Coming Home and My Attempt At Experiencing Australia One Last Time

So I will be coming home soon. I am making my first announcement here for my faithful ADU readers, before I officially announce it on FB. I arrive back in the Bay Area on May 15th. Then on May 19th I will be going down to Orange County/ LA for the remainder of the month. I had applied for an awesome summer job that is in D.C. and New York. My interview is this wed on Skype. So if I get that then I'll be flying to the East Coast on June 3rd and will be there until mid-August.

So it has come down to my last days in Australia. I took a walk a few days ago and ended up deep into a park near my house. In the 6 months I have been here, I have never step foot in this park. It was like a whole new world. There are 3 lakes and trees everywhere. Strange looking birds of all sorts lined the lakes. The bird species are different here then in the States. The most colorful wild birds you have ever seen are common here. I took a walk around the lake, but I didn't think to bring my camera. So I have been trying to find a day that I can go back and take pictures. I check the weather and plan my days accordingly, but then I wake up and check the weather again and it is completely changed. I was going to go today, but now the weather says "risk of afternoon shower or thunderstorm". So I'll have to make a judgment call later.

I applied for my tax back from the Australian government. So I will hopefully be getting a large chunk of money put in my account within the next few weeks.

That is all I guess. I hope the weather in the States is getting ready for me.

Currently Listening To: Taking Back Sunday- weird huh? Itunes picked them up on shuffle and I really don't mind.

Recently Watched: Arrested Development Season 1

Recovering From The Amazing

I am still trying to recover from such an amazing trip back home. It is really hard to come down from such a positive atmosphere of friends, family, good weather, Coachella, and freedom. Now it is back to the real world of job hunting, paying bills, and being so far away from those I care about. I am still a little depressed, but not as bad as the week after Coachella and when I first arrived back in Sydney.

Its strange how your everyday life seems different when your emotions are running high. When I walk down the streets now, I see things a little different. Its hard to explain. I've been listening to my Ipod a lot more now, so it is like I have my own personal soundtrack as I walk around. Music really does infuse emotions. Also, it's a bit cooler outside and the sun sets much earlier now. So the way things look has changed.

I went to the gym today for the first time in a month. It felt good to work out. But I have so much on my mind, its like Im in the zone the whole time. I've been thinking a lot about my future and all of it is really just up in the air. The unknown worries me. I wish some major thing could just happen and that would start pointing me in the right directing. Its all wishful thinking as my dad says. I often think up the unrealistic, but I can't help it, I'm too imaginative.

So there are no real updates in my life. I am unemployed and looking for something to give me a little more cash before I call it quits and come home for good.

Currently Listening To: Caspa & Rusko, Boxcutter, Wilco

Below is a pic of Mark and I the day before we left for Coachella. We made matching shirts for Friday. They had the Coachella mountains and palm trees around it. On the back it was our own personal Mastercard commercial. Mine read: Plane Ticket From Australia $1200, Coachella Tickets $309.25, 1/8 Special Herbs $40, Gas For The Car $30, Having The Time Of Your Life: Priceless.

I'm Back

Where did I go? Back home. Yes. It was a surprise. Since I was sitting here unemployed with nothing to do I figured it would be a good time for me to go home. It was a great visit. I got to see all of my family and most of my friends. I went to Coachella again, which was one of the best weekends of my life. Now I'm back in Sydney ready to start from square one again. Today is Anzac Day (AU/NZ holiday) so a lot of places are closed. But starting tomorrow I'm gonna be calling up any contacts I can to try to land some production work. I'll also be hounding the bars again to see if I can pick up a part time to get some money flow coming in.

A couple things have changed since I'v been gone. The weather has gotten cooler, since it is now heading towards mid-fall here in Sydney. So, there is no more beach weather, but still the sun shines. Also the clocks "fall-back" an hour, so I have to re-adjust the time differences between here and the states. Cali/West is now 17hrs behind me, NY/East is 14hrs.

A side note: I will now start updating my facebook status regularly (or at least semi-regularly) for the first time. It will be interesting/ fun information about me and my life. I'll probably also throw in some recommendations of music and movies if I have any.

Currently Listening To: The National

Recently Watched: Sherlock Holmes- Eh

Commercial Shoot

So my 2-day shoot is done now. So I thought I'd share a little bit about it with you. First of all, it was a McDonalds commercial. Basically they built a giant adult sized playland that is a replica of the playpen we used to play at in McDonalds as a kid. They have slides and tubes everywhere. Swings and helicopters. Ladders to climb and of course a ball pit. Everything is oversized so grownups can fit in it. There is even a giant bench with a giant Ronald McDonald sitting on it, so when you sit next to him you look like a kid again. One of the McD monsters has his own statue with his arm out, and the sign reads "Those who can fit under my arm can play". The arm is set at 7 feet. There was over 100 extras all dressed in business attire and such. It was awesome.

Basically my job was to be a spy cam and flip cam operator and run around with the extras getting Point Of View shots. So basically my shoes came off and I ran around the playland filming various things. It was a lot of fun and I met some great people. Hopefully I will be able to get some more work soon.

Here is a couple links to some short articles on the shoot:

http://www.spicenews.com.au/2010/03/30/article/McDonalds-constructs-adult-sized-playland-in-Sydney-CBD/DQQRVJTGVF.html

http://www.foodweek.com.au/main-features-page.aspx?ID=6890

Currently Listening To: The Temper Trap

Cryptic Message #2 and The Fastest Movie Review Ever.

I have been to this country for a short period of time. The actual translation may come out a little funky.

Hello, semua orang. Aku punya berita menarik. Saya akan datang ke rumah untuk mengunjungi! Yay! Aku tiba di Kekaisaran Kota (referensi Jay-Z's lagu) pada 1 April dan akan berada di sana sampai ke-8. Jadi bagi anda di Pantai Timur, datang di atas. Aku kepala ke CV ke-8 dan akan berada di sana sampai 13. Lalu turun ke (referensi ke posting samar pertama) aku pergi. Jika anda tidak memahami pesan samar terakhir saya, itu menunjukkan kehadiran saya di Indio. Jadi saya akan berada di sana di bawah sinar matahari mendengarkan musik yang indah dan menari pantatku off. Aku kembali ke rumah pada tanggal 20 selama beberapa hari, lalu kembali ke Sydney aku pergi pada tanggal 24. Jadi, bagi Anda yang bisa menyeberang jalan saya di beberapa titik. Anda lebih baik melakukannya. Mudah-mudahan saya akan melihat kalian semua segera.

Now, to the movie reviews:

True Romance- Good, written by Tarantino, so you know exactly how it will be. Recommended.

Tron- Overrated, dorky watered down old disney movie. Pretty boring and tacky. Not recommended.

Dark City- Weird Sci-fi. Good. Recommended only for peopel who like Sci-fi and Jennifer Connelly.

She's Out Of My League- Terrible. Pointless. Waste of time. Not recommended.

Adam- Good quirky indie flick. Recommended.

Moon- Sam Rockwell rocks it. Great indie movie. Recommended.

28 Days Later- Good. Danny Boyle directed. Awesome filmmaking, cool plot, but there are zombies. Recommended.

28 Weeks Later- Sequal to above. Good. More Hollywood, but better solid plot line. Recommended.

In other news, I got a gig working mon and tues. I will be one of the 2nd Unit Camera Operators on a McDonalds commercial. It is not as fancy as it sounds since I am one of 5 doing that job. But, it is a huge shoot, probably the biggest one I've been on. Over 200 people and a lot is gonna go on. It pays well and hopefully I'll meet some people that can help me out with future work.

Weather has been close to perfect these last couple weeks of March. Note to all, the best month to come to Sydney is March. Less tourist, great weather.

Currently Listening To: Florence And The Machine

Cryptic Message #1

I'm feeling rough, I'm feeling raw, I'm in the prime of my life. I can feel it in my mind . Oh, I can do it all the time. Plug it in and change the world. Everything is a swirled. So sentimental? Not sentimental no. It’s like a Lisztomania I think less but still see it grow. Like a riot, like a riot oh! I got the vision, now let's have some fun! Come on, we gotta run. I can’t be forced, I can’t be degraded, I can’t be controlled. I’ll be victorious, I’m already enrolled. I’m ready to go with a lasso. Oh, don’t you know! I’ll make my momma so proud, although sometimes my voice is too loud. I’ve got good friends to see. There’s no problem there for me. If you're having friend problems I do feel bad for you son. I got 99 problems but friends aren’t one. Here’s how it will all begin. You ready for a little tale of the win?

My honor fly southward seeking exotica. This is how it starts. We go back to your house, we check the charts. You switch the engine on, ready to go. We set the controls for the heart of the sun, oh don’t you know? This is one of the ways we show our age. It’s all the lovely weather, it's not raining, there is no cage. Check your handbook, it's no trick. Take the chapstick, put it on your lips. Crack a smile, we are there. There is nothing left to fear. Glaciers are melting in the dead of the night. But we aren’t there to fight. No superstars will be sucked into the supermassive tonight. We won't let them bury it. We won't let them smother it. We won't let them murder it. You can't push it underground, not even with a pout. You can't stop it screaming out. It is there to stay. A great green field that can brighten anyone’s day. Its been a long time no see... Long time no say. But here I am ready to play. I’m the new Sinatra,
and since I made it here,
I can make it anywhere.

Currently Listening To: Deadmau5
Recently Watched: True Romance, Tron, Dark City, She's Out Of My League, Adam, Moon, 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later
-Yes I have a lot of free time now, I'll do a review post next post.

The Self-Centered Vain Post

I have had no comments in my last 2 posts. So maybe a little narcissism will help with that. This entire post will be in short note format so it's easier for all you lazies to read.

I am officially laid off and I am now looking for another part time job to hold me over while I look for a real industry job.

I winked at myself in the mirror today at the gym. Then felt kinda embarrassed because I was in a public place.

Having all the days free is strange and boring.

Since my Chippendale Dancer dream job can't happen right now, I applied for the next best thing. Topless events. There is a story about how I came about this, but I'm not getting into it. I would basically be a caterer (serving alcohol or appetizers to functions) with no shirt on. You can see the pick I sent in to the company below:

For your enjoyment.

I like that pic.

Downloaded some new music. It sounds good. I have great taste in music.

The sun is finally out this week. Perfect weather.

I got a $50 Borders Gift Card from work. I'm gonna get me some books.

I can't think of anything else. This post was completely unnecessary.

Hopefully I'll have a nice big post full of info after St. Paddys Day.

Currently Listening To: Fanfarlo

Oscars and Some Other Stuff (This is a long one)

Unfortunately I did not get to watch the Academy Awards this year. Since I am in Australia, it was on today (Mon) at 12:30, which means I was at work. I did however follow all the results as they came on my computer. This year was a great year and I am satisfied with most of the winners, except for TWO BIG PROBLEMS. Avatar getting absolutely no good awards and Sandra Bullock. Both of those are examples of pure politics, which make me angry. The Oscars are one of the most prestigious award shows in the world. It is the highest honor someone in the Entertainment industry can receive. When winning an Oscar it should be for your talent not by who likes you the most or other factors.

So let us begin. Sandra Bullock. Has been around a while, American sweetheart type. We love to watch her. She is entertaining. And she is a good actress. Don't get me wrong, I like her. Oscar winner? NO! At least not for "The Blind Side". I'll break it down. The other people in her category: Helen Mirren (already won recently), Meryl Streep (Is always nominated and won recently), Gabourey Sidibe (too unknown, and Monique had already won for Precious, so they have paid their dues there), and Cary Mulligan (too unknown, not a favorite). So who is left... Sandra Bullock, yeah lets just give it to her, we know her well. That is how it works. But mark my words, I am sure that at least 2 other people in that category had a better performance than SB, yet the Academy doesn't seem to look at that.

Now lets move on to Avatar. This was the biggest movie ever in the history of the world. It broke record after record both domestically and foreignly. Yet, it gets no major award? James Cameron is the full force behind Avatar. He wrote, directed, and produced such a groundbreaking movie, shouldn't he at least get something? So again, it goes to politics. Kathryn Bigelow wins Best Director. I'll put it simply like this, she is the first woman to be nominated in this category and the first woman winner. Simple as that. She won because she's a woman. Now I am not sexist by any means. I fully support women having equal rights in all aspects of life. But unless a woman truly is the "best director" in the category, than she shouldn't win. She directed good actors (her lead was nominated for best actor), good actors don't need much direction. Also the scale of her film didn't need much direction either. Whereas James Cameron directed mediocre actors with absolutely nothing to work with. He had not set and no props, he directed them to perfection in front of a green screen. That takes some talent. This is snub #1 for James. This upset me almost as much as when Ang Lee won best director over Spielberg in 06. Why? Cause he is Asian, and his movie was about gay people. It sounds bad, but its true. I have a fully valid argument for that which I'm not gonna get into right now.

So after the Academy stabbed James Cameron in the heart, they decided to twist it. Both he and I alike probably thought: "okay, okay, so he (I) didn't get the directing award, but that means that they were saving the best picture award for him (me)." But nooooooooooooo, no best picture award either, it goes to , oh wait of course, The Hurt Locker. Now I will tell you right now I have seen it and it is a great movie, but by no means "Best Picture" worthy. James Cameron deserved at least one of those awards. He practically single handedly got Hollywood out of its financial rut.

I'm done with my rant. Lets move on to the fun stuff. In honor of the Oscars I have decided that I would like to watch the Best Picture winners from every year that I am alive. So here is how the list looks so far (* seen it already):

The Last Emperor, Rain Man*, Driving Miss Daisy*, Dances With The Wolves, The Silence of the Lambs*, Unforgiven, Schindler's List*, Forrest Gump*, Braveheart*, The English Patient, Titanic*, Shakespeare in Love*, American Beauty*, Gladiator*, A Beautiful Mind*, Chicago*, LOTR Return Of The King*, Million Dollar Baby*, Crash*, The Departed*, No Country For Old Men*, Slumdog Millionaire*, The Hurt Locker*.

There are only 4 movies I haven't seen. So this should be easy. I will keep this tradition until the day I die.

To the other stuff. My job has made cutbacks and has laid off my entire team. Most people were gone last week, but they gave me and 2 others a couple extra weeks to work. So this Friday will be my last day and I am unemployed once again. I'm not exactly sure about what to do. I am still actively pursuing TV/Film work, but don't seem to be getting anywhere. I will just keep trying.

Currently Listening To: Metric

Recently Watched: Alice in Wonderland- Good. Very watered down for Tim Burton. It is aimed for kids so don't expect anything too dark and bad ass. Wasn't exactly what I expected but still enjoyable. I am very disappointed the "Un-Birthday" song was never sung.

Mardi Gras and Mike's March Mustache Madness

So last night was the Mardi Gras Parade. Just to let you know Mardi Gras here is not like Mardi Gras in the states. It is Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. So basically Sydney turns into one big gay club. It was crazy and awesome. Everyone dresses up in crazy scandalous outfits and parties hard, both gay and straight. About a million people lined the streets to watch the parade go by featuring erotic and fun floats and thousands of participants. I have never seen anything like this. It was all in good fun and it is great to see so many people so accepting. There was no acts of violence or any negativity the entire night. I went to a friend of a friend's house which was on the very street the parade ran down. So we had a great view of the parade.

Aside from that, yesterday was a beautiful day. Finally the sun was shining and it was the perfect weather. I went to Bondi Beach to meet a friend and just hung out, relaxing. A very enjoyable day overall.

I need to start watching my money more. I am spending like 50-100 a weekend on various activities and going out and such. I really need to save my money.

So it is the last day of February, which means a few things. One, March begins tomorrow and time has flied. Two, I have only 1 month left at my job, which means I need to get on finding another job, even though I am aggressively looking for industry work I might need to find a part time random to tie me over while I look. Third, Summer has officially ended here in Australia and the Fall is coming in. And lastly, Mike's March Mustache Madness will commence.

For those of you who do not know what MMMM is, I'll give you a short rundown. On Feb 28th (or 29th) one must shave their mustache clean. Then let it grow out for the entire month of March. You may shave any other part of your body if you wish, but you cannot touch your mustache. The only circumstance you can touch is the sides, in which you can choose to let them grow down into a handle bar or cut them for a short straight mustache. But the immediate mustache above the upper lip must not be touched. If your name starts with an M, this event is mandatory. For everyone else it is optional, but highly recommended. So lets begin.

Currently Listening To: Shout Out Louds

Recently Watched: Say Anything- I liked it a lot. Great 80s movie.

For your enjoyment. Another reason to love the A's. Our mascot gets down:

Tropfest

What is Tropfest? Well I'll tell you what it is. It is the largest short film festival in the world and its free!!!! Yes thats right. I went to Tropfest yesterday. It is held in the Domain (a big park) on the grass. There are 4 giant video screens back to back on a circular stage in the middle of the park. So you can lay down on the grass and watch from everywhere in the park. The guess judges this year included Elijah Wood and Toni Collett, among some other "famous" people whom I did not recognize. It was great. Free entry and BYO, which means you can bring as much food and alcohol as you want and just have a picnic all day and night. Live music before the show and during intermission. Very cool concept and a very cool festival. Much more chilled out then any other the formal film festivals set in theaters. There were probably about 50,000 people there. This years theme was dice, so every movie had to have dice in it somewhere. I saw some great films and some not so good ones, but still had a great time. I do believe they are beginning to do Tropfests in other places of the world. I think there is one in New York later this year. Below are some pics I found on the internet:

Awesome.

Currently Listening To: Fleet Foxes

Recently Watched: Mad Max, Mad Max 2- Super cheesy but entertaining none the less.