90%

Humidity. Decay. Lightning. Rain,
The sky that lingers along a dark-gray grain,
I close my eyes and begin to feign,
I close my eyes, I'm home again.

The Long Ride Halfway Home

When she left my grasp, after the long ride halfway home, I thought to myself; "that is beauty". What a fascinating, wonderful person.
Her words still ring in my ears...
As I watched her drift away, into the crowed abyss, never knowing if or when or how I would ever know that again, this feeling overwhelmed me. What a wonder my life is! What a pleasure!

I still shake my head in, it must be, disbelief. One can only pray that our paths cross again.

I thought I was happy. I thought I had it all. But today I realised that the pursuit of happiness is endless; yet for a brief moment I had it in my arms. This was not love, or lust, or a schoolboy crush. She was joy incarnate.

Good Old Collingwood

I read a wonderful article on Cricinfo by Andrew Miller about one of my all time favourite cricketers, who today announced his retirement from test cricket. It summed up Paul Collingwood, the man, and the cricketer, perfectly.

Colly amounted to more then he ever should have as a cricketer; but what I loved about him was that though he was not naturally gifted with the bat, he fought, and fought, and fought, for a test average of over 40. The working class cricketer if you will, the tradesman. I will always remember his massive scream of "YEAHHH!" as he lofted Michael Clarke over mid-on to bring up his double hundred in Adelaide, 2006, and his dogged, scrappy 74 on day five of the Cardiff test of '09, which helped England to a draw against all odds, and ultimately lead to England regaining the Ashes.

Probably even more valuable than his batting though, was his all-round contribution to England's game; whether it be his leadership, sportsmanship, bowling his more-than-handy "dibbly-dobblies", or throwing himself around in the field and taking screamers at third slip or in the gully.

Colly will probably never be talked about by commentators in the future, nor will he be recognised in any kind of test hall of fame or team of the century or anything like that. And somewhat fittingly, too, as that's the way it's been throughout his playing career. A quiet achiever, never vying for attention, and rarely receiving it. Just going about his business, giving his absolute all for his country. Good old Collingwood forever!

Always

2010 Bests

Well, the count down has been counted down, the fireworks watched, and the calendars changed. Looking back on 2010, not quite the best year of my life, but it certainly was far from the worst, here are some of my 2010 bests.

Album

Those who know me know I'm not one of those "HK" music fans, and truth be told I don't listen to, talk about and judge music all that often. Therefore I probably don't have the right to make comments about how great music was or anything like that. Despite this, my favourite album from 2010 is a toss up between Linkin Park's A Thousand Suns and Megan Washington's I Believe You Liar. Both in my mind were quietly spectacular and discreetly brilliant. I've always been a massive fan of LP, and I thought they made a triumphant comeback, sounding purposefully completely different from their last three records and keeping to their own style, not caring what the fuck anyone else thinks. And as for Washington... well what can I say. Every track on that album is simply awesome.

Adventure

Walpole fishing trip.

There were many great adventures had in 2010, from staying out on the jetty at Point Walter, braving howling winds chasing down "Stingrays", to the Rottnest CV dune rehab trip and the wonderful week in Westonia, despite the wind and the rain and a few too many Crownies. But the greatest adventure I had in 2010 was camping in Walpole with Max, Aidan and Brendan midyear. We fished, drank and fished some more for three days straight, sat around the campfire and cooked up a storm on the barby. It really was the perfect, dramaless trip, which can be expected with a bunch of guys, a river, four fishing rods and many cartons of beer.

Westonia.

Movie

I thought '10 was a pretty good year for movies, and I was lucky enough to see a lot of great ones. A few that spring to mind include The Runaways, a bit more indi than I'm used to, but Kristen Stuart and Dekota Fanning were wonderful, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was also very good, though I was always going to enjoy it being a Harry Potter geek, and more recently, Megamind was pretty hilarious. But for me, and I'm sure many would agree, the movie of the year was Inception. The idea behind it was just so different to what I had ever seen before, and the acting was spectacular. Very very impressive stuff. May buy the DVD tomorrow.

Night Out

Jer's 18th and the "greatest photo ever".

The first Carnegies night was wonderful, and it has been described by a few as "the perfect night". I loved every second of it, from pre-drinks at Nic's to cocktails, dancing and singing with my arms clad around some of my best mates and then a dirty dirty end at Black Betties, not to mention getting hauled out of a cab in the middle of nowhere by Cass and almost dying in a bed of prickles and glass in the middle of some highway. Oh well, all's well that ends well! The second, and probably the night out I enjoyed most, was the Ignite Ball in October. Everyone got all prettied up and had a great time, with free drinks all night and high levels of enjoyment. A little quieter (for me) but equally as wonderful were Jer's 18th house party, Mikey's 21st, and the End of Second Semester Bash, hanging with the first years and rocking out to the Novocanes!

Carnegies Wednesday No. 1

In Short

The Joke
The "Stingray". What started as an old fisherman's tale turned out to be a lot more real than any of us expected.
The Moment
Bren Bren drops the eski, simultaneously stacks it, slides, on his ass, in slow motion over the lid and then falls ass-over-tit into the dirt.
The Quote
"not bad, came home, had a beer bailed on my pants then passed out, so yeah probably the best i have been doing for a while" - Syngeon, after a big day of study.
The Tears
The Lost series finale. Not only was it the final episode ever, but it was also the most emotional, gut wrenching episode in all six seasons. Thanks a lot, Darlton!
The Lecturer
Richard "Dick" Harris. Despite being a Kiwi and a harsh marker, he's a great leader, teacher, and one hell of a bloke.
The Friend
Angela Lim. Always there for me on Tuesdays not matter what. Basically the most amazing person I know, you deserve everything you have.

Peace out 2010, let's hope 2011 makes you it's bitch (: