Saturday, June 23, 2007

Graffiti and Slippers.


I think I remember when we first moved into this apartment there was a "discussion" about either getting a table and normal chairs to eat dinner at or to get a laptop desk and swivel chair for our cool round room....... Well seeing as my option was cheaper and we had already been given a swivel chair by Charlies Aunt Di, I went out to Ikea after work yesterday and splashed out on an $89 (€50) computer desk!! So my laptop now has a new home and isn't getting bashed around on our laps.

As most of you will know, there isn't any Ikea in Ireland (I think there is one being built in Dublin soon though) I think Ikea is great, I like the way its different from normal shopping, I like the way all the different rooms are layed out, I like the little pencils that you use to write down where you item is in the store area. The one thing I don't like is some of the other people who shop there, They get very narky if you sit in chair that they might have been looking at or pick up something they had marked down on their little pad of paper.... but the one thing that really ticked me off was the little arrows on the floor telling you which way to go, it wasn't actually the arrows that annoyed me, it was a woman (a fellow consumer) who decided to give out to me because I walked against the direction of said arrows.......
Now I don't know what kind of person thinks those arrows are more than just a guide to get you around the shop, but she was obviously one of them and stood there arguing with me (I obviously argued back), at one stage I though she was gonna pull out a whistle and gets the Ikea-cops after me...... Some people. (God that feels good to get that off my chest)


A while ago I walking home from work, as a tram broke down and blocked every other tram behind it. Well it must have been fate as I had to walk through an underpass that had some amazing Graffiti.


Well tonight when it was nice and dark, I decided to show Charlie and take a few photos.


Now, hanging out in an Underpass at nighttime, might not be the safest thing to do, but everyone who passed by was nice and gave a smile. Although I must say I felt pretty safe as I had Charlie with me for protection, Who as everyone knows can kick some serious ass.


It seems like the whole area was commissioned as the walls were sealed and were in great condition.


Its a shame more cities don't consider Graffiti as art.


Arty black and white shot.


I understand its not Suitable for every part of a city, but it really brightens up places like this.


It was a bit creepy down there and didn't smell very nice, but that's to be expected really.


Its a pretty big area as it goes under a couple of roads and trams track


It seems to have been done by a few different local people as there was some pretty different styles.


Lighting wasn't very good down there, but I had my trusty Tripod with me.


He kinda looks like the Monopoly man, but I think he symbolizes "The Man"


Well, Charlie was getting a bit nervous so we decided to leg it as you never know who you can meet in dark underpasses late on a Saturday night.


Well, We had just enough time for 1 last black and white photo.

Let me know what you think of these photos at whocareswhatyouthink@gmail.com


Now, the next subject of todays lesson is a subject close to my own heart:
Slippers. Now about 5 years ago my sister bought me a pair of slippers which I still have back home, which I love and miss dearly (Charlie isn't a fan of them, well you could just imagine 5yr old slipper smell) but a few weeks ago we were in a shop called BigW buying something stupid like an Iron when I spotted these.......... Check them out. If they are not the most disgusting and foul looking slippers you have ever seen then Id be very surprised.


So I bought them.
The simple fact is, no slippers are cool. Especially novelty slippers which are probably the lowest form of human self-expression. So why bother, just get a pair that are super comfy and if possible that they are so ugly that they can annoy your girlfriend at the mere sight of them.

God I love slippers.

Anyway enough of that, All is going great, we are both working and its going well. Ive opened another bank account to start saving all over again. (We might drop by China on the way home???) Charlie is loving work as she is working with loads of really nice people, we are gonna have to sort out a weekend up to the ski resort for a bit of Snowboarding (and yes some Skiing Jonny!!)

As some of you may have heard there was a shooting in the city center during the week, some guy pulled his girlfriend out from a strip club (@8am) and started to beat the crap out of her in the street. Two guys crossed the road to help the woman and tried to get him to stop. he pulled out a gun and shot both of them, killing one and seriously injuring the other. He handed himself in 3 days later. The guy who died was a father of 3 and the other guy was a dutch backpacker.
It reminded me of a thing that happened a couple of years ago in Dublin. Myself, Charlie and Gugs were at the lights in a taxi in Dublin city center during the day when the guy in the car in front of us started beating the crap out of the girl in the passenger seat, without really thinking the taxi driver, myself and Gugs hopped out and pulled the girl out of the car as the driver was pulling away with her hanging out of the car. We got her into our taxi as she was pretty shook up and calmed her down, the taxi driver was great and took her to a cop shop.
Now I think (hope) 99% of people who do the same thing, Its just you don't expect to get shot for your troubles.

Sean and Charlie.

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Hello from Melbourne!!

Hope you have all had a good couple of weeks since the last update! We are both very well, Charlie has started work and is loving it!! Everyone who works there is very nice and its a really cool shop so everything is great!! I'm currently managing my shop as my manager has just had his second baby (Well, technically it was his wife, but you know what I mean...) This means Ive actually done a full 5 day week of work, which is my first in about 8 months.... Nasty! I also got caught on a tram without a ticket, normally they let you buy a ticket if they catch you on the tram without one, but I obviously got a prick and he busted me, from what Ive been told its about $150 fine which you get in the post, but you can normally challenge your first one as your name wont be in their fine system and you can say you have been traveling on the trams for years and had just not bought your ticket when the inspector boarded the tram... Wish me luck.



The moon was very low in the sky the last night, it looked very cool above this old building called The George.


This is the very busy intersection near our apartment, its pretty noisy at night, but we have gotten used to it, looks pretty cool though!


I got my tripod out and got a cool shot of the moon while it was so low, its pretty hard to focus on the mood, but I think it looks great.


Another concert? Not Quite, It was my day off today and guess who was in town giving a free talk?


The Dalai Lama. or to give him is full name:
"Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso" Which means "Holy Lord, Gentle Glory, Compassionate, Defender of the Faith, Ocean of Wisdom"


To be completely honest, I didn't really know too much about the Dalai Lama before I went, I knew the obvious stuff like him being the current leader of the Tibetan Government (Which is in exile, in India) and is trying to sustain the Tibetan way of life of his followers while under persecution from China, but that was about all. I'm more of a believer in science than religion, and I was expecting him to be very religious and trying to convert people to Buddhism, but I was actually pretty shocked about how unbiased he was with his views. He talked about everything from the turmoil in the middle east to homosexuality and even the way humans treat each other on a daily basis. I was kinda expecting him to be saying stuff along the lines that we should all just get along and live in peace, yadda, yadda, yadda, but he was a total realist, some of his views were so spot on it kinda shocked me, the only other person I can compare him to is Noam Chomsky, who's a bit of hero of mine. Lets just say I was suitably impressed.


It was held in The Princes Park, which is an Aussie rules oval, and there was close to 20,000 people there and best of all it was totally free!


When he talks he is quite animated, and is actually very funny.


Hoping for an Autograph?


For a 71 year old he is extremely fit, he had arms like a Connemara man!


After his talk he took a few questions from the public, for one of the questions he explained that not one Australian government official or politician would meet with him. Why I hear you ask? Well, China is at the start of a major economic surge (that will see them become the worlds most powerful economy in about 8yrs time), their need for raw building materials is massive and the only country in the world who can (and is) supplying it is, you guessed it: Australia (which is like one massive mining pit), and they don't want to upset China by talking to the Dalai Lama who would probably ask some pretty hard questions for Australia to answer. So basically, china need Australia, Australia certainly needs China, and the tiny problem of Tibet gets ignored by the Australia Government, Cue Violins....

Sorry if the above rantings have bored you, here are some pictures of buildings in Melbourne.

This is the commonwealth banks building, its bloody massive and in the mornings catches the sun rising and looks amazing (Ill get that picture some other time)


Some small street.


This is the exhibition hall, its pretty cool looking.


I have no Idea what this is, is a very weird colour, its looks like its made from Chocolate...


These are actually 2 very boring looking buildings, but if you put it into black and white and turn the camera at a funny angle then it looks all arty.....

All righty then, its a pretty small update this time, but an interesting one (I hope) We also got tickets to another concert in August, this time its a band called "Hot Chip" Ive seen them before but it was at a festival and this time its in a tiny club so it should be brilliant!!!

Lots of love
Sean "I love the Internet" Burke & Charlie "Touch my Chocolate bar again and Ill kill you" Ratcliff