Friday, September 30, 2005

Mmm, Chicken

Like, wow. sometimes I amaze myself. I bought a book 7 hours ago - finished it 2 hours ago. took about half an hour to get home. It was like watching a movie, albeit a longer one. and bam, it's gone. barely touched an essay, and I'm not likely to now while the west wing is in the background and the amazing amount of work I'm facing tomorrow. from midday to 6am. 18 hours, minus what ever breaks I can get.

So, I'm going to stop this post, finish watching west wing, and get some zeds. posted by Keegan at 9:53 pm ... 0 comments

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Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Ads and Frustration

There's a few ads out there that I like, funny, poignant, interesting, funky - and they all end demanding that I be a consumer. these 30 seconds of a situation, or a joke, a moment in time which could have been designed purely for the sake of making people smile, making them think - instead encouraging a sap like me to buy things I don't need.

logisitically, I can survive on Youth Allowance, and instead of working I could be volunteering for various projects. it's the little additional things that consumerism entices me into that keeps me in the workforce. Phone is the closest one... no, i stand corrected. my fingers are touching the computer connected to a monthly bill. I'm wearing clothes (thank god, I hear you sigh in relief), but they were all bought this year. There's always an ever growing list of things I want, and to buy them would bring temporary distraction, peace even, but then there'd be just one more thing.

So I Joined The Greens. I buy Adbusters every time I can find a new one. I read books about Peak Oil Theory and the coming collapse. I'm not ready to opt out, but I desire it. Sustainable living, clothes patched stitched and as old as time, fighting off the hordes that didn't opt out ahead of time. posted by Keegan at 8:18 pm ... 0 comments

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Tuesday, September 27, 2005

The Best Things In Life Are Free..

But I've Been Working And I Want This CD.

I really need a distraction right now, cos even doing homework (and I'm actually getting work done believe it or not), I've got money to burn and I'm not at work, I haven't been out of kenso house all day, and there's this girl in the apartment across the way and I can't tell if she's checking me out or not, cos she's just staring aimlessly out the window, and it's getting very confusing.

wait. I just bought a T-shirt and a CD for $44. it's reasonable, yeah? I mean, like you'd pay about $22 for each anyway, and now i'll hae a shirt with a band on it that I like, and a new Cd by the band that I like. and this is sounding like so much babble.

Look, I'll go up the coast after all. A bit of a breather, say hi to folks, get fed, and breathe some air that doesn't taste like it's been through a diesel engine. If i've got money to burn on CDs, I've got money to burn on petrol to see people.

I bought a Desk to do homework on, but I'm not ready to use it yet, still need to pre-study a couple of things (like how realpolitik seems to morph into liberalism in the key era, after all the congress of vienna resulted in the concert of europe, and how is that not an international organisation that secured peace, rather than the balance of power securing peace? and how to superimpose the theory on the arab world more than a century after?) and this is just one essay.

one more week and maybe these distractions won't be so distracting. posted by Keegan at 4:48 pm ... 0 comments

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Sunday, September 25, 2005

Staffies = Idiot.

woah. *drunken post* I started working at midday, the racecourse, and wow the princesses were out and about, flirtatous and curious about the reindeer horn bottle opener. not that it brought more than $7 in tips. and then after 5.5hr of gruelling beer-pouring, I race back home to change my white shirt and tie for a black shirt, and off to the horden for Bugg'n, a steady flow of work from 6:30-12:15. I need some moisturiser for my hands. but the thing is, at 12:15, the staff were still sitting around, drinking the drinks we had opened but couldn't sell due to restrictions, so I pour back ten or so, which included significant amounts of red bull, hence the post and the email survey (if you're lucky and on cathy's list).

people were out the past two nights, and I needed the money, hence the work. it's gonna be even nastier next week - it starts at the race course, continues all night at sleazeball (tips are going to be un-fucking-believable, buzz for details), and then on sunday I'll be at the call centre again. If I don't make a move the tuesday after, somebody owes me a slapping.

I might be down the coast this wednesday - i've got the time, the money, the inclination. so far. those essays might become more imposing by then... we'll see. for now, it's 3AM and I Must Be Lonely Uh. posted by Keegan at 2:44 am ... 1 comments

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Thursday, September 22, 2005

I Can See Your House From Up Here.

It's an ancient saying, meant to be both a boast and a threat. But, it also means I can pin-point my apartment using Google Earth. Swing your pointer towards 33*54'34.02"S 151*13'17.59"E, and amaze yourself at the cars parked outside Kenso House a year ago. If anything it's made it seem more of a good move, because booker bay is a blur in comparison to the detail here.

and it's great for perspective. just hold down the shrink button and watch your world turn into a dot. beats solitaire for timewasting, and I just dread the day when we've got collars on and they can find us like this in real time. Luckily civilization will collapse well before that. Revolution. posted by Keegan at 9:46 pm ... 0 comments

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Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Oh My God Becky, Look At Her Shirt.

Montana. Founded In . A gorgeous mountain state in the north of the US, it was founded in 1864. after the civil war. which was why, to my suprise, I saw a shirt working at supre tonight that had MONTANA in big capitals, with the Confederate Flag below. Which doesn't make any sense. I can't see any deeper witticism, and I spent my break reading Machiavelli - The Prince. I know deeper meaning.

Thing is, it's frustrating for a guy who knows about these things. sure, I liked the "boy scouting" shirt, because I can relate to it, and I know girls who'd get that shirt and wear it because the people around them would get the joke as well. This shirt though, is historically inaccurate, and I can only assume that it as bought with thought leaning towards the appeal of Jessica Simpson in Dukes of Hazzard.

There's no appeal there for me. I can't listen to clothes talk, make-up talk, and pretend to be interested in the slightest. If the montana shirt didn't click as being in error, I'm more likely to hesitate lest I get caught in something I don't want to get involved in.

and there's been a sentence I want to lay down somewhere, a thought stuck in my head before I fell asleep last night, and remembering this morning, and again now, so it might have some worth...

"I just want to curl up in a ball so tight, so tightly that I collapse in upon myself and cease to exist. "

kind of being frozen by fear, and wanting to escape the situation. 'cept I'm not really feeling like that, it's just an image that stuck with me. posted by Keegan at 10:07 pm ... 0 comments

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Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Woah.

I'm just amazed at how nothing this day was. I woke up roughly twelve hours ago, and I got nothing worthwhile done except deleting porn. all of it. every last byte. I'm old enough now. I'm getting ever closer to the end of HL2, just getting impatient now whenever there's a tricky bit, and I've put my uni books on the freezer behind me to guilt me into study, only it just didn't work today because I've not wanted to do anything. I've worked about as much as I used to at coles in the past four days, and I couldn't keep up the momentum today.

But what's suprising me around now is how much attention everyone else is giving oil, about as much as I do on a regular basis. I've always got an eye on the crude price, as archived posts will attest, and my end of the world daydreams usually involve oil. Zombies just make it violent. They emphasise the breakdown of society. But it's more likely to be riots at the pump. just glad I'm somewhere within walking distance of the city, for careers without cars. posted by Keegan at 10:04 pm ... 0 comments

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Monday, September 19, 2005

Nano-Skanks Over The Reichstag

a) iPod Nano. the most drool-worthy gadget I've seen this side of the N-Gage when I first got it. and look at how much happiness that brought me (less than this current phone) . It's wafer thin, and if it was any cheaper I'd be craving it. I had a couple of minutes to browse JB before I started a stocktake at Supre, and I was just in awe at how thin it was. also in awe at the $10 it would cost me to own Evolution. cheap comedy sci-fi, unlike Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, which is coming out this week. as is Coheed and Cambria's Third Album. The Video Clip was just aweso.

b)Skanky Clothes there were, but not all the clothes. Some may have been nice - without a feminine body to view them on, I just couldn't tell. A shirt made me smile though - Boy Scouting, the symbol of the scouting movement to emphasise the pun.

c) The photo in the bottom left corner is one of the Russians over Berlin as it burns, in the Reichstag or looking over it I'm not quite sure. but it's absolutely amazing what linz has done to this place, compared to the other skins this blog has had. and other sites around the place. if you like what you see, and you want something designed for you, check him out at www.expojah.com .

writing's been off-key this past week, I know. maybe once i finish half-life 2 again, thing's'll get better. posted by Keegan at 10:34 pm ... 1 comments

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Sunday, September 18, 2005

Zombies

best monster ever. Metaphor for Communism in old black and white movies, a warning in the modern age against the loss of individuality in capitalist society, and always the survivors a small band of humans that fall apart because they are human. Half-Life 2 is worth the $90 or so I paid just for the Ravenhall Level, I actually jump in fright when the zombies sneak up on me (these dudes have head crabs on their skulls).

Linz's promised an image upgrade on this site, can't wait to display his work in it's full glory, testament as a long standing advertisement for his work.

and Kev's wanting the net. best to let him. posted by Keegan at 8:12 pm ... 0 comments

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Saturday, September 17, 2005

That Funky Phone Monkey...

the first truly gruelling shift in the trenches of the call-centre, absolutely soul-destroying amount of rejections... almost. I swear I could hear one 16 yo girl blushing from adelaide at the sound of my voice (It's not worthy of it), and while there weren't as many funny rejections last night, there was an absolutely gold dude... I'm so answering my phone that way next time a friend calls. Too difficult to display properly... you'll just have to ring.

so yeah, justifying this immense delay from blogging.

last one on tuesday right? wednesday I was advising the defence government on which position it should take re: US request for additional troops in afghanistan (assignment). wednesday at uni from 8am-7pm, when I wasn't in class I was writing an appreciation of Three Kings's portrayal of Iraqis. two of these writing hours were spent waiting in a hallway so that within the month I would be an Iraqi Insurgent picking off Marines day by day. In a simulation. real marines would take me to the fucking cleaners.

I just got distracted for 2 hours or so by Steamboy pretty stunning anime, though I'll need to get dad to watch it to pass judgement on the Manchester accents. I'd like to sink a bunch of links into this post, but I've gone again.

two weeks to finish three essays and two presentations. pretty rough, so I better get some sleep now while I can. posted by Keegan at 7:49 pm ... 0 comments

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Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Ruby Tuesday

I hope I remember days like this. It was nice, and I'd be skipping about the place if had just a little bit more guts. I know her name now, and that's way exciting, especially cos of the way she looked at me, and laughed at the oldest joke I've got. It's about how I got my name - dad went to ireland on a pub crawl, and woke up in a ditch and the only thing he could remember was Keegan, and it seemed like a good name. It's not quite how it happened - he did hear it in a pub, but it's part of an Irish folk song, about a boy who fell in love, something bad happened and then he turned into a dolphin. It's nice, but it doesn't get a laugh.

Same with the kidney thing. I always tell people that I tell other people it was stolen, woke up in a bathtub full of ice like the urban legend... only I don't think I've told anyone that's how it went down.

but I'm wandering. It's such a high school crush, only now there's three whole weeks before I get a chance again. And only five more weeks of class after that to make a move beyond small talk and into the murky waters beyond. two months ago I wouldn't have thought this kind of feeling possible. and two months ahead it might not be possible.

Here's Hopin. posted by Keegan at 9:49 pm ... 0 comments

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Sunday, September 11, 2005

I've Phased Out This Late

it's just going on 10pm now, and I was gone last night having the time of my life, and now here I am paying back the credit of excitement I took out of the life back. paying back in bordom. The cost wouldn't be that high, if it wasn't for the looming assignments that find themselves unwritten on a crucially free day. end of this week, then I'll be on "holidays" writing another couple of essays. I've found myself at uni, when avoiding study, turning to creative writing again (that little pod people piece was an attempt at a "heckler" submission, too short by far and not quite funny enough for me to actually try to submit), and because of this I'm going to take my green book in again, this little diary-like object still filled with the complicated post-relationship emotions in writing. I Haven't written in it for quite a while because it's come to represent that phase, and that feeling.

I'm thinking now, that writing in it for this moment, the way I feel now, could take a lot of the power out of it.

although, I've also noticed that I only write when I'm feeling Unrequited. that's probably it. Tuesday's coming. posted by Keegan at 9:44 pm ... 0 comments

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Friday, September 09, 2005

Invasion Of The 'Pod People

They're everywhere. Among us. Enslaved, twin white inserts through the ears directing the actions of the hapless victims. They stumble through the city, oblivious to those in their paths.
It's inescapable. Some of the victims have become so entwined they can't turn the 'pod off even to relate to other humans - retailers turn away in dismay, never to find the answer to that eternal question, "Can I Help You?"

One of these 'Pod People, while the 'pod tortured him with eclectic tastes, causing an awkward silence among the commuters around him, was still conscious enough to answer his phone. The crazy frog, no less, a sure sign that the 'pod was melting his brain. Yet he couldn't even remove the 'pod to talk to a loved one, forcing him to talk abnormally loud. It felt like I was back on public transport five years ago, when trains ran on time, and people with mobile phones felt obliged to make the fact obvious by talking as loudly and as inanely as possible. The 'Pod People have descended.

It's fairly easy to tell how long a victim has been under the influence of a 'Pod. In the early stages, they'll still find the thing uncomfortable, will turn it off to relate to humans, and occasionally look like they're listening to music - bopping of heads, tapping of feet. Too soon though, they'll reach the deeper stages. Almost Zombies, staring off into space, slowly shuffling across town. sometimes just standing still while humanity flows around them, unsure perhaps of where they were going, or just deciding that life now has no purpose, waiting until they waste away, allowing the 'Pod to transfer to a new victim.

Attempts to revive these worst case scenarios are futile - I've seen battle-hardened street marketers, the kind that manage to sign up Harried Business Man and Angry Rushed Mother, turn away and shake their heads in pity. Some of the less fortunate become temporarily ensnared, repeating their Spiels at full bore, while the 'pod people seem to nod in agreement, only to stumble away. They've nothing better to do, and no-one better to do it with.

These poor shadows of humanity - I've yet to see one as active as those on the ads. poor Bono, his one scrap of humanity stripped away by the 'Pods. posted by Keegan at 9:29 am ... 0 comments

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Tuesday, September 06, 2005

On The Subject Of Shaving.

There are two basic ways a dude'll shave, if he knows how. There's the method endorsed by the queer eye for the straight guy chaps, shaving with the grain. This method keeps a bloke's skin healthy, and gives one the appearance called clean shaven.

however, a guy may, from time to time, shave against the grain. This method is punishing on the skin, generates a higher risk of shaving cuts, and while bearable with a fresh razor, and it can get nasty without sufficent pre-shave preparation.

so why would a guy shave against the grain? for at least half a day after the shave, he'll be as smooth as a baby's proverbial. If he's gone through these trials and tribulations, there should be warranted hope for something in that half day to make it all worthwhile.

But, as the philosophers say, I Can't Get No Satisfaction.
posted by Keegan at 6:47 pm ... 0 comments

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Monday, September 05, 2005

How A Call-Center Job Will Help You Talk To Girls (Theory)

*ring* *ring* "Hello?"
"Hello, my name is Keegan, I'm calling from My Mobile, and I'd like you to go out on a date with me. the date will take approximately 2-4 hours to complete, with the option for an ongoing relationship. would you like to participate?"
"No thanks, sorry I'm in a relationship right now."
"would you be interested in participating at a later date?"
"sure, why not. try again in six months."
"thankyou for your time."
*click*

*ring* *ring*..... *ring* *ring* "Hi"
"Hello, my name is Keegan, I'm calling from My Mobile, and I'd like you to go out on a date with me. the date will take approximately 2-4 hours to complete, with the option for an ongoing relationship. would you like to participate?"
"Sure why not, I'm not doing anything else right now."
"Excellent, well, we'll get started then. are you female?"
"well duh. hey, what is this anyway?"
"sorry, I've got to ask these questions, it's nothing to be worried about. and what age group are you in? 16-18/19-23/24-29/older"
"I just turned 20 last month."
"great, you meet the dating criteria. now, what do you look for in a guy?"
"well, he should be funny, smart, able to hold a conversation, able to do romantic things for me occasionally, and my friends have got to like him."
"anything else?"
"well, good in bed, and anywhere else I feel like doing it. but not till third date."
"anything else?"
"not really. so long as he's not desparate for cash all the time."
"great! now you said a guy should be funny... what do you mean by funny?"
"well, I don't like practical jokes, and i don't want a guy just making fart jokes all day, but he should be able to make me smile."
"what makes you smile?"
"well, when a guy is good with kids, that always makes me smile, but he should be able to find the funny side of things. I'm not sure really."
"what do you mean by the funny side of things?"
"well, he wouldn't be taking this survey seriously, that's for sure."
"you also mentioned that you'd like a guy to be smart. what did you mean by that?"
"well, he's not an Idiot, but not a genius either, I don't want him trying to impress me with jargon." *background noise* "Oh bugger, that's my friend, she's come over early. I've got to go, it's been nice chatting to you."
"can I call you back later? tomorrow evening?"
"yeah I guess, I'll be back tomorrow."
"and just one more thing, can I have your name please?"
"sure, its........................ posted by Keegan at 12:15 pm ... 1 comments

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Friday, September 02, 2005

Every Planet We Reach Is Dead

In between study and sleep, I've been watching season 5 of The West Wing, a series which adds fuel to the desire to reach the US, as well as entertains on several levels. love of politics not least among them. Only today, after finishing the series, I've hit the 'net to find Nawlins has been subject to an event worthy of a Bruckheimer movie. breakdown of civilization as desparate citizens loot and pillage, fire weapons at helicopters that drop supplies from a height of three meters, so as not to be flooded by refugees.

Kinda makes me feel guilty about wishing I had enough money to go out somewhere on saturday (my first shift at the call center was cancelled, but I did get paid for the Druitt gig), and worring about silly things like wether this girl likes me or not (so high school, I know, but it's a great feeling). our turn'll come though, natural disasters on epic scales that will see a breakdown of society just like in Nawlins. Hope I can loot myself a PSP or that Sony iPod killer I've seen around before they order "shoot to kill", though we'll see how I go. posted by Keegan at 5:51 pm ... 0 comments

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