How The Weather Has Turned

I remember when I was first in Sydney I was looking for places that had foxtel connections so that I could get cable internet. I thought it would be easier and convenient, since I had used a cable internet setup at home. Man, what an idiot I was. ADSL2+ is the greatest thing to happen to the internet since the creation of the internet itself! So fast!!

Dreams with choices are weird. They're weird because you have no control over what's happening, so in the end it will probably appear random. What's weirder is when your subconscious is capable of providing top notch action and multiple layers of context. Survival always becomes a theme in mine, I don't know why that is. I guess the urge to survive is so intense that it can pervade your subconscious and have an impact on your dreams.

Case in point was from last night. I just seemed to be in this open plain with some other people with ground level apartment complex in the middle. We heard this music and then all of a sudden some guy released all these lions and then started machine gunning them to death right in front of us. Then he deliberately started missing them, and then they started to run...in our direction. Of course this scared the crap out of us and for some silly reason we ran into the apartments, where of course the lions followed. What came next was an utterly terrifying encounter where we were running from room to room, escaping lions that were edging closer and closer to us. Then all of a sudden it cut back to the beginning of the dream where the music was playing and the lyrics of the song were blatantly saying "run to the open" and I realised that as the lions were being shot, we should have run further out into the open, where we would not have been cornered. It would have been easy!

Interesting don't you think?

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

PS.. Yes, I know I keep saying it but I will attempt to update the Joaquin Rate List ((JRL) soon!

I'm Glad You Don't Know What I'm Thinking

I tell you what, there's NOTHING that compares to seeing the other and having a damn good jam session. Ideas flying all over the place and just sweet sweet melodies coming together. I am very inspired right now. Also had a chance to advance a little bit in our Army of 2 campaign. Fabulous game - the co-op mode is incredibly well done, though I would like to see a stealth mission soon. I had no idea guns were so expensive, nor that AK-47's were so cheap!! What a crazy market the black market is. Of course that's dependent on whether the prices in the game reflect real world prices.

I bought the Kid Sister album Ultraviolet. I'm happy as it was incredibly hard to find the other day!! I'm loving it so far! Buying an album with great songs - not just singles, is truly a unique feat in this day and age unfortunately. So when it does happen, I am incredibly happy.

I bought an electronic drum pad the other day, the Ashton something or other, and it goes well with my drumsticks! My arms are all dead from drumming like a mofo last night for like 2 hours, but amazingly enough, my guitar skills were wickedly good! I even got into an hour long solo jamming to Stevie Ray Vaughan's Texas Flood! My only gripe with the Ashton is the horrible foot pedals, the circuit keeps completing itself when I move my foot even slightly and hence I keep getting a bass drum beat when I did not want it to happen, however I suspect it will teach me a bit about controlling my feet. The response is not amazing, and as a result, I probably drummed hard and I am in pain. I even used a reverse grip and used my sticks butt end out, which I was still able to control nicely!

The other realised that all we require now is a keyboard and we have everything we need to start recording our tracks to resemble something professional. I cannot wait. Cause without the trace of conceit, I'd like to say that the other and I are damn good. Really good!

Got to hear some of the other's old songs and they were fantastic, and had elements of Third Eye Blind about it, which I'm sure the other will be happy to hear. I also unveiled my showpiece, which consists of about 12 chords in the one song, with a structure inspired by John Mayer's No Such Thing, and a turnaround very reminiscent of Bruce Hornsby's The Way It Is. The other was suitably impressed. Very jazzy chords and a wide pop feel.

I've floated the idea with the other of having an all out songwriting session soon. Can't wait to see what comes from that.

I had a look at guitars the other day and I have my eyes set on a Gibson ES-335, and I have to say that they play like a dream! But I love Maple necks so much, they are so smooth on the hands and are incredibly conducive to bending strings. However, even with a huge reduction on the price, I figured that it would not be fair on my Yamaha RGX, cause I spent an absolute crapload on it, and I have barely played it. I don't spend money like other people, so if I didn't drop the 1 thousand dollars on it, it would be in my bank account now earning interest, I would not have bought anything else with it. The guitar deserves my respect, and it is easily my best sounding guitar, so I should use it!

That's it for now folks. I need to relax my wrists and get some guitar recording on!

"You're not the boss of me now!"

Malcolm in the Middle is the story of my life - except I'm not the middle child.

The incredibly dysfunctional family, the constant yelling. That is my family!

Overlooked smart guy, with underlying psychological problems as a result of his upbringing, check!

God that show is brilliant.

Should be seeing the other for a jam tomorrow so should have a spot or more of some brilliance!

The satisfaction of not knowing what happens next

I wonder if when you die whether God will have a statistical breakdown of your life. Those who have played Grand Theft Auto San Andreas will know that you can go to the menu to find out various stats from your gameplay. Hours played, distance traveled by foot, by air, bullets fired etc. I think that would be excellent, I wonder how my life will end up! There's also a similar statistical system for Operation Flashpoint, which is also brutal cause it has poor accuracy! Haha.

Here's to finding out eh?

Joaquin out!

When youth strikes

I've been watching the Jurassic Park series.

I saw Jurassic Park the other day and it was wonderful to feel like a child and just be awed by the epic quality of the film.

Saw the second film tonight, and of course it is vastly inferior to the original.

However, it does hold special significance for me. I remember many many years ago, we were at somebody's house who ran a Unix based computer system in this hugeee bedroom, and all my friend and I did was stay in his darkened room and watch the lost world on a low quality VCD. It was wonderful, the night dragged on, I drank plenty of coke and it was exciting (as I had not seen the lost world at the movies).

Ahh to be young again.

"We Crash Into Each Other Just So We Can Feel Something"

This has to be the 4th car accident I've ever witnessed in my life. Not the aftermath, but hearing it happen and then seeing what actually did happen!

Similar to the one I saw at my 1st place in Sydney (I'm sure I blogged about it - you will have to look through to find it). I heard the squeal of tyres after hard braking, and then the impact.

Came out and saw that a P-Plater (provisional licence holder) had crashed right into the back of a van parked on the kerb on the street. Either they were going too fast around the "blind" corner at the bottom of the street, or they took their eyes off the road, or both!

Either way, you're an idiot if you have an accident on a suburban street, and it's obvious that it was your fault!

Enjoy!

That was the life I should have had...

Apologies, I was meant to blog last night, but I got an attack of the guitarage and I just had to play that Paganini inspired section from Crossroads, as composed by Steve Vai. I can remember that I had tried for the longest time previously to learn to play it, but I just could not, and the notes did not sound right, even playing slowly. But my guitar skills (overall) have gotten much better, and I gave it a damn good go last night. I'm quite happy with myself, I picked up the fast flowing notes after the chordal arpeggios. Needless to say, it took a while, hence no blog. But I do feel like sharing my thoughts with you, me, God.

I know previously I had railed (I don't know if it was public though), against Boost Juice, but I have to say, that after trying them, I am rather hooked. It's good stuff!! My fave is the mango tango, so good. Nice and smooth, like a liquid yogurt. Could do with a price cut though.

I went to a place called Cream in the City, and I gotta say it's the worst service ever. Ordered an OJ with everyone's drinks and it never came! We had to ask again, and then it came 20 mins later! It's just juice damn it! Then to top it off, they had put 3 OJ's on the bill instead of 2. Geniuses. It took AGES to get served, I can't believe the audacity of the wait staff there. But that is probably because they are not real wait staff. I am reminded of an episode of Seinfeld where Elaine was offended because the wait staff at the Coffee Shop were all busty attractive women. However, Cream has waitresses who are all good looking, and incredibly fit, as they must (or at least it's implied) wear impossibly tight shirts and pants. My friends and I are of the opinion that the owners don't even hire decently qualified waitresses, they're all just probably sluts who screw the owners in order to get jobs. Judging from the vibe on the floor, this may be true.

As that rant is over, I can move on to other things. I remember reading on wiki the other day (the source of all factual information, of course) that revered Chef Anthony Bourdain had described vegetarianism in these terms:

Bourdain is also known for sarcastic comments about people who are vegan or vegetarian, feeling that their lifestyle is rude to those who inhabit the many countries he visits. Bourdain has said he considers vegetarianism, except in the case of religious strictures as in India, a "first world luxury".

At first, I totally agreed with him. Vegetarianism or veganism by choice, as opposed to health or religious reasons just seems utterly stupid. Meat did help us to evolve into the creatures we are today. We can thank meat for our brain development and capacity, and civilization. And being from a place where it is customary to eat meat, and it will be offensive for you to refuse to eat meat, I can totally see the logic in Bourdain's statement. In places like that, vegetarianism only exists for religious reasons, or among the expatriates returning from Western countries. It really does seem a first world luxury, where in other places you have no choice but to eat meat! However, the other argument is that shouldn't humanity/civilization have the freedom to choose what they desire? If people believe killing animals for meat is unethical, shouldn't they have the choice to not eat it? After pondering this argument, I gave up for a while, and now I have no opinion on the subject!

It looked like it was going to be a packed weekend, and I am not down with that. However, things have opened up nicely, and I'm looking forward to getting in some more guitar, as well as a movie (I'm thinking Jurassic Park), as well as some exercise and games. I'm going to my friend's place tonight to play some Modern Warfare 2 Co-Op on the Xbox 360, which should always be grand.

Yeah yeah, I know. The Joaquin Rate List (JRL) will be up shortly!

I did mention a few blogs ago that I had felt uneasy about leaving my old job and leaving Sydney to move back home and take up this job. I think it's because I felt that prestige, that pretentiousness that came with the brand name that I had worked for. I walked the streets knowing I was better than everyone else. I was in great shape. I enjoyed the city, I was more proactive about my life, I got a lot more done at home. Even if I did nothing, I could just look at things and just live. The area I lived and the place I worked had no feral people (or at least in very small number).

I miss that feeling. Here I feel like I'm just like everyone else, and I don't know if I can deal with that. Why would I go back? I get paid more now, and seeing my bank balance continually go up, as opposed to down with rent and other bills, is just a wonderful feeling. I also have time after work to watch movies and tv shows. It's different. Hell has harbour views I guess.

It feels like everything has come full circle. The other is back, friends who used to live far away have moved back in to the immediate vicinity, and it feels like High School again. We're back to where we started. We are aimless, directionless, and that conjures up a lot of negative feelings for me. I'm not going to live forever.

Regardless, this was a long post, and I felt it was one of the better ones I've made lately, so I hope you've enjoyed it. Have a nice day folks! Joaquin out.

You rock it four ways?

Hopefully should be starting a revolution and moving places with the other, but let's see how that pans out!

I have recently been turned on to the music of Kid Sister, and goddamn that stuff is fantastic! I've been meaning to get into some smooth hip hop as of late, but this is more electro hip hop. It has elements of house and I'm very happy about that. I think I'll buy her latest album, it is THAT good that I am willing to put my money on it. She's also a fox too, but that's not important.

The other day I got to chat with a former colleague over e-mail and we had a really interesting chat about racism. The content of the chat is not that important, nor groundbreaking, but it was really nice to converse with someone on the same intellectual level. I like to debate - though I have not done so in a long time!

Work is interesting to say the least! I have nothing to do. I've done all I can do, and now stuff is in the hands of other people, so I'm just sitting there on wikipedia for 70% of the day bored out of my mind! It would be easier if I was in a less central location and I could play some chess! I'm so out of practice, but it's not like I'm losing skill, since I was not all that crash hot to begin with. My new team is also not that welcoming. They tend to have their social conversations away from me, but that's all good. I guess they think I'm just a hard worker and not into that sort of stuff.

A while ago, the Chaser's War On Everything got in a lot of hot water regarding a song they made which listed people who had recently died, as well as their character flaws which were widely publicised when they were alive. I think we take it easy on the dead! People need to remember how people were, not the idealised picture of them, regardless of whether they are dead or not. Horrible statement here and case in point: nobody is defending Hitler (except Oliver Stone - you idiot). But it's because people remember him like he actually was, and HOPEFULLY mistakes of the past can be erased, though not forgotten.

Hmm I had a bit more to say, but I think I will leave that for the next entry! Have a nice day folks! Joaquin out.

The Storm Has Passed, But It Is Getting Cloudy Again

From the start of things this year, things are not going well for this blog! 2 posts in for 2k10! I have a feeling it's going to be a slow year, but that's ok! We'll keep blogging till we're dead.

I'll also aim to get the other to post some time soon.

I have not been up to much, just work really. I'm looking forward to having the weekend to myself for a change, as my last few have been taken from me. I hereby proclaim today to be movies/guitar day! I hereby proclaim tomorrow to be games day!

That sounds good to me! I can't wait to relax.

T-Man has expressed an interest in meeting up next week, which should be good for the public holiday due soon, and the other should also be able to make it. Let's see if the planets can align for this one.

I have been getting a lot of ideas down and have started to layer some additional guitar lines over existing material. This has enabled me to use Adobe Audition's multi-tracking system, which needless to say, is ridiculously easy to use. Just need to get the other to pick up his guitar again!

I don't know if I mentioned it previously, but I have bought a pair of drumsticks. I was watching Lars Ulrich's previous performances and I like his sticks - they're black with white tips from the shoulder onwards. I bought myself a similar pair (though Lars uses Easton Ahead, mine were significantly cheaper). I have been enjoying the air drumming process, but it is a bane on my wrists, with nothing to hit against. However, I am looking to buy an electronic practice pad machine, which is damn awesome! Just need that and a keyboard (for piano of course), and I can start getting some ideas a little more fleshed out!

Yes yes, I know I said that I would update the Joaquin Rate List (JRL), I will get around to it soon!

For those that have been following us throughout the years, you would probably know that one of my pet hates is being accused of something that you didn't do, or something you're not even capable of doing. This idea hit home yesterday when I was visiting a friend. I guess I scared the hell out of some people! But I can look back with a laugh for now.

I heard an interesting statement when I was joking around with another friend the other day. I deliberately misquoted her and she said "I remember NOT saying that" - I've never heard it phrased that way. I've usually heard "I don't remember saying that". Instantly a factual issue arises. I don't remember saying that - it's implicit that what you've accused them of saying has some factual basis, as it is assumed that they have said something, they just cannot remember. Conversely, the other statement makes them prove that they did not say it. I just thought it was interesting how it flipped my mode of thinking for a change. Something to ponder over I guess!

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

PS I've also gotta give props to the other for introducing me to Google Chrome. We originally started using it for Google Wave, but as a browser, it is vastly superior to IE in every way. It also runs so much faster and doesn't chew up RAM. Good pick!

Getting there

I will be travelling for work tomorrow so I will have to keep this short so I can get enough sleep.

I must again give kudos to the other for introducing me to dropbox. It's an online cloud system of file sharing, and goddamn, it is perfection. I installed the software, and it's working like a dream. I'd advise everyone to give it a try!

Been working on a few ideas, and fixing up some of the old songs, which fills me with a sense of accomplishment, so that's always a good thing.

The other is back and I have been trying to get him to blog when he's feeling well. Hopefully we can learn of his adventures.

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

Victim Of My Own Competence

Goddamn! I am so ridiculously busy it is not funny! I have to do all the work from my previous role as well as my new one until the old role is backfilled. But that's ok, I'll get it done, I just have to nut it out. It's a classic though, cause it's in stark contrast to my final days in my old job, just a few weeks ago! It's good to feel stressed now and then, it's where I thrive well. It lead my former team to say that I'm a victim of my own competence, as I did such an excellent job in my last role. I'll be travelling for work next week.

People strive for importance in the things they do, the things that will define them in the eyes of others. I feel I am lacking that at the moment. I guess I'll have to wait and see how long that lasts. Make a difference. Positive change and all that wanky jazz.

The other should be back fairly shortly, and hopefully should be updating you all on his adventures while he was offline.

I have been watching a lot of the Ultimate Fighter and UFC, and it's been brilliant because I used to do Martial Arts through college, mainly Kung Fu and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and it's brought back some great memories. While I don't enjoy the full on beat down of people for no reason, I do enjoy the strategy that goes on, and I love the submission rather than the KO. I remember when some of the bigger guys were laughing cause they thought the guard position was "gay", and then I invited them to take me on in a friendly spar, and even though they were stand up martial artists, they still took me down, and of course, they fell in my guard and I just cranked the guillotine choke (my personal fave), and they gave up in seconds, utter hilarity!

In fact I would like to fight all the people I've hated, or gave me a hard time in high school/college, just to see if I could do myself proud. It's not about the win, just to see what I'm capable of. Of course I have been out of practice for years now, and I'm definitely out of shape, but I'd think that I'm stronger than I've ever been, and I'm mentally more tough than I used to be.

You know what's wrong? When I realise that around, in cars and so on, there are a lack of suits. They used to be all over the place a decade ago, after all, this is a public servant town. But they've been replaced by bright yellow tops and utes. This has become a tradesman's town and that's why things suck lately. Tradies have no class. I'm grateful they get the job done, but damn man, tradies and laborers, money will not buy you class.

I engaged in a fun task the other night with a friend. I called it the "gallery of fail". Basically, I went through all the facebook profiles of girls who rejected me throughout my life (which was a bloody substantial number in hindsight), and sent him pictures, as well as a blurb about each girl and what went wrong. Some may think that it would be punishing or too emotional. You know what? I enjoyed it. It was cathartic. Sometimes, things turn out like they should. It was good to see how people have changed, and a lot of them got fat! But damn, some of them are as beautiful as ever. But oh well, things are fine!

I guess it's these people who make up the tapestry of your life, regardless of whether things are a little frayed around the edges sometimes.

That's enough for now folks. JRL update soon. Have a nice day! Joaquin out.

2k10

Happy new year people!

Let me get my act together and I can post something worthwhile.

The other should be back on his way here.

Other than that, hope all is good.

Joaquin out.