melbourne was amazing

i was at a g20 summit in melbourne. there was a riot. bashing police cars. i feel like listening to the clash. HOME SOON! watch out now.


Come On!

Come on! Let's Go
You can bring guns and knives
I'm happy to start a fight.
Let's Go!

Come on! Let's Go
You been talkin' all kinds of shit
You better watch where you spit.
Let's go.


IM WATCHING YOU. YOU BETTER WATCH WHAT YOU DO.

South Australian Homesick Blues

You held it in for so long it's beginning to burn;
the pressure builds, the water boils, the cauldron churns.
She's looks on the street;
The young get old.

It grew with you and now you're twenty-two;
you stayed alive, yes you survivded, did what you had to do.
Your petals picked,
but it didn't mean a thing.

It built and it built,
all of your guilt;
until your can of beans split.
In the end just a fabric on the magical quilt.

One place to the next you act like you feel fine;
no real friends, alone again, alive the first time.
Amongst the angelic light,
and the snakes that bite!

It built and it built,
all of your guilt;
until your can of beans split.
In the end just a fabric on the magical quilt.

When the glass shatters as it hits the cold floor;
there's no reason to carry the burden around anymore.
Let it burn down the house as you leave through the cellar door.

It built and it built,
all of your guilt;
until your can of beans split.
In the end just a fabric on the magical quilt.

It's time to go home, it's time to go home.

its been a long time. (i shouldn't have left you without a dope beat to which you could step.)

a bunch of things going on. this blog fell-off eh? the first few months were fueled by the feeling of discovery that was associated with coming to australia. that got lost in recent months. so the fuel ran out. now its just living in beautiful hot weather but still reflecting on things around me. what will grow quick that you can't make straight?- it's the price that you got to pay. i need a new strategy to motivate me to keep this blog updated? suggestions?

William Blake quotation on the topic on the restraint of desire:

"Those who restrain desire, do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained; and the restrainer or reason usurps its place and governs the unwilling...And being restrain'd, it by degrees becomes passive, till it is only the shadow of desire."

I have been working on words and music. I have plans to record when I come home, but i'll need the help of friends. Looking forward to coming home soon. Flight has been booked, but i aint telling anyone when im coming home. I'll be on your doorstep ringin' the bell sooner than you know.

Teaching at a Lutheran School. Things are too nice there. Small school good kids. The forbidden fruit demands to be eaten. sketchy sketchy sketchy sketchy.

incoherent?-a little.

trying to measure my changes, but its immeasurable. problem of looking within-self indulgent and biased. external indicators needed. anyone got any?

oh, i made a myspace account, but i have very little to show for myself at the moment. big plans for the future. the calm before the storm.

another sunny day in brisbane. got attacked by a swooping bird.

New Zealand Trek. (z zaw zebras in zealand...happy raman?)

June 14th 2006... Brisbane to Christchurch

(The dots on the map are of UFO sightings in Australia and New Zealand... Dont laugh!)

June 15th Akaroa - June 16th Mt Cook - June 17th Queenstown -

June 18th Milford Sound - June 19th Christchurch - June 20th Hanmer Springs -

June 21st Picton - June 22nd Wellington

Me at Lake Pukaki (It is a glacial lake which gives it the distinct colour)

On the way to Milford Sound, up in the clouds!

Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Brief Comments

So far the journey has been pretty awesome. New Zealand received a very bad snowfall on the day I got here. It was laughable compared to Canadian standards of snowfall, but it was one of their worst in 30 years. On the south island there are people still without power. They had to call in the military. There were many road closures and we had to fit chains on the tourbus at some icy points. It was beautiful to see the country blanketed with snow, but the driving was quite treacherous. On the south island there are sheep everywhere. 45 million sheep. I am currently in Wellington hanging out with my cousin. Next up is Auckland and then Fiji with some stops in between. I'll try to update as I go. Rew and James- I took some pictures of some rare shoes I came across in Christchurch, remind me and I'll send them to you. Rew, I also have a picture that I want you to show Sully. I hope to talk to everyone soon.

teaching halfway point up and coming adventures and some pictures

A Small Apology

Long time no post. I'm sorry for that. I havent forgotten about this, and I havent been uninspired. I dont have an excuse really. It's just something that's been pushed aside, but only temporarily.

Teaching

I've been teaching for about 2 weeks now at a primary school called Robertson State School. It's a primary school which goes up to grade 7. I have a very bright and intelligent grade 7 class, and a wonderful mentor teacher who gives me amazing tips and feedback. She has 19 years of experience under her belt, so I feel prety fortunate to learn from someone who knows what their doing. She puts on the act of being the "bitch" teacher. And she does it well. I've learned a lot from her about how to discipline kids.

I started off a little shaky, but I have definately felt my confidence improve by the day. I've been doing lessons on English grammar, poetry writing, and descriptive writing. Also I've been teaching the Australian Parliament and Government to them. I've been having to learn as I go. It's a lot of fun, and the kids make me laugh on a daily basis. I thoroughly enjoy working with them. Even though this does mean constant behavioural management. I've had kids leave in tears on some days, whereas on other days I get the most enthusiastic "Bye, Mr.Gandhi! See you monday!" "bye mr.Gandhi, have a good weekend". It's really really nice when you know you've made a connection with a student. I've chosen the right profession, and if you want to hear some of the funny stories from so far, I'd be glad to share them further in conversation.

Halfway point

The halfway point of my journey is soon approaching. It's flown by, and to neglect thinking about this would be missing an amazing opportunity to reflect on how I've changed as a person. This is hard to talk about too, because I dont want to indulge in all this "feel good" type of stuff. I want to know how I've changed, and be objective about it. I dont want to get bogged down in feelings just yet, because it aint over yet.

The first half of the journey has taught me many great lessons. I've learned how to cook (to a certain extent), I've held my artistic peak for about 9 months (and it isn't about to end), I've gained a lot of self-confidence, I've become a better public speaker, my opinions and ideas have become more clear and developed.


Up and Coming Adventures

Going to New Zealand on the 14th of June. Starting in Christchurch on the South Island, and then working my way up north eventually to leave Auckland by July 5th. On July 5th I'll be heading over to Fiji.

So I'm hoping this lag of the journey fulfils one of the reasons that I came to this part of the world. To get an understanding about who I am, where I come from, and where I fit in (in terms of family). I'm planning to visit a lot of places, and I hope to come to a new understanding of what life was like for my dad growing up. I want to know about why they ended up in Fiji, and i want to learn something about what type of people i come from. This is all very important to me because I hope it will solve some of the fundamental identity issues I've had while growing up. I'll probably come away with more questions than anything though.

And Some Pictures...

Oscar, Me, and Sebastian. (Maverick the pilot in the back)

I fled to higher ground to watch the city drown.
Apparition of the flood coming in.
High waters rising. Rising.

Little jam session at the Ryan and Company household.
Anyone need a laptop?



Oscar, me , and Sebastian performing Sebastian's copywritten dance move.
(without Maverick the pilot.)


Good people of Brisbane: Oscar (Dr.Orsag) and Natasha.

Big Sebastian and Little Yanic.


Austrian girl, Sebastian, Yanic and Me
at a very European oriented party which involved
Salsa music.

We're going back to the trees.

I'm basically going to pull this post out of nowhere. On the phone talking to some friends, I was told that i need to update the blog. So here it is, and i'll just give you all a little slice of some stuff i've been thinking about recently. I've been having conversations and doing some writing on the following topic, but im still very uncertain about it all. If i write something that i feel good about, i'll post it here.

The topic is about human nature. and the term you should keep in mind is "nature". How is a human naturally inclined to think and act? Probably for survival. We're animals who have evolved to think and act in certain ways because of our human institutions. "Institution" is another word you should keep in mind.

I'm guessing that since the beginning of human kind, there have been relationships of power. Humans in places of power have always gotten those under them to act in ways that suit their purposes. I beleive that this is the birth of human institutions. So it seems to me that humans are often led to achieve someone elses goals through institutions.

These institutions can be anything from education and school to religion and the church. I'm deep into DH Lawrence right now (for anyone who doesnt know his poetry, a good place to start off is "the snake") and i feel that his life and poetry characterized a deep conflict between human "nature" and human "institutions". Lawrence was arguably a repressed homosexual, and therefore had fundamental issues with the way that society worked.

Lawrence could never find happiness with any of the women that he courted, and suffered because of his repression. His repression was the consequence of his religious education. The church pushed for people to get married, and therefore instead of acting on his human inhibition (his homosexuality) he actively sought a suitable woman to marry. This was the source of much of his misery and illness. Although it did produce some amazing poetry, it shouldnt have to be this way. Lawrence's poetry strives for a "nakedness" of things, whether this be a nakedness of sexuality or posessions. He wanted to be pure. A human the way that nature intended.

I personally dont know where I sit just yet. I want to strive for this purity, as it is such a romantic concept. Even though (for the most part) our institutions serve the purposes of those who have us within their power, our institutions have brought us far. Would we still be in the trees if we didnt have our institutions? I dont know. But something i can relate to in our modern "consumerist" society is keeping minimal posessions. Why do we feel the need to fill our lives with such inane crap? Why collect all this junk we dont need? Why do boys and girls who have relationships with eachother feel that they own eachother? We need to abandon this way of thinking. We need to go back to the trees for a little while, and then come back and question the institutions that exist in our society today.

Without any questions we'll just go further down the spiral.

Sydney

Bondi Beach


Sydney Harbour Bridge


Circular Key

i had an awesome time in Sydney. It is truly a world-class city. Reminded me a lot of Toronto in certain ways. I hope i can get back there at some point. Im in the middle of a really busy week right now with a bunch of assignments due this friday. Work is punctuated with frequent guitar breaks. Next week i begin practice teaching in a high school, and im starting to psych myself up for it. Gotta get some new professional clothes, i think im going to try to wear a sweater-vest at least one day per week! Enjoy the pictures.