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Happy 21st Birthday Sam

One of my best buds had her 21st birthday party on Saturday and what an event it was. I met Sam during my first year at uni when we were in the same Indonesian classes. She is doing B of Arts/B of Education which means that in a bit over a year she will be teaching kids Indo, history and the like. In the past couple of years we have had plenty of fun filled times from concerts to nights out and just chilling.

The Birthday Girl

Her party was a pretty laid back affair held at a local hall with both family and friends. The party did have a casino theme but I think we ended up playing more games of “Go Fish” then we did 21 🙂 Lots of little and not so little kids running round playing with balloons, making hand print memory pages, eating and drinking, singing and dancing, just all in general fun.

Sam is the queen of the jelly shot, I don’t think she has ever had a party which did not involve jelly and vodka. I didn’t have any of these as I was driving but they looked quite nice especially with the two layers of jelly, very tricky!

The Birthday Card Jelly Shot Tower

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Walk This Way

Yesterday marked the start of the 2nd week back at uni for me and I am getting used to new lecturers, doing my readings, going over notes and starting to plan my assesment pieces. I am a bit ticked off with one of my classes as the lecturer said at the first lecture last week, that he should have the reading brick put together in the next couple of weeks! Dude, based on the fact that reading bricks are designed to have the readings that accompany each weeks lecture, they should be ready for week 1, week 2 at the latest. grr.

These are three things that I am loving at the moment.

Strawberries. Fresh, sweet and flavoursome Queensland Strawberries. Strawberry season also means that the Ekka is fast approaching and that means strawberry sundaes and fireworks.

Hayseed Dixie. I am a big fan of the cover version and these guys with their “rockgrass” versions of classic rock songs produce some of the best covers I have heard in a while.

The Mountain Goats. Well I have loved these two guys for over a year now and in a mere 20 days their new album Get Lonely is released. I can’t wait to hear the other songs after listening to Wild Sage on NPR’s All Songs Considered.

And this is one thing that makes me so incredibly happy.
West Papuan David Wainggai is finally set to receive a TPV (Temporary Protection Visa) after the Refugee Review Tribunal overturned the original Department of Immigration ruling that granted visa’s to the 42 other West Papuan’s who landed on Cape York in January. I can’t describe how happy I was when I first heard it on the news and later read it in the paper. Justice Comes Ashore. Govt weighs appeal against Papuan visa decision.

After I had done my school work yesterday I sat down and had a little play.

I cook. hello world!

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Duyfken

On Sunday Grandad came down on the train and him, Mum and I headed out to Redcliffe to visit the Duyfken which was at the Redcliffe Jetty for the weekend. Due to the crowds and life Mum and Grandad weren’t exactly in a position to clamber over the jacht, so they waited whilst I stood in line waiting my turn. When we arrived there was a sea breeze blowing and the clouds were not in the mood to part for the sun to shine through, however as we were leaving the sun did come out to play but the sea breeze continued to blow.

The Duyfken was the first recorded European boat to “discover” Australia in 1606 and charted parts of the Gulf of Carpentaria. In 1993 in Fremantle, WA a group of locals decided to build a replica of the boat that played a very important role in Australian history which has been forgotten by many either thinking that the first European to “discover” Australia was Dirck Hartog in 1616 or that it was Captain James Cook in 1770.

The boat was particularly interesting to me in regards to the role that it played in the history of the VOC (Dutch East India Company) in the early 1600’s, the VOC playing a large role in my uni studies of Asian History.

Australia on the Map 1606-2006, 400 years of Australian History.
Duyfken (Wikipedia)
Duyfken 1606 Replica Foundation

Welkom aan boord Duyfken The colours she sails Flying the VOC colours Rope Bucket on the poops deck fire! To the bow from the poops deck Detail of the light on the stern The line Tool box The ballast of the Duyfken detail on one of the chests Fire, Fire, Fire! 1hr in sand Bilge Pump gimme a tankard of beer! plates and bowls bucket and rigging Verboden te roken Duyfken Still Life Netherlands and Australia The Duyfken

The replica has completed some amazing voyages since putting up her sails in July 1999, she has travelled from the Spice Islands of Indonesia to Cape York and from Sydney to the Netherlands as well as sailing around Australia at the moment.

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Good-Bye Holidays

Well the last semester of my four years as an undergraduate Arts student start today. I don’t start classes however until Wednesday as I am a good little Arts student who only goes to uni three days a week compared to my younger brother the Photonics and Nanoscience student who goes to uni five days a week.

Looking back on my list of things to do on the holidays there were some things I didn’t get to do but other things that were not on the list that I did do.

I made the top – Simplicity 4589.
I didn’t make pasta.
I did finish the new blog template.
I have cooked a fair number of the recipes I wanted to try but there is always more in the pile.
I haven’t learnt how to knit.
I have scrapbooked a bit.
I haven’t made any bags.
I haven’t gotten my bike serviced.
I have had a few mini photographic expeditions.
I didn’t get round to seeing Trivia at the Metro Arts.
I did go see Death Cab for Cutie with Sam last Thursday night and it was pretty rocking.
I did go to the Brisbane Flickr Meet up.
I got some photos printed and framed for a long overdue birthday present.
I have had fun.
I have earned heaps for mula.
I have organised all my newspaper clippings into a book.
I hit up the shops with Andrea.
I didn’t go out at all with Sam.
I have played a bit of Gamecube with Matthew.
I didn’t do anything with “The girls from School” but I did see Kaliope last Tuesday when I got my hair cut at the salon where she works and we had gelato afterwards.
I have read quite a few of the books that were on my shelf.

Things I didn’t plan on doing but did.
I had not planned to write up two weeks worth of notes from the Iceland Megatrip of 2005, the other two weeks will have to wait till November when exams are over. This took up a lot of holiday time but I enjoyed doing it.
Stocking up with DVDs each week on $1 Tuesday so Mum and I could have a movie night almost every night.
Cleaning out stuff in my room (well I guess I knew I would do this but it wasn’t planned).
Going out to dinner at Hog’s Breath Cafe with three of my closest scrapbooking buddies.
and other things that by now I can’t recall

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about that

Well I think I have ironed out all the bugs of this new theme, what do you think?
I am still trying to decide what I want to put in the header so at the moment it is just a pretty simple graphic using a brush from Jason Gaylor’s Worn Hi-Res Brushes III.

I cracked down and bought a new camera bag yesterday, I got a Crumpler Seven Million Dollar Home in Blue. Buying a camera bag is one of the hardest things to do. I have been after a bag for a long time which would take some uni books, some other stuff and some camera gear, after playing with numerous different combos at the camera store and at the Crumpler store, I have had to decide that the product I want is just not on the market yet.

Mum is progressing along nicely, the other day she moved up from a 7/8 plaster cast to a fancy knee brace, which looks like the one on this page.

We have watched some more movies

  • I Heart Huckabees (This was cool)
  • Before Sunset (This was an amazing film, very different to what I am used to as it basically only has two characters and the movie consists of them walking round Paris talking)
  • Bride & Prejudice (This was super rad, I could watch it over and over, loved the musical parts and all the colour)
  • Ladder 49 (Parts of this make me teary :()
  • The Princess Diaries (A simple little movie to curl up on the couch watching on a Friday night)

Tonight however, I will not be watching a movie but will be sitting on the edge of the couch full of anticipation as Australia goes head to head against Italy to play for a quarter-final spot in the World Cup! Go the ‘roos!

Some of you may know Karyn but for those who don’t, she was the first non-Australian person from 2peas that I gotten to know, she is in the USA Navy and is married to an Icelander (which is how we connected), well after some time spent training in SC she is now smack bang in the biggest sandpit she has ever known in other words she is now in Iraq (or in her words Irock the Casbah). She has posted some photos that are well worth checking out and she is always up for well wishes.
That is about it.