We Be Clubbin'! We Be Clubbin'!

Currently Listening To :: Dance With Me (Remix) :: 112 feat. Beenie Siegel

Eh, where the party at?

Clubbing is something that I love doing, and still love doing. Going dancing with my friends and having fun, taking in the atmosphere, the speakers pumping out the latest RnB and Hip-Hop jams, getting up on the podium for a bit...

Girls in tight outfits with gyrating hips,
guys up at the bar wishing upon a star,
that the girls will let them grind, from the front and behind,
a better night you won't find, uh, so let me blow your mind...

Sorry, I must have caught the freestyle bug from last nights comp at the Booty Bar. Last night, I went with a few friends to club, something we do every few weeks. Getting there about 10:30, it was cold as hell; good thing the line wasn't too long. That was good 'cause we didn't have to wait long, but it also meant that there weren't that many people up in the place...and no people means no atmosphere. Little did we know what the night would bring...

For real, last night was all fun (mainly for the three lucky friends with me). With such a small group, we all eventually split up to dance with old and new friends; next thing I knew, I found myself on my own. Scanning the dance floor, I couldn't see anyone; or could I? Was that..? With who? Daaaamn...I didn't want to play the wall or the bar, so what's left to do? I hopped up on the podium and shook that thang! When we all met up again around 3ish, I was the last man standing (alone). It's all good though..at least my ride didn't ditch me! I was going to drive, but how often do ALL your friends meet someone at a club?

You win some...you lose some..._grin_

Shopping For A Place To Vent

Currently Listening To :: Mos Def :: Brooklyn

With the Easter Weekend here, it's a welcome break from the mounting pressure that uni and writing has started to exert. I'm going to have to regroup...

I was in the city yesterday afternoon, and I went shopping. Now shopping is something I rarely do these days; not just because I just don't have THAT much money to spend, but rather, I have just stopped looking for things to buy. Clothes, shoes, even CDs; I just don't go looking that much these days. Not to say I don't enjoy buying stuff, I definately still do, and if the feeling takes me, I'll have no qualms about spending an afternoon in Paddington just walking around looking at books and clothes.

This earning more money isn't helping either. I'm meant to be saving for my trip at the end of the year, but buying things from A or B, getting this, that and a third, it's all starting to add up. _sigh_

Oh, if anyone is looking for a bar in Surry Hiils, the Tow Bar is pretty swish. I was there covering the launch of Net MD in Australia on Wednesday afternoon; some pretty kewl isht. Too much white whine tho. Some were pretty kewl, but some of these journalists are all up on themselves...

Them: So who do you work for?

Ben: I work for Blitz...the UNSW Student Mag...

Them: Oh..*takes sip of whine* You know, there's no one who I know here yet...*blatantly cranes neck looking for more interesting people*

I kid you not; that conversation actually happened. Not to sound pissed off, but fuck pretentious IT freelance journos.

Oh yeah, Happy Easter...peace oooouuuuuuuut~

Understanding A Changing Home

Currently Listening To :: The Next Movement (Live) :: The Roots

Following on from yesterday's post, I'm quite intrigued by the findings of that article. Gone are the days when you walked around a suburb and didn't see anyone like you. For ethnic people like me, it's now more a case of walking around a suburb and not seeing anyone who DOESN'T look like me!

Seriously though, what does this mean? "Two Australias?" Is there really a cultural divide as is stated? I'm not sold. But from what I can tell from these excerpts, it seems to me as if colour lines are being redrawn again. It goes on to talk about the divide between cities? Drifting native born Australians out of Sydney?

Hmm...perhaps Sydney and Melbourne will turn into one big ghetto where ethnic immigrants congregate. Or maybe it'll turn out to be a Singapore-esque situation with relative harmony despite several diverse ethnic groups. But like someone pointed out to me the other day, Australia is SO diverse compared to a lot of other countries. Places like Singapore have a few dominant ethnic groups, but Australia only has one dominant group, with lots and lots of little groups...

I guess this is an issue that has been building a while now. How the government will handle this is debatable, but I think that this is the start of a new era, one where cultural diversity will reach new levels of acceptance and understanding among all of us. And besides, the report mentions the Australian born population, not specifically the Anglo population. There will be always be Australian born people moving out of Sydney and Melbourne. In the future they just won't all be white.

Living In The Heartland

Currently Listening To :: Black Thought Freestyle :: Black Thought and DJ Tony Touch

Here is some excerpts from a SMH article that I found really interesting from a mail that someone sent me...thanks Anthony! Commentary will follow shortly; gotta get to class!

SMH 18/3/2002 "Cultural rift widens as Sydney's migrant magnet works overtime" By Michael Millett

Sydney is soaking up a rising share of the nation's migrants, particularly from Asia and the Middle East, skewing the city's demographics and creating what a leading sociologist calls a "two Australias" cultural divide.

A Monash University sociologist, Dr Bob Birrell, has analysed the Immigration Department figures in a controversial paper to be published today. He warns that the ettlement patterns are worsening Australia's "cultural schism". While rural and urban Australia had long been at odds over economic issues, immigration had created a "more profound fissure".

"The divide between [Sydney and Melbourne] and the rest of Australia... has widened. Sydney and Melbourne now constitute the multicultural heartland. The rest of Australia, with the partial exception of Perth, is distinctive for the relative absence of ethnic diversity."

At the same time, there is a corresponding drift of native-born Australians out of Sydney, as they age and cash in on the booming price of their houses. The city's Australian-born population hardly increased between 1986 and 1996. The net effect, says Dr Birrell, is to increase the concentration of non-English-speaking communities - mainly Asian and Middle Eastern - in Sydney, turning it into the country's "multicultural heartland".

Raw Izms

Currently Listening To :: I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For :: U2

N.b. I've decided to include my _izms_ here before they get printed in Blitz. This way, people who don't go to uni can read it earlier, and unedited too!

What do you think when you think finance? For some, it means stocks and spreads, a job at Morgan Stanley, and a paycheque big enough to buy Enron and HIH (with enough left over to hire accountants from Andersen to manage your new purchases). Personally, I’ve always had an aversion to finance, and while it may seem crass, I’ve always seen most finance graduates as corporate raiders out for the power to collapse companies and affect markets. Why volunteer or study for interest, when there’s ‘real’ money to be made out there?

So as I trudged into what seemed like another long finance lecture the other day (my first finance subject ever), it was quite a slap in the face when the lecturer warned the class about the evils of being blinded by the material benefits of investment banking. “Find something you like, and find something you’re good at” he urged us, and sitting there, I couldn’t help wishing I’d taken this class back when I first started university, instead of spending all these years making an ass out of u and me.

While I’m no expert on the pros and cons of finance, the lecturers words really stuck with me. I’ve always felt that university is the time when we have the most options; you don’t want to go to that lecture? Don’t go! You want to take that course on the Psychobiology of Sex, Love and Attraction? You can! (See GENB 4007…I kid you not!)

But most importantly, I feel our university years are about freedom, probably the most we’ll ever. Because once you leave uni, it’s A Whole New World, and not in that Aladdin way either. It’s a world where the responsibilities are that much greater and decisions are that much tougher. Not to sound overly dramatic, but the move from university classrooms to corporate cubicles can be like waking up from a dream to a very real nightmare. For most graduates, that’s after only three years! How do we know if we’re making the “right” choices?

If you think that I’ve got the answers to these questions, then you need to actually head to some classes and realise that no one (least of all me) is here to give you the answers. But what I can say is that now is the time you will have the greatest freedom to sail where you want with the least anchors. So keep in mind that society doesn’t really care about you at the end of the day; only you can do that. Stop living for others, stop trying to please everyone, and start living more for yourself!

Headhunting The Future

Currently Listening To :: Black Gravity :: Herbie Hancock

Simply put, knowledge corresponds to the past. It is technology. Wisdom is the future. It is philosophy; it is peoples hearts that move the Age. While knowledge may provide useful point of reference, it cannot become a force to guide the future. By contrast, wisdom captives peoples hearts, and has the power to open a new Age. Wisdom is the key to understanding the Age, creating the time.

"Elenni Davis-Knight; commentary on the Lotus Sutra by Daisaku Ikeda"

Most people know Herbie Hancock from his classic track "Rockit" from way back. Listening to his new album, Future2Future, I'm increasingly amazed at his skills on the keys. Having played piano since an early age (but having long since given it up), I never really liked it. The only time I enjoyed playing were some simple jazz tunes I used to try, but it's artists like Herbie and Kamal that have made me really fall in love with the sounds of the 73 keys of ivroy and ebony.

Harmony Day is this Thursday, and I've been prepping for the official launch of the MOSAIC2002 Publication. Blitz has my article on it this week, but as usual, my stuff was edited it. Somehow, I think it gets the message across, but it loses some of the bight that I think should be left in. Like I (and many others) keep on saying, "The Medium is the Message". Still, I can't really complain...things seem to be working out slowly, and with any luck (and some good weather), the day will be a real success. Andre will be up on the mic too...So hopefully we'll spread the word about Mosaic, promote some harmony and good vibes, and have a great time while doing it! I'm looking forward to the night activities too...

So gotta get crackin'...lots of work still left to do before the weekend; gotta start stockpiling izms for the future...

It's Sunday And The Weekend's Over...

Currently Listening To :: Shinjiro:: DJ Krush & Mos Def

Why do we do what we do? Sometimes, the things we do are driven by need, sometimes by desire, sometimes by interest, other times by boredome. But sometimes we do things just because (which has been a personal resolution of mine that I've been trying to keep up), and that's what I did last night when going to see this movie (although I'm not sure if movie is the right word) called Waking Life with Mike. He has a pretty good review of it on his site, so I won't bother to go over it. But I do recommend it, and the review is right, this isn't a movie as such, it's more of a personal therapy session...one that I want to take again!

That was Thursday nite...now it's Sunday nite, and the week is about to begin once more. My finance questions haven't been done. Mosaic Launch this week. Blitz meeting at 9am, and I'm at uni until 9pm when WuShu ends...

OKay... I'm off to wake up from this dream and go to sleep...

The Fact Of The Matter Is The Matter Of Fact

Currently Listening To :: The Roots :: The Lesson -Part III

"Do you want to change the world Ben?"

I've been doing a lot of talking these days, a lot of listening too. A friend asked me that question the other day at coffee, and to tell you the truth, I was stumped. Now for those who know me well enough know that when looking for words, I don't get lost that easily. But that question really got me...it's not something I often think about, and for some reason, my instinct was to say a flat out "no", and I think that's what I said. I mean, how can I change the world, when I can't even change those around me?

We all live in our own worlds, and yet, in everyone elses world too...so by cause and effect theory, anything I do to affect my own world, will surely affect the worlds of those around me. Forget that tree falling in a forest theory...these days, if you step on a twig, chances are someone heard it loud and clear (and if the Australian Government had their way, they'd hear you before you even got close to that twig!). Make enough sound, and everyone should sit up and take notice right? You'd like to think so eh? Well, perhaps so, but perhaps not...at times, it feels as if I could make a forest fall, and everyone would still be looking at their shoes trying to ties their own shoelaces...

Oh, how things have changed in just a year...When I first started writing, it was all about me. Way before this blog thing, before Blitz, before Faan, there was my own simple pen and paper diary, a collection my random musings on my life and a smattering of melancholy, love tainted, angst-ridden poetry. Writing was strictly for personal reasons, a canvas to paint my thoughts, my wishes and my secrets. I always told myself that the only person who would read my diary would be my wife, and hopefully, what I had to say would somehow give her an even deeper idea of who I am, and, maybe, just maybe, spark some discussion and perhaps even change a few ideas we might have...

Today, it seems as if I can't write a word without first questioning of myself. Will people feel what I'm saying? Will people judge me by the topics I write about? I seem to be putting myself under a lot of this pressure, but I guess that's what having your name in print can do to you. BUt it's disheartening at time...Especially with Faan, sometimes I feel as if I'm writing to a brick wall. No feedback, no nothing...I even went so far as to say I'm writing into a black hole where my writing is used to garner revenue. And that's kewl, but like any artist (and I use that term very loosely), I'm sensitive about the work I do.

But now that I'm writing for a paycheque, I feel as if I have to live up to an even greater standard, and that I'm being judged by a whole new set of people. My editor, publications manager, people who know that I write for Blitz. If I write something they like, it's like a weight off my shoulders...for now. If I don't turn in work that gets the thumbs up, it gets edited. Heavily. And I hate that...

"Welcome to real life!" I hear you saying, and you'd be right. Earning a paycheque is something that is still new to me, something I'm getting used to. I guess it's because I've always associated earning money with doing things that I don't really like to do, it's hard to shake that mentality now. " That ungrateful bastard!" I hear you say, and to and extend, you're right again.

Perhaps that's it. Perhaps I just need to accept that this isn't my little personal diary anymore. This is work, complete with renumeration for servies rendered to consumers. A platform for me to do what I've been working towards since I first put pen to pad. To maybe, just maybe, spark some discussion and change a few ideas we might have...

So..."Do you want to change the world Ben?"

_HELL YES_

CONCEPTUAL/MOSAIC/IZMS

Currently Listening To :: Soundbombing :: Dilated Peoples & Tash

This is a little something I wrote for Blitz...unedited, and I hope it stays that way...

Cross marketing is a powerful force. Think Nike. That little swoosh that appears on everything from shoes to clothes to shop windows to every sport you can think of is one of the most recognisable symbols in the world. So much so, even illiterate people know what it is, and the swoosh is now more than a label, it’s a concept representing ultimate sports apparel (or ultimate evil, take your choice). But like most things, all concepts, just like weapons, can be used for both good and evil; and with Mosaic, we’re wielding a conceptual weapon of mass construction.

Some of you may be asking why I’m merging my column with the cultural diversity arm of the Union. Well, as President of Mosaic, it’s my duty to get our message across to as many people by any means necessary. Now Mosaic isn’t Arthur Andersen, and my name’s not David Duncan, so I have no qualms about any conflicts of interest. So if you think I’m just doing this to promote the projects I’m involved in, trying to push Mosaic to everyone out there shamelessly through as many outlets as I can…you’re exactly right.

But the real question is not IF I’m going to doing it, (by the time you read this, it’s already been done), but WHY I’m doing it. Talking with a friend recently, the topic of minority youth and pop culture came up. She told me that something she’d noticed was that a lot of people view young people strictly as consumers of culture, whether it be that hot new music single, the latest copy of a magazine, or a new pair of jeans. Youth (especially ethnic and indigenous youth) today just aren’t seen as a group that produces or adds back to culture.

For years in the mainstream media, ethnic and indigenous youth culture has been marginalised to a huge extent. While mainstream shows have at times attempted to bring ethnic youth into the picture, a lot of the time they ended up being slapped with stereotypical roles and names that singled them out as ethnic, and not in a positive way either. The use of token ethnic characters results in a token view on ethnic issues. Other shows don’t even bother to try.

Now while it may be all well and good to bitch and moan about the lack of ethnic youth representation in the mainstream media, sitting back and doing nothing about it is just as bad. If you feel about something strongly enough, then you don’t just talk about it. You be about it.

But that’s not the whole side of the story. Even if you have the drive to start to make yourself heard, which voice is the one you want heard? For many ethnic youth, this is a huge grey area. Many ethnic youth like myself often find ourselves caught in between cultures, not quite in our original cultures, and yet not in the mainstream either.

That’s what Mosaic is here for (but don’t cue the Superman theme…yet). Because it’s just like my friend said, “if you don’t have a space of your own, then you create one”. Today’s technology means that youth today are having increasingly greater access to opportunities to express themselves, to make themselves heard. Personal web sites, online blogging, zines, and amateur music and dance groups. This has made it easier for ethnic youths to go about expressing their views and thus constructing that so-called “3rd space”, a concept describing that place in society not quite in the mainstream, nor totally in an ethnic culture either.

The launch of Mosaic2002, our latest publication, is another contribution to this ever-growing work in progress. We’ve gathered a collection of various stories, poetry and interviews that all show how opinionated and creative ethnic youth can be; giving ethnic youth a chance to contribute to that “3rd space”. From Latin hip-hop to ethnicised fairy tales, social commentary to abstract poetry, I think this publication has something for everyone. Taking place this Thursday in conjunction with Harmony Day, Mosaic, the Union and ISS (the International Students Society) will be bringing the celebrations to you, complete with drummers, dancers, and fairy floss! Copies of our publication will be given out to all, and we encourage everyone to wear orange, the official colour of Cultural Diversity and Harmony Day. So come along, have fun, and help us to celebrate this great event!

Let the mass construction begin!

Somethin's Goin' On...

Currently Listening To :: What's Goin' On? :: Marvin Gaye

I'm not sure if it's just me...but that last message, what's goin' on? I can't find it here in my archives when I blog...and yet there it is. Of course, it could and probably will disappear when I'm not here, making me look like a fool when readers go WHAT message? But you get the message...or did you? _grin_

I am unbelieveable sore today...haven't been this sore since I last did Wushu in Taiwan. Last night, I did WuShu in Sydney. It was great to stretch out again, practice the stances and movements again, and get that natural rush I've always had since my first lesson all the way back when. I don't know what it is, but after every class, even if my hamstrings feel like they've been torn to shreds, I feel great. Full of energy. More alive. It hurts, but in that good way...

Let's talk about hair products. Now as a guy, you wouldn't think I really care about where I got my hair cut, nor what I put in it, so long it looks good. Right? Wrong. I've been goign to the same hairdresser for the past 2 years, and I pay a hell of a lot more than the $5 a big tub of gel buys when it comes to hair fudge/paste/wax. My hairdresser Liz is always into trying new things, so when she said she had something new to try, I was like, "yeah, I'm with that".

Little did I know that this little wax stick would be the ultimate unwashable product from a land where stickiness is the only rule. I've shampooed my hair twice today, and still the stuff will NOT wash out. Now I've always been looking for something that stays in my hair and keeps its shape, yet not rock hard like gel. But like the old saying goes,

"be careful what you wish for, or you may just get it in heaps"

But now I'm thinking about things I don't think I could ever get tired of...and suddenly, I'm wishing a whole lot more. Lifestyles of the young and hedonistic eh...

Nothing's Ever Wasted...

Currently Listening To :: What They Do ::The Roots

Here's a book review I worked on last night, but in the end wasn't needed by Blitz...aish, too many late nites! Last night was the first time I'd slept BEFORE 3am since last Thursday!

Book Review – “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho

“What’s the world’s greatest lie?” the boy asked, completely surprised.

“It’s this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the worlds greatest lie.”

Telling the tale of a shepherd-boy named Santiago, The Alchemist weaves a wonderful tale of how Santiago meets a wise old man who sets him on the way to realising his destiny in life, and ultimately the journey towards his dreams.

Simple in its story and in its telling, the novel unveils a journey filled with chance occurrences, omens and signs, as well as challenging the reader to relate these things to their own lives. However, the real beauty of the book is the ease with which it flows. It is never overbearing in its message, and yet, you can’t help but be captured by the wisdom that the author works into the story as Santiago goes through the many trails and tribulations associated with the hard road to his destiny.

While it’s rare to find a book that can possibly change your whole outlook on life, this, “A Fable about Following Your Dream”, is in my opinion one of those books. Powerful in its message, I’d recommend this book to anyone, whether you're looking for inspiration or not. Who knows? Perhaps the story is that little push you need to make that move to what you've always wanted to do, but were too scared to ask for for fear of falling over...

Hmm...I guess I can save it for some other time. Oh, mental note...never promise to blog. It has the reverse effect...

Hey, to the other bloggers out there...when you know people read your blog, does it put pressure on what you write and how often you write? I know it does for me...curse this stat tracker! Feeding the ego isn't easy is it? But like the Alchemist, it comes highly recommended..._grin_