Tag: friends (page 5 of 7)

The Babble Krewe

I’m no groupie, despite what anybody says. My idol’s Han Solo. I have to admit, however, that deep down I have always been a secret Babble groupie. Ever since moving to Melbourne, I mean, before which I had never even heard of this loony Melbourne institution, originally a weekly spoken word night held in Fitzroy. While Babble’s now held on the first Wednesday of every month, it still packs a punch, word-wise. Its fortunes do swing erratically in the shifting breezes of the Melbourne scene: a special hip-hop Babble in January drew a crowd of over one hundred, while February’s Plainsong and Enya Babble drew less than thirty. Luckily, last night’s Rock and Roll Babble hit a happy medium, with two feature poets instead of the traditional one and a strong Babble Open Mike section afterwards. Hosted as ever by the dynamic, funky and legtastic Sean M. Whelan, the mood throughout was electric. DJ Rag Doll, returning once again from Berlin to spin some garage tunes, got the proceedings started, followed by features Amelia Walker (who outed herself as the co-author of a poem attributed to Maralyn Spears-Malley in Cordite’s Children of Malley issue) and Ben Pobjie (whose rapid-fire delivery and sharp wit elevated the mood in the room). Highlights of the Open Mike were alicia sometimes playing air bass before and during her poem, Chloe Jackson channelling the spirit of a girl at a rock concert, perennial staple Eddie reminiscing about Bill Haley, and the new Irish sensation Neil (who will be featuring next month) providing a rapper’s (or apricot) delight. Strangelights were Crazy Elf leading the crowd in a singalong whose chorus went something like “When you kill Jesus/ he turns into chocolate eggs” and pretty much everyone else who read. Oh, Quinn’s story was good. Klare Lanson lent me her sunglasses for a short time. I only drank lemonade.

Snapshots of Almost Contact

Melbourne-based new media artist, lecturer and all round soju-panda Larissa Hjorth, who is also undertaking an Asialink residency in Seoul (at Ssamzie Space in Hongdae), held an open studio the other night, to celebrate the completion of her “Snapshots of Almost Contact” project.

Please, consider …

Larissa Hjorth
Soju-Panda Eyes herself: actually, this shot was taken last month at the Sugar Bar in Hongdae but seeing as we ended up in exactly the same place the other night, there really is no difference.
An example of the kinds of works Larissa has been creating out of the distinctive Korean fabric pattern. Steve Jobs, look and learn …
Whilebird Chirpings, Seoul (2005).
Seoul’s best-kept secret, three-piece band the Whilebird Chirpings, featuring Jooyoung on keyboards, Matt on lead vocals and drums, and Bridget on lead guitar. Rumours of their imminent demise should be treated with alarm.
Bridget O'Brien, Seoul (2005).
Bridget O’Brien, an artist who moonlights as a staff reporter for the Korea Times, tries to point to a picture of her phone. Unfortunately, being height-challenged, she doesn’t quite achieve her objective. It’s the second from the right, Bridget.
A close-up shot of some of the phones Larissa photographed, together with their owners’ accessories (a must).
The money shot: ninety six phones, who knows how many text messages, conversations and self-portraits …

Some photos and poems from my Creative Writing Students

On Wedenesday I spent an enjoyable evening with my Creative Writing class, who have been a joy to teach and a lot of fun this semester. After starting out rather sedately with some pasta at “The Spoon”, things rapidly went downhill, due to the ministrations of soju, baekseju, dongdongju, beer and the strange Korean energy drinks which are like pre-emptive hangover cures. I’ve posted some photos of the night plus a few poems written by my students using internet search engines. They wish to remain anonymous. I can say, however, that the mittens below belong to Judy.

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Why am I standing here?

Why am I standing here?
I am standing here for election as a councillor
Pleased and honored as deputy
For the Parish of the Castel with which
I have a great affinity and where
I would intend to continue living.

Why am I standing here?
I am standing here to see my broken heart.
Yet her soul hasnít been completely gone
I am waiting to see the way she will turn around
And break my heart.

Why am I standing here?
I am also standing here for Islam and against terrorism
Fighting for their own liberty
And fighting for free Muslims Coalition.

Throughout my life I have asked myself
ìWhy am I standing here?î
Not so much in regard to the big
Itís just a question of existence, suffering and death
A matter of politics, religions and of course, love.
Thatís why I am standing here.

thegals.jpg

Judy, Min Jeong and Stella. Possibly 10pm.

Awakened by Thoughts

Thoughts come back
Souls are awakened
Sums of experiences
A programming that reflects the inner turmoil of my mind

More and more
I awaken to thoughts
With worlds in motion
Transforming it into images in my mind

My spirit is soaring
Carried aloft on the wings of the breeze
As I gaze on this vast scene
My thoughts will journey far

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Saemin, Judy and JinWon. Hmmm … 11pm? 7.30pm? Could be either.

Braille On My Mind

Jotting down words to be organized
in pennies, Quarters, Nickels, and dimes.

The print and braille
in puffed paint.

The Blind want to be
Professionals of my author’s deeply felt spirituality

As with life’s ending and beginnings,
you’re in the wrong lane
When everything is coming your way,
and When you’re not right in the mind,
the left gets pretty crowded.

When someone asks you, “penny for your thoughts?”
you put your two cents down to feel what happens to the other penny.

Not forgeting the pupils
who were more than teachers,
braill is the fall that never shines yellow leaves
and the winter that refuses to let in the warm breeze

Lying in the hospital bed dying
It’s hard to get your mind around it at that time

thekids2.jpg

Paul, HanJun (aka “Hawk”) and Stella. Paul looks wasted but he’s actually still in control. Maybe 10.30pm.

Transient Love

I love him
Anyways, I still think I love him,
But no one can ever say that
I never told him that

Transient Love,
Romantic Movie Stories with
Jon, Gregory,
Chris, Peter,
Mick, Mark
One Summer Afternoon

Love is transient,
Hate is transient,
Good is transient,
Evil is transient.
How could they be permanent?
Where is there any permanence in them?
You could say that they are permanent
Insofar as they are invariably impermanent

Is it a transient love affair
Or something similar to the US-Soviet policy
Of peaceful co-existence?
I don’t know

thekids3.jpg
Jeremy, Min Jeong, Bae and Saemin get drunk as skunks, on professor’s orders. Possibly around 11pm.

Quarrel Within Myself

I, Me & Myself
I have quite a few personalities who usually always quarrel within themselves.
The cynical me
The sympathetic me
The positive me
The negative me
The kind me
The sarcastic me
The snobby me
The narrow-minded me
The open-minded me
The preserved me
The outgoing me

Everytime I witness a quarrel
I canít let myself go
I just let them quarrel over the simplest things …

These quarrels continue until they find that there is no answer.

So I wait.

I am still waiting for these quarrels to end.
Although I now realize
The time that these quarrels end may be the end of my time.

thekids4.jpg
Me, Min Jeong and Jeremy try to drink the street-makkolli as quickly as possible. Possibly some time after 1am.

Rain keeps dropping

The rain is tearing up my soul,
knowing that I am alone,
waiting for the moment someone comes.

Waiting every hour,
but still no signs of life,
as the rain keeps dropping on my soul.

One day like rain,
they will fall to earth
and grow green
all over the world.

All those moments will be lost …

in time, like tears … in rain, like smoke

†Aren’t they talented?

Happy Birthday Ziggy!

Oooooooooooooooooooooooo Ziggy Ziggy!
He’s just a wee one he’s not a biggy!
He’s not a tree no he’s just a twiggy!
Oooooooooooooooooooooooo Ziggy Ziggy!

Oooooooooooooooooooooooo Ziggy Ziggy!
Don’t ever start on those evil ciggies!
Eat too much you’ll turn into a piggy!
Oooooooooooooooooooooooo Ziggy Ziggy!

Oooooooooooooooooooooooo Ziggy Ziggy!
You’ll be a truck driver in your riggy!
In the Lord of the Rings you’d be Viggy!
Oooooooooooooooooooooooo Ziggy Ziggy!

Oooooooooooooooooooooooo Ziggy Ziggy!
He’s not bald he doesn’t need a wiggy!
Yes he’s just a superstar called Ziggy!
Oooooooooooooooooooooooo Ziggy Ziggy!

Oooooooooooooooooooooooo Ziggy Ziggy!
He’s just a wee one, he’s not a biggy!
He’s not a tree no he’s just a twiggy!
Oooooooooooooooooooooooo Ziggy Ziggy!

Zigmund aka Ziggy aka Zigster Robert O’Shea, one year old December 3 2005!

Me, Kevin & Young Eun …

One of the highlights of being here in Korea has been meeting some strange people. And when it comes to strange, you can’t do any better than Canadian-turned Yankee Kevin Puloski, who I met while staying at the Seoul Backpackers (Deluxe). Through Kevin I met a lovely Korean girl called Young Eun, with whom we spent one delightful drunken evening in … erm … October? Cripes, the old memory’s on the fritz. Anyway, here’s some snaps that Young Eun took that night. She also made some movies of us singing at a norebang (Korean karaoke), including one spectacular clip of Kevin and I performing “Paperback Writer” but Blogger seems to be having a coronary when I try to upload it, so you’ll just have to imagine …

waterfall.jpg
I really like this one, taken down at the Chonggyechon stream project. Arty.

kevin1.jpg
This one could almost be a band shot. Taken out the front of a Sweet Buns franchise. My favourite place to be!

kevin2.jpg
Me and Kevin clowning around. Heck, someone’s got to do it.

kevin3.jpg
Kevin shows off his amazing strength – check the look on Young Eun’s face. Priceless.