting into some good console co-op. My friend has been inviting me over to play some Xbox360 coop. We played Halo 3 which was bloody fantastic. Many a good time was had with that and we ended up finishing it. We recently got into Gears Of War 2, which I found to be absolutely wonderful. People may think it's just a third person shooter, but I think it is quite tactical in terms of pinning and flanking. Ahhh many a chainsaw lancer death was had, I can't wait to play some more of that.

I was going to examine the phenomenon of women being treated as objects. But if I went into that, I would be here for a while. So I will save that for another time, as well as - in a shocking segue, update the Joaquin Rate List (JRL)!

So without further ado, may I get on to part 2 of the blog intro/retrospective!

September 14 2004
It has to start somewhere
The other mentioned a point about English being a flawed language. Where some words are spelled completely differently to how they sound and so on. You don't get these issues with Eastern languages, but it does seem a bit of a theme in Western/Germanic languages. I wholly agree with the other's point. Words should be spelled more phonetically, or we should extend the alphabet to incorporate more sounds.

The other also makes a note about girls in Bangers. He said the good ones were engaged and the others are just plain bitches. Hahah, 100% agreed! That's probably why the good ones are all gone early - to live their unfulfilled lives.

September 17 2004
Disconnected!!! Damn
The other first blogged about the "11" phenomena. It is still everywhere!! Though not in the same abundance that I used to get, especially when I was in Sydney. I've been reading up on it, and it has some interesting numerological properties. For those interested, it's well worth a look, as it has several meanings.

The other had also been reading up on "ladder theory" and I gotta say, now that I'm older I believe that it is 100% true.

19 October 2004
Time machine
The other started this theme of not having enough time to get things done. And I agree with him, a holiday somewhere nice with no technology would be nice on the cards.

27 October 2004
Can't make up my bloody mind
The other made an excellent point about too many guitarists relying on tabs to play songs. Most tabs are incorrect, and it results in guitarists not using their ears, and failing as musicians in the long run. I agree with this point 100%, but I have to say that I'm hypocritical, as I am guilty of this. When I first want to learn a song, I will turn to tabs before anything else. I won't even play along with it. I'm sure my musicianship has suffered as a result, and I have not bothered to properly read music as a result. Once we break the bonds of the way we have developed this internal paradigm, we can begin to express ourselves properly.

19 November 2004
And only wrappers were left
The other made a statement regarding auras. This has been regarded as a pseudoscience by most in scientific circles, but I have to say that I believe there is some truth to it. Some people's energy you can just totally pick up. Sometimes you can just "feel" other people.

4 December 2004
Coz this shape was made to sink
The other made a point regarding people in arranged marriages not being in love. I disagree with him on this point. While of course people like this aren't in love at the start, I think that it can grow into love over time. But is that artificial? Forcing people into a situation where either hate or love can blossom? It may seem contrived (obviously), but whether this love is the same as those in "love" marriages may need to remain to be seen. But I think love is love, and that is that.

24 January 2005
More means good or more means bad??
The other made an excellent remark concerning exchange rates and the near arbitrary way that they are determined. Having worked in a field where we relied on exchange rates to determine favourable outcomes for clients, the idea of the value of a currency being based on the loose and vague notion of a "market" is just beyond belief. The other also offered a solution of a unified world currency. I agree with this, but I don't think the world will go for this, as obviously some markets would like to be better than others, which in turn benefits some corners of the market, and various countries. If we did go to a unified currency, I bet that there would still be some "market" ideal that would mean that the value of the SAME currency would be more in poor countries, so that they kept getting screwed over. Ahh Wall Street was such a good movie, I can't wait for the sequel, but I'm not keen on Shia LaBeouf being in it!

22 March 2005
Look at what I can do
The other made an incredibly valid point regarding custom things being made for famous people. While this obviously can be a far reaching statement which runs the gamut of objects, I think the most obvious (and pertinent) example relates to musicians and musical instruments. Being a guitarist, I am inundated with signature guitars, amplifiers, picks, guitar straps, strings and the list just goes on and on. Just like the other, let me say, you don't need ANY of that shit. Be unique, make your own mark on society! Nobody got famous from playing someone elses signature instrument! You know what's funny? The people who made these instruments also got good/famous by NOT playing that signature item. It is made for them - for their specifications. Just cause it's good for them doesn't mean it's good for you. If you buy signature stuff, I hope it's just for fun, not cause you want to sound or look like someone.

27 April 2005
Strategy
The other made a great point concerning plagiarism being encouraged in universities. I 100% agree with this. As the syllabus refers to only a small number of books/sources, obviously a lot of the material produced for assessment pieces will be reproducing what's in the stuff listed in the syllabus. When you add in the factor of pressure being placed on students to do well (especially given how universities rank people along the standard bell curve), obviously a lot of people are going to plagiarise stuff. Universities should be like they were when they first began. A bunch of people discussing various ideas and LEARNING. Not just getting degrees to work jobs that they're going to hate. No empiricism needed. Giant steps to help humanity, not slow ones.

2 September 2006
Untitled
The other made a good point about journalists being unethical. I agree with this statement - to a point however. I think the main issue is gatekeepers, editors, programmers, producers etc. These stakeholders tend to go on sensationalised news, blood, death and so on in order to earn ratings, and the big bucks etc. Obviously journalists are not clean in all this, as they are either turning a blind eye, or being obedient to some of these new ideals of "if it bleeds, it leads" (a tenet I learned in journalism). I mean what sort of bloody world are we living in where REAL journalists, who tell the news with integrity, research the facts and present them are regarded as being alternative or groundbreaking, and offering news to only a minority of people? That is truly a fucked situation. People need to care what's going on, they need to question the world around us.

4 September 2006
Lies get tossed and the truth is spoken
The other made a brilliant quote that I shall put here for your viewing pleasure (excuse the formatting, Blogger's block quote feature sucks):

"The mall on Mondays is a hilarious sight, there are mostly
old people
just hanging out, or a bunch of teenagers who obviously can't
figure out
what to
do with their lives, and then there is the
interesting sort.
The sort that
dresses up nicely, and walks
really fast, and pretends they
have a shitload of
things to do, and they
are so busy. I ask you, why
would a person who is
busy be
at the mall for hours on a bloody
Monday?? I guess sometimes
you have to cut yourself some slack and
pretend you are someone else,
it's quite
sad I tells ya"

Ahh the funniest and most accurate quote ever I say!

15 July 2009
To geek or not to geek
The other made a fantastic point regarding generalising vs specialising in a particular field. This is a HATED discussion of mine. I heard it stacks at my previous work. They said in order to get ahead, you had to specialise in a certain field, and in doing so, you would be indispensible. This is not how I fucking operate. I LIKE knowing little bits about everything. If I need specialist knowledge, I'll ask someone else. The thing is, these specialists only know about their field, nothing else. You NEED people who know the stuff about other things, or else management of processes just becomes a massive failure. It's encouraged to a fault these days, and I am not down with it. I'm reminded of an episode of Lizzie McGuire (as I usually am), where she realises that she's not particularly awesome at anything, but she's good at heaps of different things. Of course this is ruined later on when she realises that she's an awesome rhythmic gymnast. However, ignoring that point, I will never specialise, I refuse to be pigeonholed. And therein, I become unique and indispensible and ME!

25 October 2009
Agencies are scum
The other made a note about advertising/net agencies being scum. I had no idea things like this were even occuring! I had a discussion with the other regarding this the other day, and he enlightened me to the goings on in this business, and I was utterly horrified that this was going on!

26 October 2009
Tech companies are mostly capitalist scumbags
Haha without even telling you what the other said, I can bet you'll know what he was on about. And I know you agree with me in supporting the other's view. I hate how these companies take your dollar, deliberately withhold updates until the next model and so on. It's one of my pet hates. This is why I do not have a lot of the new new technology. I really hate that feeling of having something that is rendered obsolete only a few months later by the same bloody manufacturer! Can we just have something converged which has everything, and the only updates are software, and the only occasional hardware update when required?!?!

Ahh so that brings us to a close, and I gotta say, it's been a fantastic ride so far. Wow, that was a long post! I hope you enjoyed it. Anyway, that's it for now folks. Joaquin out, have a nice day!

Technology companies are mostly capitalist scumbags...

There are a few things in this world that to me is just a little annoying. The over capitalization of the technological sphere is one of them. All these companies are out the to make as much money as they can, however they can. Its quite annoying if you ask me. Today, Apple and Adobe are the annoyance factor for me.

Every year, Apple releases new products. First there was the iPhone and now the 3gs and before long there will the next generation. This will happen without a doubt. I bought 2 ipods and an iPhone in the last year. I for one am going to be quite annoyed when the next iPhone come out, as I love the thing, but will have to miss out on that model. Sometimes I wish they would stop making new models daily and instead make one every other year, so that I could at least wait for my contract to run out. But then again Apple will always be Apple. Other than the iPhone, I am not sure why people bother with Apple laptops. For the level of power I expect from my machine, only a macbook pro will suffice. But I can't justify a 3k spend on a computer when I can spend 1/3 of that amount and still get a machine that works just as well. Sure macs look really good but I don't use my computers as an accessory. Maybe thats where the difference is, I look for performance over look. Sure I own an iPhone but there isn't another phone out there that plays music like an iPhone or run as many applications. With Windows 7 out now, which is truly an amazing operating system, I can no longer see any reason to bother to switch to a mac. For a while I considered it but could not see any justifications for one. I can do a lot more things on a PC, just because I've been using one for much longer. If you guys are thinking of switching, try Windows 7 first.

Adobe are the other culprits. Don't get me wrong, I live and breath their products. I probably think they have more merit when it comes to software than Apple, but their development calender is again an annoyance. Firstly their Creative Suites cost so much money. I don't understand why they feel that they must make a new creative suite every year! Why can't update their software for their users for a few years at a time? Why can't they have a membership, where you pay for the product once, and you get updates for the next 5 years. This forking out more money for a new CS is just a money making scheme. So thats what I think of CS5. I'm looking forward to it but it annoys me all at the same time.

In this world where everyones just trying to profit maximize, I am glad that we have a company like Google. I hope they take over the world and provide us with more freeware and opensource development that is actually good! I am happy for them to make money through advertisement. I am indeed waiting for an android phone that has a fantastic music player and then I'd throw away my iPhone as well. Sometimes I wish I lived in the stone age...

Agencies are Scum

As the web has developed, so too have design and web development agencies. These are knowledge industries, and they thrive on information asymitry. They are the specialists and so they mus know how to do the job in the best manner possible. How many times have you heard from a designer that that will not work beacause of some random reason that they make up on the spot? More often than not its 1) an ego issue, or 2) lazyness or unwillingness to do extra work. Over time though as the web has developed, people who grew with it learned how to design and build websites with it. Ok, this is not true for everyone but I for one am one am one. I have also been formally trained in design and have worked in web development. Sure, I have also lost touch with a lot of my programming, as that is not my field of speciality or my field of occupation. But the logic and the know how of how thing work is enough to lay out plans on how a website is to be build, as well as evaluate whether or not something has been build in the way that it should have been. Sorry developers, your lame excuses are not good enough for me.

In the past they could just tell their client that this was the best possible solution and they would have no choice but to but it. Now they can find someone with the skill set to make sure that things work. This will be the demise of the traditional egotistic agencies of the early 2000s. In this decade you will have to prove your worth.

The way agencies work is completely innappropriate for the industry they are in. So much of their work is subjective that they should not be allowed to operate in this manner. What is with the whole concept that they can layout 2 stages of changes for the client? So often designers and developers lack creativity or drive to produce something that works for the client, and eventually the client just has to settle for the best out of the their inferior choices! If the client wants more changes these firms charge top dollar to rectify their own careless mistakes. I almost switched to that industry and to be honest this sorta behavior makes me sick to the stomach. In an agency you are valuable if you can get the most amount of money for the least amount of work.

Bug fixes during a website build is another classic example. Agencies often give the client x number of days to evaluate and log bugs so that the company can fix it. This again is built on information asymitry, as the less mistakes the client can identify, the less work the agency needs to do. Whi care if it could have been done better, the quicker they can signoff, the more money they make. This sorta behavior should take you straight to hell if there is such a place. Quality is no longer what agencies give.

I think for most small to medium sized organizations, they might be better of not working with agencies. For design, they should hire in house designers and a simple cost benefit analysis will prove that in the long run its cost benefitial. Just have to remember to hire more than one with different schools of design, so that you get a variety of ideas. For web development, they should hire 2 developers on a year contract, to sit and build a website with them. This will ensure that what is being built actually work for the organization and immidiate feedback is generated. This would also mean that 100% of their time is devoted to this one project and they will take interest and innitiative to make the best website possible.

I for one am sick of hearing the run of the mill excuses that I get on a regular basis from designers or developers. I'm not buying it, you'll have to please this one unfortunately!

Whore in the house

I still don't feel like posting the second part of the blog intro/retrospective. However, I have taken today and Monday off work, so I have a 4 day weekend. On that basis, I will attempt to post that sometime over the next few days.

I thought I should also explain the point of my "got to put it up for the westside westside" statement before dem gangstas be shootin' me yo'. Hahha well in high school music, we had a drum kit in the room, unfortunately, only 3 people could play the drums so it was not used often. One guy used to warm up with some nice hip hop beat, just the snare, bass drum and high hat and he just started adlibbing the line "gotta put it up for the westside, westside" and it just sounded spectacular! Ahhh how I wish I could go back now that I'm a genius at guitar, and I'm capable of playing the drums too!

In an interesting turn of events, I tried to log in to blogger a little while ago and I kept getting error messages. A meltdown I say! Haha it's ok, they were probably having some site maintenance or something. I've never had a log in error here before, so I just thought it was weird.

On Mythbusters during season one, Adam and Jamie set about proving whether the Brown note was true or not. For those not in the know, the brown note is a frequency where, if aimed at someone, will cause them to empty their bowels. They found that it was a myth. However, I think the experiment they used was flawed. Adam was outside, with speakers aimed at him. There was plenty of space for the noise to escape. For those of you who have played guitar, you might have had an experience where you've hit a note and your insides just shake. I think it is due to the sound actually resonating against your body, with no room for the soundwaves to escape. It's like being in a club where the bass is making your chest cavity bounce.

I finally got around to finishing Call Of Duty World At War! It sucked royally. It was nowhere near as good as modern warfare. However the Nazi Zombie game at the end is quite novel and I think it's easily the best part of the game. My best so far is 79 kills with 14 headshots. I don't know what it is, but in these World War 2 games, I always prefer the rifles to machine guns. I just love the accuracy and control of the rifles, just makes it so much easier to blast mofos, cept in an ambush when you're being rushed, but that just means you can sprint around and bust the melee. Compared to Medal Of Honor: Pacific Assault, and even Call Of Duty 2, it's just not happening in terms of fun. MoH PA was just epic. It felt like I was actually there! When the other was here and we were first playing it, we were shouting, scared, and getting really involved in the story. Some fantastic shooting took place, with snipers in trees being taken out by our low powered rifles (a lot of the time on the run). Then COD2 had the intro right out of Enemy At The Gates, with you getting ammo, and someone else getting a gun, and it was just truly insane!

The other made a comment the other day that he thought the Rolling Stones were the best, and the Beatles were overrated. I 100% agree with that. Rolling Stones were just absolutely amazing, and so far ahead of their time. However that train of thought is probably blasphemy in the wider community, but I'll be damned if I can't voice my opinion!

At the other's last week, we played Assassin's Creed and Uncharted (both of which were bloody amazing)!! The other loved Uncharted so much, he even bought Uncharted 2 the day after it was out (even though he'd just bought Brutal Legend). I believe he's been getting all up in that. I'm probably seeing the other tomorrow, to write some more songs and have a jolly good time.

As I mentioned in my last post, the JRL will be updated with the blog intro/retrospective...whenever that will be.

I did mention previously that I would engage in a debate on blondes v. brunettes. I think now is the time to get into it!

So for as long as I can remember, I've always liked brunettes. In fact I've sort of detested blondes. I don't know why this is or what brought it on. This is in stark contrast to the (perceived) majority of males who prefer blonde girls. I don't know why that is either! In fact my distate was to such a point that I did not find any blonde girl even remotely attractive for a long time.

So what's the deal? I guess from some community stereotypes, you will find that blonde girls are characterised as airy, dumb, suggestable, and fun loving. Brunettes? I don't even know what they're characterised as. But it could be safe to assume it's the opposite. These days I am finding myself opening up to find some blonde girls attractive! I've heard arguments that boys start to develop the love of blondes from a young age due to the very nature of blonde hair - being bright and shiny, things that attract young children. I didn't know what to think of that, until I saw my nephew watching Joss Stone on tv like a slack jawed yokel. He hasn't done that with other girls before, so there may be some truth to it.

In my experience, I tend to engage with brunettes more, and found that SOME of the stereotypes I mentioned above were totally applicable to the blondes I knew. However, that was probably down to an individual basis, not just the colour of their hair! The point I guess is that while we're probably ruled by our proclivities and histories, some of which are unexplainable, you probably shouldn't leave your entire life to chance just because of some bad experiences. In this particular example, hair colour has nothing to do with individuality. I will prefer to decide my women on a woman by woman basis thank you very much! Haha!

Anyway, that's it for now folks! Till I can post again, have a nice day! Joaquin out.

Pray tell!

Yes I know I still have to complete the blog intro/retrospective, and I will get around to it soon. I have actually finished my review, but I just haven't bothered putting them up. Don't worry, they will be soon.

Just thought I'd blog about other stuff for now. I saw the other this weekend and last weekend, and had an absolute blast. Saw a good play, watched some movies and played some games. But most importantly we played guitar! We jammed long and we jammed well! Awesome ideas springing up all over the place, strange chords suddenly made sense with a well thought out riff between them. Both of us taking improvised solos, it was magic. I remember when we were playing guitar near the start and we both were struggling to get the whole point of the first position of the Minor Pentatonic scale. Hahaha, needless to say, those days are long behind us.

Got to give props to the other for having me over 2 weekends in a row, for many many hours. The other has also said that he aims to blog in the near future! So please await his return to these pages.

I didn't think it would happen, but here it is! The Joaquin Rate List is going to have more updates shortly, so be on the lookout for that one. I also aim to engage in a discussion regarding blondes vs brunettes! Maybe we can settle the age old debate! Hahaha, should be grand.

My grandmother has arrived on her annual visit. You know she married at like 18, had no formal education past 16, and she's a millionaire? Despite the lack of education, she's very sharp (I think sharper than my parents), and she can actually understand contexts, and knows when people are being sarcastic. She tells it like it is, and seems to be the only one in my family with any form of common sense. The other is right, you don't know how long you have with these people, so you should try to pick their brain as much as possible, cause they have probably had one hell of a life.

I was babysitting my niece and nephew for several days last week, and the point hit me about after school care. I used to go when I was in kindergarten, through to about year three or four. I hated it. Yes there were other kids there, but I always felt like I was abandoned. I don't know when or why I stopped, but the parents made the decision for me to become a latchkey kid. Sure, my parents weren't home when I got home, but all that meant was that I watched afternoon tv till they got home. I enjoyed this a lot more. It also helped my parents come to the conclusion that I could be left home alone, so they could go interstate with my other siblings and stuff, or that everyone could leave me home by myself since the age of 10, and I was cool with that. Independence is a wonderful thing.

Anyway, that's it for this post, have a nice day folks!

Got to put it up for the West side, West side!

So I've finally done it, the most comprehensive blog intro/retrospective ever! I've read all 500+ posts on here from me, the other, and the others. It was an excellent way to rediscover the love of this blog. I will post about the talking points from the others posts another time. I thought I could do with a breather before I get on to that stuff.

I finally got to catch up with the other for some gameage, guitarage and some installage (which seems to always be the case when I'm with the other)! But it's all good. A good time was had, and we managed to get some really great music ideas down! I am able to pursue this with a renewed vigour now! Although Brazil is 20 times worse in Fifa '10 than they were in Fifa 2004. That's alright, cause Manchester United still got me home (barely), even with 6 superstars on the bench (WTF)! The other also mowed down Wayne Rooney, so with my best striker off, I was thankfully saved by Patrick Viera and the nicest cross kick and curve I've seen in a while.

The other also put together a crazy concoction of soda water and red cordial, which tasted a lot like Creaming Soda but without the edge, and it was interestingly refreshing! I will be off interstate for work for a lil bit but I shall be back shortly.

Moving back home (well to THIS house) was a big mistake. Yes I'm saving money, but living with my parents and their insanity is not doing wonders for my mental health. If you see Joaquin on the news for finally losing it, you'll realise why! But that should be ok, cause with the money being saved, I edge closer and closer to having my own freakin' house! Ahhh that will be good. Yes, I do have a few blognotes saved, and an update to the Joaquin Rate List (JRL) to come. But I will post about that after my final addition to the blog retro/introspective. But that's it for now. I have to be up early, so Joaquin out! Have a nice day folks.

Eating pies while shooting things at the sky aka The Blog Retro/Introspective 2009 (1 of 2)

Lead In

But you should also remember to shoot them in the head, shoot them in the back! As the other will remember, he improvised that song on his old acoustic when I was in the middle of an ambush in Medal Of Honor Pacific Assault and I was at the end of a bottle neck and I was just shooting people left right and centre like nobody's business. It was very apt and I like the darker message (not to mention the rhythm was pretty good too).

So what is it with girls at work and my attraction to them? Last job...well that was obviously a road to nowhere. But like a fly with half a brain, I knew it was a venus fly trap but I flew far too close anyway! Hahha I'm hoping that doesn't come around to bite my ass some time in the future. Now the new one, damn! She's just really interesting and different. I guess that's the killer, the new ones, people who don't remind me of anyone I've ever known previously.

Anyway it's NEVER good!

So I have gradually started getting back into the movies, and I watched Collateral recently, which I thought was fantastic! Absolutely gripping, and Tom Cruise really shone! I didn't think he had it in him, but he proved me wrong, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was aiming to get into Get Smart this weekend but alas, I did not bother, but I shall save it for maybe Wednesday night or something, I have a flex day on Thursday so I can stay up late that day.

I have my car back, so yay! I now have mobility, independence and privacy! And I also enjoy getting pwned now and then, it's good to stay humble.

I have been playing STACKS of Counter Strike Source lately, even more so than M2TW. I remember yonks ago at a LAN at my friend's, his brother and his friend absolutely pwned us! 2 of them vs 8 of us, and we just got hammered. They belonged to one of the best clans in Australia and they were just absolutely amazing. I just didn't have a knack for the game, I didn't understand it, and I have not played it much. But these days I have focused more and more on playing properly. Proper weapons selections, flanking tactics, firing while behind cover, working within the squad and I gotta say, I am loving it a LOT more. I gotta say, I really enjoy the tactical shooters, I might even plonk down some dollars with the next pay cheque on some more games. FPS I still enjoy now and then (ala Halo and UT), but tactics is an important aspect of gameplay that I am just a huge fan of.

I recently saw a play that the other was a part of, and I was thoroughly impressed!! Very well done, and I was hooked from the get go! So good that it made me miss acting very much.

On my way back into the city, I noticed that there was an absolute cavalcade of teens out (and a lot of girls wearing revealing dresses in the freezing freezing cold)! This was incredibly odd, as it was a Thursday night! I thought it was crazy, especially now that I'm a working person, and considering that I don't go out that often anyway, let alone on a Thursday night, and perish the thought! Then I realised that they were all uni students. And not along ago, I was among their number. Oh how the world is screwed if these people are our future leaders!

I've also been getting into some more music and I have been living it up. I should be accruing more flex soon, so I'm looking forward to having more time off. I shall aim to update the patented Joaquin Rate List (JRL) some time soon. Without further hoopla, here's what you've been waiting for:

Anarchy Inside My Mind - Retro/Introspective 2009

Introduction and General Comments

Well as I said, I had neglected to do the blog intro/retrospective for the last two weeks. Let me say that I have been working on it this whole time. It's not easy I tell you, there's a shitload more posts each time I do this. I have also realised that a lot of the posts seem familiar, and the early posts I am very familiar with, and don't need to be analysed. On this basis, I have decided not to do this annually from now on. I will now instead do it at other intervals, which I will decide at a later time. I had neglected how big this task can be, and I decided to actually do it properly this time around. In previous incarnations of this, I had skim read a few months there, but this time I had resolved to read all of my previous posts, word for word. Then I thought about them and made notes. I decided to make general comments on the years, or if something really stood out, make notes on individual posts. I did not make notes on every post, as that would be impossible, and would require a full on project management team to get sorted.

So to explain my method, I went back to the start and just read all my posts in chronological order up to the latest post. For part 2, I aim to read the other's (and his invited guests to our blog) posts and make comments on points of discussion the other and others have raised, provided I have not commented on them before, or if my opinion has changed since I made my original comments. I am quite looking forward to that, but that will probably be much longer to provide than this post.

Generally, it has evolved into a life retrospective. These weren't just thoughts of a fragmented mind, but it functioned like a diary, and I did put down a lot of important life events in here, or posted allegories when I needed to pick my words carefully. It's interesting to see where the other and I are now, compared to where we were when we started this thing. I still can't see where tomorrow is. I don't know what I will be doing in another 5 years. That will be a full decade of this blog, that is just amazing. Did I ever think I would end up here? The other has done well, and I am proud of him and his achievements and accomplishments, for which he should be congratulated.

What I've also come to realise is that this blog is ours, and it's our thoughts. It's not for the people (although it is nice to have people read and occasionally comment). I will post when I want, and I will say what I want. I don't have to apologise for anything on here. This isn't a chore, and I need to do this.

Reeling in the years

2004

So this is where it all began for us. The other set up the blog and invited me to join and I was happy to learn what the blogging world was about and expost the world to my thoughts and the way I think. What was interesting is that the blogs from years ago seem more familiar to be than the more recent ones, which I guess goes to my state of mind at the moment. I guess I had more down time then, and had a LOT more time to think about what I wanted to blog about. I was more organised with how I got blog notes down and articulated myself in a clearer way back then (if not a bit verbose at times). It was also important for me to blog about what was on my mind at that particular time. Having read these posts, I do realise that I did whine a lot, so I'm sorry! Also, due to the obvious, it was incredibly uni-centric.

Going back, I've also seen the absolute dump of spam comments we've had on here. I'm sorry I didn't set up the verification tool for the comments much earlier. Now I don't remember how to delete posts. However, I would like to thank the people behind the REAL comments, even the abusive ones. Time is a precious thing, and to have you use that time to read this means a lot. It's all good fun! A lot of the posts were pretty disturbing, I did come off as a bit violent and angry, but that has dissipated now. I guess now I'm just apathetic, which is probably worse!

Sometime in December, I started the Joaquin Rate List (JRL), which was a brilliant idea. I don't know what sparked it, and what was initially a tiny list has grown so large and definitive over the years. Remember folks, you can check it out here: http://dropc.blogspot.com/2004/12/great-fun-to-be-around-you.html

2005

The posts from this era do tend to be a lot more self involved. I don't really remember what was going on in my life at this time. I did talk about myself more, compared to the thoughts I had, which was a feature of the 2004 posts. However, there was still good intellectual food for thought there. The year saw the other arrive on our shores, and hijinks ensued, and have ever since. There was a post somewhere about breast men vs ass men. I did say that I had turned into a breast man. Well I can say now that I am proudly an ass man, and it will always be that way thank you very much! I also realise that I used to binge drink a lot, which is not good. I don't drink anymore, except for soft drink (which is probably worse, considering the amount of sugar they have)!

Also, my apologies to Zoe (http://www.blogger.com/profile/14467922606483218571), who posted for us to attend something, however I did not read this comment till many months after the event. Haha I also remember my massive rant against blogger when I lost a rather large post. I apologise, this is a good system, and they have worked on their faults since those days. I'm glad we're still with them. I'm also in shock over how little sleep I got back then!! I can't believe I was able to function! I get more sleep now but I'm still more tired now! I think 2005 was also the year I started to grow weary of university, and I started to voice my opposition a lot more. Mitch made a comment in October, so props to him!

2006

This year saw a decrease in the number of posts by me. I'm not quite sure why that was. I think I might have had a lot more classes. I also procured my MP3 player, which has changed my life so much! So good! I still remember the old days with my discman and just one disc, ahh so glad those days are over. There was also better intellectual stuff coming from this era, though I'm not sure how I was able to do this, considering I was posting a lot less. Based on some of the posts, I think this was the year I stopped looking young for my age! Was it stress? Or maybe people now think that I act mature so that they automatically think I'm older?

Wow, I had so much assessment, I don't know how I was able to get any of it done! I put it down to just doing the work. I went to my classes, I did my readings, and I put the hammer down when I needed to. But some of those deadlines were crazy. My work ethic now is much better, so it wouldn't be such a problem, but back then, yowza! I don't miss it at all. 2006 was also the year we welcomed our first guest blogger, Golfer_Shib aka Jester to our party. It also saw the start of my love affair with real time strategy warfare games, like Rome Total War, all because of watching too many documentaries! Classic posts included great moments in gaming history, and many others! Jester and the other had a few months there with uninterrupted blogging, which was fantastic. It also saw the first introspective that I undertook.

2007

This was the year I broke my first guitar string. I don't know how they all lasted so long! I've broken stacks since then! I guess my style has become a little more heavy on the strings. The posts of this era were definitely a lot more guitar focused. I think this was probably due to my ability starting to go somewhere. Haha, there was a post in there about me thinking Webber made a huge mistake going to Red Bull instead of Renault. Haha in hindsight, boy was I wrong! I'm glad he is where he is, and he's an amazing driver. This year also saw even less posts from me. This was mostly due to my honours paper, which was an absolute killer, as well as job applications that I was doing. My guitaring skills were probably their best ever then, as I had a 5 day weekend, so I was playing heaps. The last part of the year devolved into a lot of rambling, disjointed nonsense with insane amounts of weirdness. I don't know what was going on, but it was probably stress induced from my honours paper. Marilyn wished us a happy new year, so now, 2 years later (and way out of date), I wish her a happy birthday too!

2008

This year saw some of my biggest posts, as I knew I was leaving to go interstate to work. I was moving, on to a different life, to the so called "real world" and I guess I became a different person around then. We also got a new blogger in there (whose name I have forgotten, so I am incredibly sorry). There were many months in there without a single blog from me, but the other and his guest kept the world turning on here so I was very happy.

2009

So this is where we are at now. I guess you can read the old posts and see if you agree with me. They're all good reads I must say. Since the year is still in progress, I can't really comment! I'm back home, the other and I have some major jam sessions in the works and I am just looking to live my life really. That's it for now folks! Have a nice day and I hope you've enjoyed this instalment! Until part 2 soon (hopefully)...Joaquin out!

Full circle, several times

Oh my god! I had totally forgotten about the blog intro/retrospective! September just came around so quickly and now we're almost halfway through! Unfortunately I am rather busy this weekend, with various chores, so I shall start my introspective next weekend.

I also have nothing to report, so as promised, I shall update the Joaquin Rate List (JRL), and be on my way. Until good times next weekend, my friends!

Remember, the JRL can be found at: http://dropc.blogspot.com/2004/12/great-fun-to-be-around-you.html

Blinded by the darkness

Yes I know! The weekend passed and I did not blog. I also did not update the JRL.

However, I shall make amends for that soon. The JRL update shall come later. For now, you just have to be satisfied with the following!

So Google recently caved into a Court's demand to name a blogger who called a model a "skank". Luckily the final result went off relatively without a hitch (you will need to read up on this if you have no idea), but the whole idea that freedom of anonymity can just be reduced to nothing by Google is just an incredibly disturbing precedent. Especially given the power that Google now wields. I remember a few years ago, the other showed me a mock presentation which showed how Google slowly took over the world in some scary scifi movie like way - harking back to Skynet in Terminator or something like that! It was scary as hell, and now their power is limitless. The fact that they are willing to compromise basic principles of decency shows just how spineless and unreliable they can be, and this does not bode well, as they could have just fought this with all their power.

Hmmmmsies. Enough from me today. JRL update later this week!

I watched Paycheck (good but ending was a letdown), and Picnic at Hanging Rock (AWESOME AND DISTURBING) on the weekend and was nicely impressed. Anyhow, that's it for now. Have a nice day folks!

These days, you just can't win

So I get to enter into my dreamscape again.

I also do not wish to turn this blog into a dream diary!! Haha, it truly is anarchy inside my mind.

Hahah but that shouldn't matter anyway, since I don't remember the one I had last night.

Oh well, I'll try to get in another post before JRL update on the weekend, but no promises!!

Enjoy!

Baby, when the lights go out!

So yes, we had another blackout.

Luckily my dad woke me up earlier this time and I was able to have a shower and a pretty cruisy morning. Still extremely busy at work though, which is good.

Also, I had another strange dream! I guess blackouts should occur more often!

Anyway, I was apparently heading overseas, and I was eating breakfast gingerly (with 3 separate glasses of OJ, in their respective glasses)!

I didn't know where I was going, or when! So I just jumped in the taxi and then I couldn't make sense of my itinerary!!

So I had no idea where I was going!!! Even weirder, I was travelling by myself! Who does that? Hahaha still mega interesting though.

AS mentioned, JRL update this weekend. I'll also try to get into another update before then, but no guarantees. Beware, retro/intro spective coming soon!!!! Have a nice day folks!

Oh tall private school girl, stop being everywhere I am!!! It's freaky, ok!

Shapes moving away, as was the spirit of your memory

It is rather late for this post! Haha then again, I remember back in the good ol' days of uni, I was posting at12:30-1am each day. Ahh I miss those times. People could say now I am earning money and have more freedom (non homework wise etc). But to those people I say, I was always on top of my work (most of the time), so I almost always had free time. On top of that, I'm not spending any of the money I am saving, so it's really the same net result anyway!

Today was a strange ass day, let me tell you! Last night was incredibly windy. Usually I'm unsettled when I try to sleep in such weather but I slept like I baby. So I had a wonderful dream (see below). Then I hear my dad walk into my room and he goes "aren't you going to work today?" and I'm like "HUH of course I am" and he goes "well it's 10 past 8!". Sheeeeeit! I'm usually leaving the house and on my way to work by then! So I skipped my shower, zoomed past breakfast and on to work, rather late! It turns out the wind made some branches touch power lines and we had a small blackout and all the clocks reset.

Then I was just living the rest of my day in confusion as I was busy and I am going to be busy for the next two months! It should be good though.

Ahhh last night I got bored playing guitar. That's never happened before. I hope it never happens again. Cause it's a terrible feeling.

I saw a beautiful girl on Saturday. I've never seen anyone who looks even remotely like her before. I won't even begin to describe her cause my words would be an injustice. I hope I see her again someday! Of course that will get me in trouble. I just wanted to mark this! It was probably also some place where I should not be keeping an eye out for such things!

As mentioned above, I had a strange dream last night. I really like it when I oversleep because I usually dream well, and dream vividly. First dream, I was out hiking with friends on a mountain range somewhere, but I was on a bike. We were going down a path but then Mandy Moore (yes, THAT Mandy Moore) suggested we go up the scenic route. So we did and the mountain range was absolutely beautiful. We sat there taking pictures and I was hearing "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals playing over and over.

Second dream, I was witness to some incident where a child accidentally killed someone important and well loved. From memory (of which, mine is very hazy) I think she chucked a rock and it hit this fellow in the head and he died. So of course the lynch mobs formed and they wanted to hurt this poor innocent girl. So I protected her and we seemed to be on the run for a long time. I took care of her and I got to know her and she was incredibly sweet and had no capacity to understand what had happened, but she was scared. But goddamn it I became like a father to her and I worried about her. It was wonderful, it was emotional, it was amazing. I don't remember exactly what happened in the end, but I woke up feeling happy. It's been a long time coming.

Anyhow, I am out folks. As mentioned, an update to the JRL is probably due this weekend. I'll also aim to get in another post before then! Have a nice day.