2007 the year that was...

2007 what a year…It wasn’t a bad year at all, it had some lows it and it had some highs.

The first few months weren’t so great, I realized that the job I was currently in was killing me, nothing was going right for me, everyday I woke up was another day I wish I hadn’t. There was one thing it did allow me to do though and that was look forward to my weekends. The weekends were the only thing keeping me going. Most of the time I would go to my friend Dans house and just drink and bet on the horses all day, until it was time to hit the clubs and pubs. There were definitely moments where I didn’t want to be in that scene but its small compared to the good times I did have. The club and pub scene wasn’t that great all the time, mainly because you would spend half the time going after girls and then not getting anywhere so you’d just drink more and more. There were some good times though it was always the best when there was a group of your friends just dancing and having fun.
Occasionally on every second or so week me and my other friend Toby would have regular musical jam sessions. These were fun because we got creative and we got to explore our great passion for music. It also gave me the chance to actually put my old drumkit to good use for once. I bought cymbals for it and skins and actually got a good sound coming out of it. Toby was great to play with too. I can’t remember how many Metallica songs we nailed but it was always so much fun playing. Then after that we’d watch movies have a few beers and whine down the night until it was time to play again.

After the weekend was done it was back to work again, same old thing. Sunday nights were always the worst because I could never get to sleep. My mind would keep racing with thoughts of how my life was in general. One day I came to the realization that it was time for a change, a drastic change at that. I owe a lot of this to my friend Rhett, he’s passion for traveling the world was something that I wanted desperately to experience for myself. So it was time to cast off, with the good help of Rhett and ofcourse my parents, I set sail for Canada. At that point it didn’t really matter where I was going, aslong it was somewhere far. I arrived in Canada after a good 15 or so hours of flying time. The plane ride wasn’t as bad as I imagined. Stepping out in a different country was an awesome feeling. After the usual sight seeing in Toronto, which was awesome, it was time to start working and earning some small money while exploring a part of the country. Algonquin park; a huge forest preserve filled with many animals and beautiful sceneries was to be my home for the next 5 and a half months. The setting was awesome, the job was not that great, but because I was out on my own in a different place, I was atleast happy. Meeting a lot of new people was a good experience too, each one of them was different to the last with their own take on life and their experiences in Canada.

After 5 months of working at this place the days got pretty repetitive, but it flew by so quick I was amazed at the end of it. Then it was time to set sail to another country for a week and relax after 5 months of work. Destination: Varadero, Cuba.

Cuba was just the most amazing travel time I would come to experience thus far. I think it was because it was a week vacation with a girl I met in Canada in a surreal setting. The beach was crystal clear with little to no waves and the hotel itself was impressive. Huge pool and 3 all you can drink cocktail bars. Everyday was like a little holiday. You’d wake up to this fantastic view and then you’d go bathe and play on the white sand of the beach. The trip to Havana was very interesting. I got to experience the culture of this communist country. At times it became frustrating because everyone was trying to sell you something on the street, mainly Cuban cigars. I bought some from an actual retailer though. They were smooth to smoke and the smell of them were nice, almost fresh-smelling. Back at the hotel things were great again, only one little thing happened while I was getting served. The waiter comes up to me and in the best English he could muster asked me if I could sell him some of my clothes. Yep… he would come to tell me that it is very hard to find the same size clothes to buy for his son in Cuba. I was heart broken but at the time I couldn’t sell him anything because I had only had so few clothes on me. The rest of the day I was thinking about him. Just how sad and unfortunate it was. But that’s the reality of living in a communist country. The tour guide was saying that they only get paid 20 dollars a week no matter what profession you are in. Doctors, lawyers, police, waiter, they all get paid the same. The only upside is they have is they don’t pay tax and they don’t have to pay rent. It’s totally a different way of living, one I don’t think I could ever become accustomed to. Well the end of the week came and it was time to leave again. It was a great time. Many memories of that place.

Now back to Canada, winter and Christmas steadily approaching. In November it snowed and I finally got to experience it. Then the temperature started to drop to the minus double digits which was probably the worst part. Christmas was good, different because I was basically on my own in a sense. But my girlfriends family have been very hospitable and I got through the home sickness. Now its time for the new year and its time for new things.

Resolutions?? Hmmm ....
1) Travel to Europe definitely, just for a couple weeks or so, it will be great to finally do.
2) Start earning some good money in a job I can be happy in for once.
3) Stop biting my nails, lol ;S
4) Start working out more, a lot more….

That’s about it for now, whether I accomplish them will remain to be seen, but I’m optimistic of 2008 and what it may hold.
Peaceout
STiX

I Am Legend...

Went to see “I Am Legend” the other night, I was pretty excited to see this movie as the thought of being the last man on earth has always been an intriguing idea to me. What would you do? Or should I say what wouldn’t you do? The movie was good it had some nice ideas and great acting by Will Smith as always.
The CGI could’ve been upgraded a little bit but the way the characters were used in the darkness setting made for some scary sequences. My only real gripe with the film is that it just sort’ve ended unexpectedly, most things were wrapped up, but I wanted to see more of it. It went for an hour and a half and I would’ve liked to have seen more of the character’s battle with being alone and isolated.
All in all it was a good movie, the idea of going around to peoples houses rummaging around, driving nice cars at insane speeds and shooting up the place, is something we’d all do if we were the last people earth… ;)

Another little item of movie talk is I also saw the trailer for the new Batman movie ‘The Dark Knight’. It looks quite good I didn’t ever expect to see Heath Ledger as the new Joker, but he seems to be doing a good job of it on the trailer. I wasn’t particularly a fan of Batman Begins, but the prospect of a new Batman movie is always good… Unless it’s directed by Joel Schumacher. Peaceout
STiX

Let It Snow, Let it snow...

Yesterday we got hit by a big snow blizzard, from the moment I woke up till the time I went to bed it snowed continuously. I love seeing it snow, I love going out and playing in it. Most Canadians, however, hate the snow. Their dislike for it is immense... I guess for a tourist who hasn’t been exposed to it like this, makes it more exciting.

The next morning I got outside, appropriately dressed, and walked right into the thick of it. Almost thigh deep, with snow shovel in hand, I was ready to make my mark. I was tempted to make a maze out of the whole backyard, something like a hedge maze but with snow. I got a few shovels in and realized my face was turning numb, so the crazy snow maze project will be put on hold for a while.



My girlfriend’s dog has to go outside to do his business and on days like this I feel sorry for the poor bugger. He seems to enjoy it though so its ok I guess, this picture is pretty funny though... yep that’s him doing his business in a foot of snow. Haha

Then it was time I did some exercise and dig out my girlfriends car, this is probably the number one reason Canadians dislike the snow. Which is fair enough I guess, if you had to dig your car out everyday just so you could drive somewhere it would get annoying after a while. But it was fun for me. To me snow is what truly makes a cool Christmas and being in Australia you don’t get to experience that at all. So I say let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
Peaceout STiX

Bored Bored Bored...

Yep, bored as hell at the moment, not too much going on.. kind of stuck in limbo.. So I decided to make the most of the night and do the thing that most people do... watch DVDs..

I took it back old skool though. Remember those teenage years where you'd get a group of friends, rent a bunch of horror movies, order pizza and drink beer (if u could get it) and just generally have a good ol' time? Well yeah that’s what I did. I rented some classic horror movies, classics like Hellraiser, Poltergeist, Friday the 13th, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street.. Again the classics…

It used to be that you’d watch as many as you could in one night and see who would pass out first. This time around I was lucky if I could finish the second movie, whether I’m just getting too old or the movies were a bit cheesy by today’s standard, it wasn’t as I once remembered. The movies I think still hold up today though, Hellraiser especially. The over-the-top goryness of it all can still be compared to today’s movies like Saw albeit not as realistic though. I’m probably going to have to do this whole ritual again the next night so I can at least watch all the movies I hired. Weekly rentals rule!

I might do a little painting of Pinhead also that will at least give me something else to do. I gotta start getting back into digital painting, I have one on the go at the moment and plan to do a lot more, just gotta get some inspiration.
Peaceout
STiX

Ho Ho Ho Merry Fucking Christmas (warning profanity ahead)

Well that’s great, my first real post on this thing and it has to be a bad one.. My little red car is no more…

It was one of the things I was most looking forward to when I got back home to Oz, but alas the christmas grinch had to strike again, him or the insane fucking drivers that inhabit the Gold Coast. My little brother was the one who was driving it, totally not his fault and I’m very, very glad that he didn’t sustain any injury. He came close to it, if it was just 3-4 seconds later I would’ve been on the next flight home. Red traffic lights are there for a reason, to get a person to stop the fucking car. This other driver then had the audacity to get out of her car and swear and yell at him instigating that it was not her fault. To me this is just another sign that the world is fucked up or should I say the people in it are fucked up, no thoughts or regard for the safety of others, just caring on how they can benefit themselves. Its put another hole in my faith in mankind.

Oh how I loved that car, I may have put it through the worst at times but it also got me OUT of the worst at times. The music blaring, the countless trips to the beach, the bad and good attention I got just from driving it. It was such a nice car to drive, it had style it had personality, it had character, sure it was old, sure it may have had some problems but it always pulled through. My little red beast, Rest In Peace my friend you will not be so easily replaced……

The STiX Files Are Here!

Hi, My name is Steven aka STiX, aka Jeeves, aka as StEvEo aka as..... ah too many to name.. so STiX will be just fine, but it has to be spelt like that or it just doesnt have the same effect.
Anyways this is my first post so I'll keep it nice and short until I actually have something good to write about it..
Peaceout
STiX