Popcorn: The Smell of Cinema

For anyone who knows me well enough (or even those who have only just met me), they are aware that I have a love for movies and going to the Cinema. I can't place when my love for cinema began exactly. Seeing a new film on the BIG screen, the surround sound, munching on some sort of confectionery while you watch, (usually Malteasers for me).

It is a past time I will never get tired of. Perhaps it's just one of those things I was always meant to enjoy. Or maybe there's a deeper reason I enjoy the occasion of going to the Movies. It started long before I went with friends. It could of been when Mum took me as a child to see Bambi (one of my earliest memories). I mean I recall being pretty engrossed in the film while my sisters couldn't sit still. (admittedly they are younger than me though).

Or perhaps it is because of my Dad who to this day I still go to the cinemas with to enjoy a latest release film. He has taken me to see a number of movies over the years. Apollo 13, Independence Day and all the Star Wars movies just to name a few. And as I've got older I have taken him to see a few movies.

Perhaps it was both my parents combined who could of been responsible for the love I have of film and Cinema. Whatever the case, I love cinema and going to the movies. Which is why I designed a brochure about going to the Cinema and the different types of Cinema there are. Well for a Uni assignment. I don't think there would be a need for such a brochure in the real world. People like going to the movies and seem to already know about the Cinemas that they have available to them.

Basically the assignment was to design a DL Brochure around any subject we desired, so long as what we designed looked good and was designed in some way that could represent the subject matter. The information within the brochure was entirely up to us. And so I present to you my DL Brochure design for the assignment, a brochure about Cinemas and going to the movies which I have appropriately (I feel) titled "Popcorn."

Everything was designed by me and the photography was taken by myself as well. The next part of the assignment is to create a webpage with the same subject matter. It wont go live onto a server, but perhaps I'll take a screenshot when it's complete and blog about it later.

2013

So once again it's been many a month since I have actually posted on here. When I last left you all we were back in 2012. It is now (as the title suggests) the year 2013.

A lot has happened since then as you can imagine. Christmas, New Years, Uni Holidays. I had my wisdom teeth out which I may blog about before I forget the experience. Many new dinners had, and Rums I have indulged in with the discovery of a new Rum! Sailor Jerry spiced Rum.

Over the Uni Holidays I became a slave to Social Media by getting myself a Twitter account and becoming obsessed with Instagram. You can follow those here;

http://instagram.com/lachlan1988/#

https://twitter.com/1988Lachlan

If you so desire.

Naomi and I have moved out and into our own place. Uni is back in full swing and so far has proved to be a busy looking year! I have done quite a bit, but at the same time haven't even begun to hit the tip of the iceberg. Also in 13 days I will be 25. Holly Shit!!

Once again I will try and keep up with posting, but as always there are no guarantees.

- Lachlan

Hello Sunday Morning

This is a post that I should have blogged about last month but didn't get around to it. And since that time when I should of blogged about it there has been some development so I guess this post is now a beginning and an ending of the Hello Sunday Morning chapter in my life.

You see Hello Sunday Morning is a program were people choose to, on their own free will, to give up alcohol for the (suggested) period of 3 months. I said that I was going to do this at the start of the year however hadn't got around to it. Then one Sunday after a party I attended and going out drinking the night before I woke up with a major hangover. (Only my third ever which I think is quite a feat). It was on this day of July 8th that I vowed to finally do Hello Sunday Morning and not drink for the next Three months until October 8th.

You see in Australia (well not just Australia I guess) there is this 'drinking culture' were lots of young people 18 - 30 I guess (possibly older too) might not drink (alcohol) as responsibly as one should, going out every weekend and for lack of a better term get "shitfaced". Those who do this quite regularly would spend their Sunday in bed or on the couch hungover moaning (literally and on facebook) that they are hungover and 'never want to drink again' and; 'can someone bring them some Maccas (McDonalds)?' The idea of Hello Sunday Morning is to kick this bad lifestyle, to not drink alcohol so excessively in order to actually enjoy your Sunday or entire weekend without being hungover and (for some REALLY hungover people) wishing for death. It's a good concept, and I do agree that there is this drinking culture that have the wrong views on alcohol and how they should spend their weekend. I know of people who do party every weekend and who are hungover every Sunday. It's a culture that for some reason has formulated the opinion that because it's the weekend that they need to get drunk. I'm not against drinking in any way, it just seem's to me that there are a lot of people who would rather drink for the sake of getting drunk then drinking in moderation for the enjoyment and taste of the drink itself.

So there I was, July 8th, hungover and looking at 3 months of being sobriety. This didn't bother me at first until the 4th week in. I was craving a Rum and Coke so bad for 3 days straight. I had even survived a weekend out on the town sober and I actually had a great time.You see whilst I do enjoy going out with friends or going to parties and enjoying drinks at these events I'm more of the have a drink at home to relax at the end of   the day. Especially after work. I lasted just under a month. I should of just done 'Dry July'. But I am happy with that achievement. Maybe I will attempt this again another year but I don't feel I have any issues with my drinking. 

While I started Hello Sunday Morning after a night of partying, hungover, it is only my third ever hangover. This I believe is because I don't go out and party every weekend, I AM responsible when it comes to alcohol. It was my decision to stop and it was my decision when to start again. You only live once as they say and I don't drink to get drunk, I drink because I enjoy the taste, the drink itself. And as long as I'm responsible, whats wrong with a few drinks? Nothing I say! 

Cheers!

The Early Bird

This morning I woke up determined that I was going to go for a run. I didn't get up at the craziest of hours (7.26am), but I think any morning where you wake up via an alarm instead of the natural time your body tells you it can be a small struggle to actually get out of bed. Especially when it can be so warm and cosey. I got myself out of bed and dressed into some clothes that were ideal for this mornings exercise. It was cold outside but I knew once I got started then I would warm up.

It turned out to be a great morning. Upon leaving the house a small group of about 5 or 6 Rosella's flew passed, full of colour, full of life. I don't know what kind they were exactly but I think its fair to say I like all kinds of Rosella's. Their colours bright and beautiful and I love the happy little sounds they make as they fly by. Whenever I see one I am reminded of the Rosella's my family had when I was a kid, George and Bella.

It took me a little while to get started. I actually hadn't really done any exercising in a week. I started with a walk before I would break out into a jog and then eventually a run. This would continue as I went on my journey, as I would get tired I would slow down for a bit before running again, until the end when I just push myself a little bit further. I found it a little more difficult this morning at the start. It was a bit cool, colder then it has been when I've exercised and it was affecting my breathing a little at first but I got better as I trekked on.

It seemed all the birds were out this morning as the Rosella's weren't the only birds I saw flying around. I saw a Crow and Magpies as you might expect which are pretty common but I also got to see Gallah's flying and also two Cockatoo's on the front of someones lawn eating. It was nice to see such life out and about while I was running, something that you could never get if all you do is go to a gym and run on a treadmill.

As I went longer and further I found myself waking up more, getting more energy and getting faster to the beat of the songs my iPod would blast through it's headphones. And while I may have been slightly reluctant to get out of bed I'm glad that I did because even though before I actually leave the house, if I'm feeling tired or not bothered, I just have to have the will power to get up and go because I have never once regretted going for a run. And if I had of rolled over and gone back to sleep I would of missed seeing all those birds, and that would of been a shame.

Ready? BREAK!

Today I am free! Free for 2 whole months it would appear as today was the end of the First Semester at Uni. And there is excitement while I post this as the Caps lock on the work 'break' might suggest. I try to keep my blog post title's interesting or unique in some way all the while being relevant to the blog post they are headlining.
While it is clear why I have used the word break somewhere in the post title some of you may ask why I have chosen to make it sound like the beginning of a play from an American game of football. Well thats simple; 1. It's because it's the first title that came to mind and 2. I might have been watching a little too much Blue Mountain State in the passed month.

Now while I still will be working any hours i receive from my casual employment at The Honeysuckle Hotel this 2 month break between Uni semesters is the longest break I have had in I don't know how long. And to be honest, I think I deserve it. The one thing I want to do over the Uni break is keep myself occupied, this way I wont get bored and waste the time off that I have. As I said earlier this year, I wish to be productive. So I guess this particular post today is a checklist of everything I wish to achieve in the holidays.

Alright, in no particular order here is my list;

1. Go to Crescent Head while Naomi is on placement. Eat out in Port Macquarie. Toast Marshmallows over an open fire and look at the Stars
2. Have drinks and catch up with Dave Nixon
3. Catch up with Tom Raymond
4. People I need to call and catch up with;
   - Nikki
   - Adam
   - Panaho
   - Wayne
   - The Vellings
5. Go for a run EVERYDAY. Rain hail or shine
6. Read the last 2 Hunger Games books
7. Wash the Car
8. Re - watch Alien, watch Aliens and go see Prometheous
9. Watch Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet and Moulin Rouge
10. Create a Zine
11. Contact Eleane and create some final designs for Femme Modelle
12. Play the Playstation
13. Do some more Cooking and learn some new recepies
14. Do some creative design work. Maybe begin thinking about how I want my portfolio to look

I'm sure I will add other things to the list during the holidays, but I think that this is a good start.

Student vs Working Man

As I do my best to keep up my blog this year (and hopefully years after this one), I still don't post as often as I would like, or as often as I should. Not that there's any pressure to keep this blog up to date, it probably will serve no purpose other then reminding my future self of what my life was like at this time. But in order for me to do that properly I should be posting more regularly.

This years return to my blog began with a very lengthy post of what lay ahead for me in 2012. I had started the year with a full plate that will keep me occupied for some time and since that first post 3 months has already passed and a lot has happened. At least a lot of Uni work. Because who would of thought, Uni is hard work and very time consuming.

Once upon a time when I was a 'working man' with nothing but a Job that would occupy half or most of my days I would often scoff at Uni students who said they had it tough. I would think 'how easy' Uni students got it and how they were 'always on holidays' and barely at Uni. From an outside perspective it seemed they weren't doing much. I always thought you had to be smart to go to Uni but with my friends seeming like they were always on holidays I didn't think they did a lot. I would always see people from Uni out on the weekends, or on Uni night and going to parties. And then every time I turned around they were on holidays for like a month! I used to work 4.30am most weekends out on the back dock of Woolworths, which was freezing in winter and hard work. 'Uni students don't know what tough is', I would think. And the discounts! Student prices. I would get frustrated that they got things cheaper. Just because I worked didn't mean I could always afford things, I wanted a discount too!

Now, I have a full stomach because I've had to eat my own words. Since starting Uni I've come to the conclusion that those Uni students who were always out on the town and never appearing to do Uni was either because they were bludgers and not doing all their work, or they were doing a shit load of work that I never saw them do. Either way I'm understanding that even with all the holidays you might get at Uni, they are well deserved. If your a hard working Uni student that is.

Now I go on Uni holidays in 3 weeks and have a break for at least a month and I gotta tell you I can't wait to have some time off. While Uni might not seem as physically demanding as my previous job I will say that at times it can take it's toll. With assignments always in the back of your mind it's a different kind of stress then I used to experience at Lawrence and Hanson. At L&H when the day finished I could forget about things and go home to relax. Uni doesn't stop and wait, it's always there until you complete it, there's no going home to rest if you have an assignment due the next day. And as for physically demanding regarding Uni, there's only so many late nights / early mornings or all nighters the body can handle before it wants to shut down and rest.

Now people might be inclined to argue that it's the 'working man' that has it tougher, while others will say that the 'Uni Student' has it pretty tough depending on which side of the fence they sit on. I find myself in a somewhat unique position of experiencing being a full time working man before becoming a full time Uni Student and only casual working man. Ive experienced both sides and I think I can safely say they are both difficult in their own ways. But I think that that's just life, It ain't easy no matter what your doing. And while there are times that Uni can be a bit of a struggle I would never go back on my decision to go. I'm glad to be calling myself a Uni student and I know the hard work is going to pay off.

Oh shit I'm 24!

The other day, on the 29th of April I once again had reached another anniversary of my birth. Yes it was my twenty fourth birthday. And just saying that out loud makes me feel really old. Naomi likes to comment on my age and how old I am by fondly referring to me as a fossil. Of course she is exaggerating, I'm not that old in the grand scheme of things and am only like a year and 5 months older then her.

I didn't do any massive celebrating for my birthday, but I still had a pretty great day! Naomi made me an amazing birthday brunch which was very filling but ever so tasty. After that I had work, but only for 4 and a half hours. After which I walked home and managed to catch Naomi starting to watch Kill Bill Vol. 2 which we watched and passed the time with before meeting my family at Grill'd at The Junction. Presents were kindly given and we all then enjoyed some tasty Burgers. Baa Baa Burger was my Burger of choice for the night, quite possibly my favorite one on the menu.

After we all gorged ourselves on Burgers and Chips Naomi and I went to the Charlestown Square for the 9.30pm screening of The Avengers! In 3D in the Titan XC cinema, the biggest screen in Newcastle! The movie was EPIC to say the least. Amazing special effects and cool action with a bit of humour. Take all this with some Malteasers and wash it down with a Pepsi and you have yourself a very enjoyable night at the movies. All in all it was a pretty great birthday. Next year I will be a quarter of a century! I don't know how I got so old so fast.

The amazing Brunch Naomi made me

Avengers Movie Poster