Chaper 13 - "They say God made Australia last after he got tired of makin everything else the same."
Not sure of the point of submitting any further ramblings into this vacuous space of the interweb but I figred while I'm in the queue for the bathroom I might as well fill my time with something that requires thought. So, I've finally come to Australia after all the bitching and moaning about not being here. The too-extensive email will have informed you of this already I'm sure, but this space has been looking a little arid recently so maybe some nourishing with words is needed. Now, if I can just think of something to say...
Well, since I've arrived I've become really obssessed with the weather. I was always interested in it back in Northern Ireland but by the very nature of Irish weather, there was very little to get excited about. I can count on one hand the number of times I saw lightning and heard booming thunder. Being in Australia, I've seen more lightning and *felt* the thunder louder and more thrilling than ever before. Sitting out in the back yard last week experiencing the sights and sounds of the thunderstorm overhead, the overall feeling stirring in me was one of calm. It was just very absorbing to feel the weather, as though the sky was preparing itself to let loose a flurry of thunder, the build up of tension in the sky was not tense, it was just very involving and apparent. The thunder sounded close, not threateningly close, I long for the day when thunder and lightning get too close. As a result I've been geekily following any and all thunderstorm activity along the east coast of Australia, and we are due some thunderstorm activity but it will only really get going when the season starts in November. I've also been following Wilma quite closely, possibly the most beautiful and perfect hurrican I've ever seen. Meteorologists have called it the most perplexing storm they've ever encountered as it's one of the most powerful and has been doing wonderful terrible and unpredictable things. No one really knows if it will continue its apparent course into the Gulf of Mexico, or, more likely, change course and go across the face of Florida and along the west coast of the United States. It looks like Cancun may be wiped off the map, but Florida definately looks set for testing times ahead..again.
Randomly, last night I watched one of the most entertaining films I've seen for a while. 'Red Shadow' or 'Akakage', tells the story of three ninjas who train and fight together and after one of them dies, the other two become disillusioned and go their seperate ways, only to re-unite later to avenge their friend's death, someone who incidentally they both loved. This all seems fair enough and easy to follow. The only way one can understand the plot is if they look at the summary on IMDB because to watch it is completely perplexing. Not to mention the fact that random shots of swaying trees make an appearance every once in a while, there are a couple of further-confusng scenes taking place in a brothel, with some lucky sod getting his body cracked to impossible degrees while being verbally molested by a soft spoken dominatrix. Anyway, a couple of random fight scenes later and people die and other people die and use Jedi mind tricks, and people disappear. But Kiriyama from Battle Royale was in it so I was prepared to watch it. Not to mention the soundtrack, drum and bass accompanying ninja violence, Christian folk music accompanying people chasing each other in a dream-sequenced snowfield, Hip Hop beats accompanying random scenes of sneaking into enemy's castles and so it went on...and how we laughed.
Well, since I've arrived I've become really obssessed with the weather. I was always interested in it back in Northern Ireland but by the very nature of Irish weather, there was very little to get excited about. I can count on one hand the number of times I saw lightning and heard booming thunder. Being in Australia, I've seen more lightning and *felt* the thunder louder and more thrilling than ever before. Sitting out in the back yard last week experiencing the sights and sounds of the thunderstorm overhead, the overall feeling stirring in me was one of calm. It was just very absorbing to feel the weather, as though the sky was preparing itself to let loose a flurry of thunder, the build up of tension in the sky was not tense, it was just very involving and apparent. The thunder sounded close, not threateningly close, I long for the day when thunder and lightning get too close. As a result I've been geekily following any and all thunderstorm activity along the east coast of Australia, and we are due some thunderstorm activity but it will only really get going when the season starts in November. I've also been following Wilma quite closely, possibly the most beautiful and perfect hurrican I've ever seen. Meteorologists have called it the most perplexing storm they've ever encountered as it's one of the most powerful and has been doing wonderful terrible and unpredictable things. No one really knows if it will continue its apparent course into the Gulf of Mexico, or, more likely, change course and go across the face of Florida and along the west coast of the United States. It looks like Cancun may be wiped off the map, but Florida definately looks set for testing times ahead..again.
Randomly, last night I watched one of the most entertaining films I've seen for a while. 'Red Shadow' or 'Akakage', tells the story of three ninjas who train and fight together and after one of them dies, the other two become disillusioned and go their seperate ways, only to re-unite later to avenge their friend's death, someone who incidentally they both loved. This all seems fair enough and easy to follow. The only way one can understand the plot is if they look at the summary on IMDB because to watch it is completely perplexing. Not to mention the fact that random shots of swaying trees make an appearance every once in a while, there are a couple of further-confusng scenes taking place in a brothel, with some lucky sod getting his body cracked to impossible degrees while being verbally molested by a soft spoken dominatrix. Anyway, a couple of random fight scenes later and people die and other people die and use Jedi mind tricks, and people disappear. But Kiriyama from Battle Royale was in it so I was prepared to watch it. Not to mention the soundtrack, drum and bass accompanying ninja violence, Christian folk music accompanying people chasing each other in a dream-sequenced snowfield, Hip Hop beats accompanying random scenes of sneaking into enemy's castles and so it went on...and how we laughed.