The perks of being a cinema worker.

Cinema work is yet another perspective that I've taken for granted. One thing I'll say; popcorn off carpet has to be one of the hardest things to clean effectively and efficiently.

 

As I sit here with my regular cup of tea and ponder the future, new details come into knowledge and old ones end up helping define them clearer. I'm finally, definitely, out of that lost feeling of such a prolonged reverse culture shock. While I treasure my moments overseas and they shaped to become this new me; I know it means nothing unless I start moving forward and onwards.

I've been seeing tons of Melbourne lately and I'm loving finally being a tourist in my own city; Mount Dandenong, the Royal Botanical Gardens, St Kilda, Southbank... there's more to come and I can't wait.

Last assignments are coming up; essays piecing apart films, advertisement analysis and group work all complete. I find I'm feeling so productive when I'm on a roll, with some Sufjan Stevens accompanying my laptop's keyboard clacking away on a Word document. I've chosen Stoker and The Purge for my film essays, mainly because I've been so fascinated by the visual imagery and themes in both as of recently. I'll include trailers below of both for your interest.

Stoker (2013)

The Purge (2013)

The weather's getting warmer, the next season ice skating classes are coming up... and it's October! This time next month, I'll be full swing in last minute preparations for my study tour to the States. Remembering the necessary arrangements is a little scary, but it's oh so very exciting to be heading out again.

Country time and a catch up.

It's so easy to forget just how far I've come.

I'm not talking travel, I'm talking family. I went to visit Mildura during my week off from uni.

 

It's been a refreshing time off from work, which I've been thankful for. Work's definitely been more challenging lately and I've ended up second guessing myself. Which is ridiculous because I have confidence in my work. The problem just seems to be clashes of perspective when it comes to upselling and service.

...always putting in 100% only to be told it's not enough and another 30% is required? You'd be frustrated too. Especially when tips say I'm doing perfectly fine.

 

University's really starting to get interesting as I start looking at Freud and Oedipus in my film psychology classes. I went and saw Now You See Me in cinemas and recommend it. I mean, magicians.

That's all from me for now... stay awesome, guys.

See, heaven's got a plan for you...

So I spent the past couple of days with these handsome devils. Inevitably more silly, consumption of alcohol, some TV shows, and other corruptive activities.

Much fun, especially having time off work for a bit. I hadn't realised how driven I'd been by work until my cousin pulled me aside for a chat. He ended up using my constant mantra 'work to live and not vice versa' without even knowing he was quoting it, and he told me not to lose sight of who I am.

Sometimes I wonder who the heck I am. I've done a lot of juggling; daughter, sister, niece, cousin, friend, student, waitress, customer, commuter. I seem to be whatever the situation needs me to be, but there's the constant part that seems to shine. We can never truly know ourselves and others - we know what we're not when we encounter it and it makes us want to throw up and feel shame for knowing such thing. You know what I mean? When something just resists the very fibre of our being and we can definitively say, "Oh there's no way".

Of course, I'm always doubtful. It's in my nature. I don't trust compliments, so imagine my reaction if somebody were to say they had feelings for me? For a pessimist, I'm pretty optimistic.

I long for freedom. And I just very well may find it someday.

 

 

Les Misérables was quite fantastic. Of course, I went in with not much known about plot and with no prior knowledge of the novel or play, so count me happy. I wasn't comparing it to anything, I was just watching. I've always been one for watching things; even with video games I'm quite content to watch game play instead of actually playing. Anne Hathaway deserves some kind of award for her performance; watching her character fall into such a downward spiral... And also Éponine, one of the oldest examples of friend zone.

SO MANY EMOTIONS.

I hope you are well...

Seasonal snapshots.

Christmas at Chadstone.

There's something about this time of year. 

Maybe it's the constant consumerism being shovelled down my throat.

Maybe it's the gingerbread frappuccino.

Maybe it's the fact that things are changing, and it's all very exciting and scary.

Christmas at Starbucks City Square.

Work is keeping me busy as Christmas draws nearer. I'm starting to look forward to Christmas traditions; watching I'll Be Home For Christmas with my younger sister (it's such a terrible film but it somehow became our tradition), my stepdad's mashed potato, the obvious lamb roast inclusion for Christmas lunch,  leftovers for Christmas dinner, and cats pouncing on wrapping paper/hiding in bags and boxes.

I'm starting to pack up my apartment here in Melbourne. So much accumulates over the year, and hey, it's time to move again. I'm a things and stuff kind of person. I guess I'm a teenage gypsy. Hey, maybe I should just have a caravan to put my things and stuff in. Of course, a car would be helpful to move around.

I've been looking around at clothes and equipment I'll need for Swedish living. Gulp.

I've delved into Elbow's lengthy discography a little more, and I'm pacing myself slowly. Cast of Thousands has a renewed optimism that somehow works with their already seemingly melancholic style. I'm incredulous about the fact that this time last year I was carefully delving through Muse's lengthy discography sequentially; they've ended up being one of my staple bands. Time seems to just fly.

Elbow's Asleep in the Back seems to have become a staple album for me at the moment. Songs like 'Powder Blue' tell of a yearning that I feel like I've felt recently. That piano, that guitar...I'm especially obsessed with that glass smash in the last few seconds of that track. Despite my lack of knowledge of the technicalities and how it works, music has always evoked powerful emotional responses for me, both of joy and melancholy. It's calmed me down and roused me. It's motivating and discouraging.

I hope you're not being trampled by Christmas/consumerism enthusiasts. I forget that there's a distinction between them nowadays so it's just easier not to try remembering it.

...have I mentioned how cynic I've become?

Happy Halloween...

Credit: Miriam Preis/imagebanksweden.se

So I'm on the road to recovery.

This road also happened to include Halloween just past. I dressed up for Halloween for the first time in my twenty year life span. Making the costume itself turned out to be loads of fun as well; making FAKE BLOOD and throwing it on some old clothes proved a healthy expression of my insanity. I should really throw paint at a canvas sometime soon.

Blood covered at Flinders Street Station? Check.

I was very pleased with my judgment of colour
and hitting the precise shade I wanted.

My friend Sam and I went to Cinema Nova's MonsterFest Opening Night. The ABCs of Death was shown: 26 directors, all given a letter of the alphabet with a way to die in mind, and otherwise complete creative control. 26 shorts, each lasting a few minutes, all combined into one film, almost like a little film festival of horror.

Melbourne love.

There were people in costume and mine was one of five finalists (the winner was somewhat well deserved, in my opinion). There was also representatives from ZombieHire.com, and the zombie they had brought along was gaping at my costume. I was terrified he was thinking of me being wife material. One fellow film enthusiast asked if I was Carrie (Stephen King obviously), and I guess I had been subconsciously channelling her, now that I think about it properly. A more restrained version, perhaps.

...now with less telepathy!

...there are less than TWO weeks until Coldplay.

I'm from the future, go to China.

I was officially accepted today. This, of course, sets a bunch of things in motion; flight bookings, residency permit applications, new passport photos etc. Thank goodness I already have a passport or I would have just given up.

I'm still reeling from the course of events that motivated me to apply to go in the first place. And I did so under the impression that being accepted was unlikely. But here we are. Somebody over there thinks I'm brilliant and want me over there.

My long distance walking is going well. A highlight was stopping at McDonald's for a bite during my walk (in my exercise clothes, I might add), acknowledging to the girl serving me that "[it] is just funny" and prompting a giggle out of her.

I saw Looper with a friend and thoroughly enjoyed it. You know a film is good if you personally enjoyed it - and the critics agree. It played fantastically with the rules of time travel, and let's just say Joseph Gordon-Levitt got me excited to see it beforehand.

 

Things and Stuff.

Hello there! I've been quite busy lately and it feels like I never have enough time lately. Uni will be finishing in a couple of weeks and I've been working as much as I can.

It's always awkward when a customer deliberately catches my eye and I walk over to ask what they want. Only to find it was just awkward eye contact and nothing more. Because waitresses are meant to be invisible unless the customer wants something.

I'm looking forward to the releases of Chad Sugg's Was and Muse's The 2nd Law album releases this coming week. I've also been eagerly enraptured by the current episodes of Doctor Who; now that I caught up with the series' reboot onwards, I'm watching episodes as they come out now. Such a renewed excitement. I finished Dollhouse last week and felt slightly disappointed, it's not Joss Whedon's best.

*coughAvengersBuffyCabincough* 

I also watched Ruby Sparks yesterday and was slightly impressed. It was not so much a rom-dramedy as a reflection on writers and their creations, so the story still appealed to me despite the love story. You can't predict a relationship even if you have total creative control.

This love is ours.

Recommends!

So in about three weeks, I'll be done with this trimester of uni. I have an exam (boo, hiss) and a couple of big assignments to go. Trying my best. That's all I can really do.

Other than that; I just read John Green's The Fault In Our Stars, and I can see why people why are enamoured with it - because I am too. It was another one of those books I couldn't put down; the characters were very down to earth and I can't imagine losing somebody really close to me to cancer. It's a very touching book that I would recommend to anybody.

Also just saw Napoleon Dynamite for the first time, and it was a film I quite liked without logic; things happened as the characters were developed; not like the traditional character development/things happen/character re-evaluates themselves/character is restored/happy ending linear format. Plus that dance and its aftermath was quite remarkable.

I'm eagerly awaiting Chad Sugg's new EP Modern Sway; the release has been delayed, but he's put up the EP for a free preview. Shake Shake and 25 are stand out tracks. I myself, I'm still reeling from Wizards. This guy doesn't get enough credit; compared to 'top chart' people like Paris Hilton who get attention for doing nothing.

Julie Benz is coming to the Melbourne leg of Oz Comic Con; the wonderful actress from shows like Buffy, Angel, Dexter, Supernatural; the list goes on. Oz Comic Con is shaping up to be a wonderful choice of mine!

And Once Upon A Time has started airing here in Australia (I think the US just got the Season 1 finale, double boo). From the first couple of episodes I've seen (it's mainly a lot of setting up, which is fairly necessary for any series, I mean look at how Buffy started out!) I quite like it so far.

I'm out of touch, I'm out of love...

I can't get over Rupert Grint in Ed Sheeran's music video for Lego House. I watched it so many times, I heard the song on the radio and started singing along. Eventually bought the album.

Coincidentally, I'll be going to see him live in August. The album's incredible, especially considering how young he is! (About a year older than me).

I don't know if you can gather, but I read The Hunger Games before seeing the film; the shaky camera was annoying, but it was a deliberate and calculated choice that amplifies the film, which I can't deny after seeing it twice.

Real or not real?

I'll be going to Oz Comic Con and a True Blood Con, both within the month of July.

Sam Trammell, anyone?
He'll be at the True Blood con.

Sean Maher, also known as Simon on Firefly.
He'll be at the Oz Comic Con.

I think Stan Lee is at Oz as well, but I was never a huge fan of comic books or graphic novels. Scott Pilgrim is the closest I'll get on that topic. Scott is the exception.

Charlaine Harris is also going to be at True Blood! I've just finished Deadlocked and I agree with the majority of reviews; this is a better book, considering the past couple of books. Eric/Sookie fans will be slightly disappointed, but I think their relationship in this book is portrayed realistically; you can only be in the 'in love' stage for so long and their relationship becomes a little more strained. This is a book of answers; the cluviel dor, fairy stuff, and people of Bon Temps seem to be settling down.

I've been pretty busy with my life in Melbourne. Adjusting from something huge like the Thailand trip hasn't been the best of things, considering 5-6 days a week I'm going it alone, figuratively. It's difficult when people or things to inspire me just haven't been working as well for me. I've loved this usually, right now I just can't explain it.

Wait. I can in one word.

Reality.

Nostalgia: School Plays

I can recall plays from my childhood that I found myself either envying or having a great time.

I can remember in grade one, I think we did a combination of Madeline with songs about the seasons. I could recall wanting to be a leaf; the costumes were something like 2Dish and looked something like this, and the choreography they were doing looked like much fun. Ungrateful little me; I was cast as one of the twelve girls (I know I definitely wasn't Madeline) and we pretty much re-enacted those repetitive bedroom scenes with Ms Clavel. Songs performed included "Surfin' USA" (Summer) and "California Dreamin'" (the latter, for our purposes, was edited for Autumn for some reason).

One in grade four I think was a competition or extravaganza of some sort; we had been studying The Wizard of Oz for music class and performed a few songs, among a few different acts from other schools. I was cast as a munchkin, I can remember wearing my flower girl dress from my mother's second wedding (which at the time had been two years previously; it was a tight but still passable fit) and we had the four main characters cast. We didn't have a yellow brick road, sadly, but us munchkins pretty much learned to part on cue and instruct the four to follow 'the yellow brick road', they would pass through the gap and then we all danced out after them as a closing to our act.

♥

There's honesty, and then there's brutal, but realistic honesty.

And cuteness.

Sin City!

My goodness, why hadn't I seen this film sooner? It's a visually stunning piece.

I knew about two minutes in that it was going to be a visual treat for me, in addition to the storyline. It's films like this that keep my analytic mind in check. Vegetation is not an option for me, even with this five month break I'm three months into. 

This was also the second instance of renting instead of buying a film or television series, then watching it and wishing that I had bought it. 

The first instance was the complete series of Firefly. I just want to watch the opening titles every time. Are there any shows that you just leave the opening credits going because they're that awesome? It depends if I'm having a marathon of the show or what; but for me there's Dexter, NCIS, True Blood (the latter when it returns for a new season and you're just bursting with excitement all over again) and The Slap, which is simply a clear plate breaking in slow motion.

The DVD menu for Sin City is quite hypnotic; I think I sat there watching it for a couple of minutes before I had actually started watching it.