http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:Postie-1944&section=today deviantART RSS for by:Postie-1944 en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:09:22 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/28562143/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/28562143/ Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:24:08 PST
My last exam was last Thursday, a 3 hour chem exam in the morning that was as painful as having a tooth pulled out...which, ironically, was followed by a trip to the dentist to have one of my wisdom teeth pulled out.

Now I get to work full time for the rest of the year, except for one week in December where some friends and I are taking a vacation up along the North Coast.

'Till someting else crops up...

Postie

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/27685946/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/27685946/ Sat, 10 Oct 2009 11:18:32 PDT
Seriously, which idiot thought that altering a hugely successful product from the 1920's and choosing a name like "iSnack 2.0" was a good idea? How does a name that incorporates references to the 'i' series of technology and internet linguo, seem like a good idea to have as the name of a food product? It doesn't even relate to the original product!

And now, after the universal negative reaction to this name, they're calling it 'Vegemite Cheesybite'...it's better, but not by much...

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/26744534/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/26744534/ Fri, 21 Aug 2009 22:33:29 PDT So, last night, I turned my computer on to browse the internet and finish some online uni work. I stepped out of my room for five minutes to get a drink. When I came back to use my laptop, the mouse was centered in the screen, and wouldn't respond. For some reason, the built in mouse pad wasn't working. So I plugged in a USB mouse, went into the control panel and searched for the built in mouse driver. For some reason, my computer only recognised the hardware for the USB mouse, and said there was no hardware installed for the built in mouse. So, I went online to the HP help service, and halfway through typing out the search inquiry, the keyboard stopped responding. So I went back to the control panel, and checked the keyboard hardware, which the computer claimed was installed and working properly. So, I logged off, and logged into my admin account, and found that the mouse still wouldn't work, the mouse hardware was still missing, and five minutes after logging on, the keyboard stopped working. So, I rebooted the computer, hoping that would solve the problem...no such luck. So, for the next couple of hours, I downloaded several new VISTA updates and other windows/HP updates, ran spyware/malware checks, deleted all my old pictures and documents after backing them up, and rebooted the computer half a dozen more times and restored the system. Nothing I did fixed the problem.
So, I give up for the night, and planned to call the tech support guys this morning, and fix it then. I closed the screen, and looked at the bottom of the laptop, checking if there was any signs of overheating. I removed the battery pack, and replaced it after concluding there were no signs of overheating/melting.
So, first thing this morning, I powered up my laptop...to find that both the mouse and keyboard were working once more, and the computer now recognised the built-in mouse hardware.
I'm going to be severly ticked if I found out these problems were solved by simply removing and replacing the battery pack.

Also got to cut open and eviscerate a rat yesterday in my bio prac. It was an interesting experience, and the smell of the formaldehyde wasn't as bad as our prac supervisors made it out to be.


Postie

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/26625445/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/26625445/ Sun, 16 Aug 2009 09:31:18 PDT
A brief summary of the past month...

I'm back at uni, studying five days a week, and working two half days.
I've driven out to Bathurst three times, once with a friend to see an old friend doing uni out that way. Once because I had nothing better to do one Friday night, and once to see that same friend perform in a uni drama show.
I was brought along to the after party of that show, and found out the hard way that drama students are weird (maybe it's just my perspective as a science student).
I gave up my last Saturday helping out at the gymkhana of my old school.
I attempted to purchase a replica German 9mm Luger, but gave up because of NSW gun laws. I needed to join a gun club, bolt a police approved safe to the concrete foundation of my house and apply for a gun license, before I could even legally purchase the damn thing. Naturally, I live in one of the two states in Australia where you have to have a safe and a gun permit to even own a replica.
Artwise, I have a folder filled with 'almost finished' cartoons and comic strips, that I intend to finish, eventually.
Healthwise, I'm screwing my body up by going to bed around 1:30 to 2:30 in the morning, and getting up 6:30 to 7:30 in the morning on an almost daily basis, but can't really be bothered to change my habbits

Until later

Postie

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/25288537/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/25288537/ Sat, 13 Jun 2009 09:57:34 PDT
It's been a while since I've done an journal, so here's what's new.

Finished uni this week, which was fun yet stressful. Had to hand in two different photo assessments, both on days when I had exams. On the plus, I think I went well in my exams (though chemistry was...painful to say the least), and now have at least 6 weeks for work before the next semester.

Art wise, I'm in the process of finishing off 4 or 5 comic strips, have finished a second pastel piece and started on a third.

Until something else comes up.

Postie

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/24556923/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/24556923/ Sat, 02 May 2009 22:50:10 PDT
Started trying my hand at working with pastels, and taking classes to learn how to effectively use them. Finished one landscape, and started work on another work, which will hopefully be finished when I do the next class.

Work and uni are continuing. Work is great fun, and uni continues to be interesting and challenging.

Until something else comes up...

Postie

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/23964072/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/23964072/ Mon, 30 Mar 2009 07:36:28 PDT
Title pretty much sums it up. Due to current financial hardships, and the need to keep my job (by working as much as I can and keeping my bosses happy), I've concluded I simply don't have time to enlist in the reserves this year, as well as continue work and uni.

So, until after uni is finished (or by some miracle that I find a free month or two), no military service.

...I'm not particularly happy with this, but can't really do anything about it.

Uni is getting more frantic. Discovered just how hard it is to edit and sharpen images in photoshop to my lecturer's standard, have mid semester exams starting, and a bio seed germination report which isn't really happening, as all my seeds keep dying.

Haven't really done much in terms of strips and comics. I've done some quick sketches in various notebooks, that I might post up later.

Until next time...

Postie

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/23878293/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/23878293/ Wed, 25 Mar 2009 06:40:58 PDT
As mentioned before, I'm hoping to enlist into the Australian Army reserves early next January, when I have free time from uni and, to an extent, my part time job. I've recently re-done all the paperwork needed to start the enlistment process, but have yet to mail it to the recruiting centre.

This is mainly because of my parents most recent argument, of not having the time to do it, as well as uni and work. My uni workload is increasing, and I need every bit of work I can get to make money this year. That, and I don't want to risk losing my job by saying I can't work for a month due to basic training...especially since the economy isn't doing so great, and unemployment is going up...so I really need to keep my job.

Which ultimately leads to conflict. I still want to enlist into the reserves, but I recognise that I probably won't find the time to do so until uni is over...in three years.

So, the paperwork is still sitting on my desk, and I'm contemplating what to do.

Anyways...

Uni is getting more hectic, with mid semester exams, assignments, and keeping on top of all the material we need to know for the subjects coming up over the next couple of weeks.

Finally took out my sketch pad and pencil and worked on some unfinished cartoon strips. Should hopefully have some new stuff finished in the near future...depending on how much more hectic uni gets.

Until something new happens...or another wrench is thrown at me...

Postie

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/23689994/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/23689994/ Sat, 14 Mar 2009 08:03:46 PDT
Once again, the fates search the cosmos, tracking me to this dank little corner, point and say "I'm going to have some fun with you"...

More or less, my little brother gets a small flu, and despite my best efforts to stay away, I get it as well...except it's mutated since he got it, so mine is aout 10x worse. Really annoying, especially since it caused me to miss the one day of work I have each week. Still, might be partly my fault. Staying up 'till 1:30 in the morning, waking up at 6:00 each day for a month or so, who knew that sort of thing messes with ones immune system?

Anyway, onto more pleasant news...

Uni has kicked off, and I'm starting to get the hang of it. Chem and Bio are going ok, and anatomy and photography are looking to be really interesting, everything from practicals with cadavers, to learning to use Photoshop and how to use "professional cameras"...the sort that if broken, cause me to be in debt to the uni for the next several years...Non the less, it's looking to be a pretty full on 3 years.

Art wise, still have several works in progress, but as of late, with study and other time consuming activities, haven't really had much chance to finish any of them.

Until something new crops up

Postie

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/23342434/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/23342434/ Sun, 22 Feb 2009 12:12:30 PST
Starting uni today, commencing my Bachelor of Forensic Science degree. My weekly schedule (for this semester) is uni on Monday to Thursday, Friday I work all day, and Saturday I have to drive for about 2 hours to a different campus for more uni. Sunday is frantically getting all homework, assessments and study done for the next week.

And add to this my plans on enlisting into the Army Reserves either in the middle of the year or the end of the year (end of the year being more practical for time purposes), and cartooning/sketching whenever I can, and the next 3+ years of my life are going to be quite busy.

Until something else notable comes up...

Postie

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/22114421/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/22114421/ Mon, 22 Dec 2008 03:18:57 PST
As mentioned in previous journal entries, I'm going through the process of enlisting into the Australian army reserves, as well as starting a uni course next year.

Now, I was hoping I could find a way to juggle these two, plus a part time job, but the only way to do that is to postpone enlisting until next Christmas break. Reason, that's the only time when I'll have 28 days free to do the basic training course. I had hoped to complete this before I started uni next year, but as I still haven't been booked in for the medical/fitness tests and interviews, and I have to do orientation and a bridging course in chem in early/mid Feb, this has basically become an impossibility.

This is the second time this year that my attempts to enlist have encountered complications. Still, I have the means to get in....just in a years time.

Also, I wish to ask a question of the audience.
At this stage I have two options
1 - Enlist into the reserves and serve part time during my uni course (Pro, it's sooner. Con, it may create issues with studies).
2 - Reapply for the GAP year position when I'm 24, after my uni course (Pro, full length training, 12 month committment, won't cause issues with studies. Con, it's 3 years away).

Any thoughts, drop a comment.

Until the fates hurl another spanner at my life...

Postie

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/22009460/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/22009460/ Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:37:15 PST
Just a little rant that was brought on by a question I was asked at work today, pertaining to my 'accent'.

Now, I'm a an Australian, as are my parents and half my grandparents (the other half are Dutch), so, naturally, one would expect me to have an Australian accent, or if anything else, a slight Dutch one...

...But this is not the case.

For reasons that neither my family or friends can explain, I have a unique accent, that no one can identify or explain how I got. To date, I've had people mistake my accent as;
*South African
*British
*Italian
*American...
...and a few others that I can't remember. Most people I meet for the first time think I'm a Yank, which really pisses me off. I have several different nationalities as heritage, and (fortunately) American isn't one of them.

Yet I'm cursed with an American like accent.

So yeah, that's the rant. Not much happened this week apart from work, working on a new comic and moving some furniture.

Untill something else comes up...

Postie

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/21892909/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/21892909/ Tue, 09 Dec 2008 04:33:09 PST
Yeah, my weekend was somewhat 'eventful', ranging from a friends 19th to helping my grandfather do some work around their property.

Anyway, after a full weeks work, I was kind of looking forward to a sleep in and a quiet Saturday. This was all shattered by my parents waking me to inform me that I had been asked to help my grandfather do some back burning next door (Yeah, my family lives right next door to our grandparents), as of 8:30 a.m. So I head over, expecting this to be a bonfire type deal, and not something overly large and complex...how wrong I was. It did start with a bonfire, burning off dead trees and leaf litter, which took about 20 mins, and failed somewhat miserably. The leaves burnt instantly, but the fire died down to a smouldering pile before the trees were burnt. Having acomplished this, we set off down to the bottom of their property to backburn a paddock, just over an acre in size. So we create a fire break to prevent this spreading onto the nearby road, and set about lighting the grass. The flames weren't too big, and it was a relatively slow burn, without too many complications...aside from hot temperatures and a bit of wind. About 20 minutes into this, I happen to look up back at the bonfire, which was up at the top of their property, and notice a fair ammount of smoke. I figured that the bonfire had flared up again...until I noticed the smoke was about 10 metres to the left of where the bonfire had been...
...and this sign, plus my family's horses that were in the paddock next to where the bonfire was were acting skittish, pointed to a slight inconvenience.
As our luck would have it, a spot fire had developed in the paddock up top, and we had brought the hose and buckets of water down to the bottom with us.
So I end up sprinting up hill through my grandfather's orchard (many a tree branch got me in the face) to the other end of the property, and discover a fairly large, albeit slow burning spot fire. My grandfather was bringing up buckets of water, but was considerably slower than me, so for the first 5 or so minutes, I move around the edges, stamping out the smaller flames. My grandfather passes the buckets over the fence, before calling my dad to come over and help. I douse most of the spot fire, before refilling, and leaving the task to my dad...
...and all the while, the larger fire down the bottom has been burning...so my grandfather and I head back down to look after this fire. That was the only slip up. The rest of the back burning went well, and we finished up before the rain hit. N.B., back burning, not a summer sport...

Sat night was out with a bunch of friends celebrating a 19th, and involved an amount of beer (I was the designated driver), snacks, and watching 'The Green Mile'.

So yeah, the above rant about sums up my weekend. Nothing happened on Sunday, except a dinner with my family and grandparents, which evolved into playing several different board games, of which I lost every one.

So yeah, until something else eventfull comes up...

Postie

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/21778563/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/21778563/ Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:48:13 PST
Quick update. After a couple of weeks after first calling, I've finally recieved the documents needed to continue my application into the Australian Army Reserves. All that's left now is to confirm when the interviews/psych evaluation/medical check/fitness and apptitued assessments are, pass them all, and head off to basic training for a month...

...Which is basically a complete repeat of January/Febuary this year...hopefully there won't be any slip ups this time round.

Apart from that, not much else new. Still working all week, and trying keep about 10 different ideas for cartoons, one page comic strips and short comic series from slipping out of my head.

Until something else news worthy comes up...

Postie

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/21529129/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/21529129/ Mon, 17 Nov 2008 04:40:15 PST
As all those who read these posts would know, I'm commencing a Forensic Science degree next year at a local university. Thus I needed to enrol into my first year before Nov 14...

Now, this should have been a fairly straight forward exercise, taking at most an afternoon, and most definitely should not have caused as much stress as it did.

The first problem was remembering the username and password I was allocated at the beginning of the year, before I defered my course. This was critical as the enrolment process is an online one. So, after much digging through old scraps of papers and letters, I finally found the details and started the process.

The second problem was the link to the online enrolment website, that I was sent by the university enrolment staff, was a dud. This caused me to send about 4 emails to various help centres asking for the correct website, or if there was an alternate. A couple of days later, I get some responses, of which, only one gives me the right information. Having finally overcame this obstacle, I started to enrol.

About halfway through, I hit the third problem. This was the 'Government Assistance Request' form, basically requiring me to fill out a form stating whether or not I wanted the Government to help fund my studies, if so, what option I would like to choose, and reiterate that I knew my responsibilities as a Government funded student. These took the form of a 78 page PDF booklet, that I was required to read. Now, besides the huge number of pages to read, this PDF was a year old, designed for students commencing their studies in 2008, whereas I'm starting in 2009. So, I had to shoot off even more emails asking whether this information was still relavent to me (for which I recieved NO replies). In the end, I just filled out the form based on the info in the booklet.

More problems arose when trying to enrol into my units. The system was confusing, ambiguous, and didn't really specify as to where to find the elective options that were relavent to my course. So, rather than waste my time with emails, I call the uni and get the answers...during my lunch break at work because their operating hours coincide with my work hours.

So, I enrol into all my first year units, expecting to finish the process in about 20 minutes, until I discover that I can't enrol into one of my core units. Despite using the correct unit code, as shown in the uni handbook, it would not let me enrol into it. So I ring the uni again, asking for some assistance. The admissions help centre I called first doesn't know why this is the case, and directs me to talk with the head of the program. I call both his mobile and office numbers, not getting ahold of him until several hours later, only to find he doesn't know either, and have him direct me to a third number. This guy redirects me back to the first number I called, saying that 'they are the ones who'll know the answer'...bollocks...the only helpful information I get this time is that the unit codes may or may not have been changed recently, but noone knows what it was changed to. So, they tell me to talk to the head of the program, again, which I do, only to have him (after explaining everything to him) ask me to send him an email, with the assurance that he will look into it. 6 hours and $25 of phone credit later, I get the information I needed to finish enroling, and thus complete my enrolment...
...on Nov 15, one day after the deadline...

So, I ring the uni up, yet again, and ask if my enrolment is all okay, despite the fact I only finished it on the 15th, and get told that despite a deadline being set, I could still enrol after it...

Sooo....to sum up, a week of frantic stress, only to get told that there was no need to stress about it...there's irony for you.

So yeah, aside from that, still working 5 days a week, cartooning and coming up with more ideas for cartoons and comic strips than I have time for...

Until next time...

Postie

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/21351155/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/21351155/ Thu, 06 Nov 2008 01:38:03 PST
Been a fairly busy and diverse week...

Worked all week, attended the funeral of an old school mate who was killed last week, and continuing with my cartooning.

Till next time

Postie

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/21182031/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/21182031/ Mon, 27 Oct 2008 05:54:04 PDT
Fairly large update...Finally decided it's time to move and and finally leave....


Yeah, I'm quiting my job at McDonalds....
The reasons for this are numerous. Notable ones are;
1 Have another job with better pay and hours
2 Get my social life back
3 Little bit less stress
4 Won't have to deal with continually burning my hands

All that's left is to hand in my resignation letter, and finish the last of my rostered shifts.

Also, restarted my process of enlistment into the Australian Army, this time in the reserves, so I'll be able to do Uni and work next year as well.

So yeah, that's about it...until something else major crops up...

Postie

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/20852751/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/20852751/ Mon, 06 Oct 2008 05:02:36 PDT
Nothing says 'long weekend' than getting off a shift at McDonald's, and heading to a friends place to hang out with several friends for the whole weekend, i.e. Sat-Mon. Just chilled, watched movies, played many games of chess and chatted. Also learned that I don't like the taste of alcohol, after trying a small sip of the stuff, and that when playing chess, luck is equally as important as strategy.

So, until something else happens...

Postie

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/20737355/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/20737355/ Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:00:06 PDT
It's been a fairly full on past month, several new developments, mainly finally getting my Xbox back from being repaired, half a month after I mailed it, and getting a second part time job, working in a factory making animal feed supliments. Thus, between the factory work and the many McDonalds shifts I seem to be getting (both rostered and last minute call ins), I'm now working pretty much 5-6 days a week, ranging from as few as 5 hours a day, to as many as 15 hours a day (made the mistake of saying yes to a last minute call in from McDonalds coming home from the factory). So I'm fairly busy these days.

Comics and cartoons are continuing. I've got a couple of projects in the works, and several more concepts for future projects, most of which should be finished by the end of the year, hopefully.

So yeah, appart from working and cartooning, I've been hanging out with friends, helped my Grandparents burn back some rampant plantlife, and have somehow managed to get back into my old school routine of going to bed early in the morning, and getting up 5 hours later for a busy day, and repeating this all week.

So, until something else newsworthy happens...

Postie

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/20158266/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/20158266/ Mon, 25 Aug 2008 22:31:03 PDT
Quick question to the audicence. Is there any piece of technology made or influenced by Microsoft that does NOT have a habit of continually screwing up?

Seriously, with my old laptop, the ominous 'blue screen of death' was a fairly common sight. It wasn't unusual for my computer to freeze, and not respond to anything save pulling the battery out (or in the case of my current VISTA, pulling the power cord). It wasn't all that unexpected when Microsoft Word would suddenly 'experience difficulty with the software' in the middle of an assessment task, and fail to save an entire day's worth of work.

And now, a new computer game I've recently bought, 'World in Conflict', made by Microsoft, doesn't want to run properly on my computer, despite all the drivers being up-to-date, despite downloading the latest Microsoft patch for the game, despite having to dredge up every detail about the software capabilities for the Microsoft tech support guys (who instead of giving me the right advice of 'buy a new monitor', instead told me to repeat everything else I had already tried).

And then, the perfect example of the blue screen of death...the family's Xbox 360 (made by Microsoft), less than 9 months old. Or rather a black screen with the phrase 'this console has experienced an error, please contact Xbox support' in 20 different languages. So I go onto the Microsoft Xbox support site, punch in the error code 'E74' and get told that this is resulting of a hardware error...surprise surprise. The best way to fix this (beside sending it off to Microsoft to have it repaired for a probably large fee, which might just make it more practical and cheaper to buy an new one) is to pull all the plugs out, put them back in, and restart the console. However, in the next method, which is to disconnect the cables, controllers and everything else, it says this is only to determine whether it's the actual Xbox screwing up. And then I'm told that if this all fails, which sure enough it did, I'm to contact the tech support guys, who'll hopefully get back to me in two days time. If not, I need to call them, and will undoubtably be forced onto hold for at least 1/2 an hour.

So, having said all this, my question remains 'is there any piece of technology made or influenced by Microsoft that does NOT have the habit of continually screwing up'?

*Edit: Shot off an email to the tech support guys, detailing the problem and that I'd gone through the recommended steps as mentioned on the Xbox support website. Their advice in the reply was essentially copy and pasted from that section of the site with the recommendation of calling them 'as soon as convinient'...really crappy tech support!!!

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/18716403/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/18716403/ Sat, 07 Jun 2008 15:14:28 PDT
Just another update on where my life is at the moment, seeing my last one was from months ago.

The past couple of months have been somewhat busy, looking for employment, doing chores around the house, and organising for studying at university next year. On the note of employment, i've managed to get a job at a local fast food restaurant. Not much, but at least it's a start. University wise, I've had some pleasent surprises. Apparently one of my final exams was bumped up in a remark, that pushed me over the UAI level for a forensics degree at a local university. With some assistance from my old school's principle, I was offered a position within this forensics degree.
On a somewhat less happy note, my old trusty laptop from my senior school years has finally packed it in, and literally fallen apart. I was able to get most files off it and onto the family desktop, which is now my only access to the internet, and has to be shared amongst myself, and my younger sibblings, which is somewhat annoying.

Also, for those who haven't noticed, I'm trying my hand at a new cartoon style, which is partly an evolution of my old style, and partly inspired by other cartoon designs I've seen around the place. Still have the same basic head shape, same eyes, modified mouth and facial expressions, the additions of a nose and ears, and a modified jaw-line, to add diversity between characters, since my older style was more difficult to establish many different characters.

Have several different comic strips being worked on at the moment, so I should hopefully have some of them up over the next couple of weeks. Until something else note worthy happens...

James

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/17128061/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/17128061/ Sat, 01 Mar 2008 05:00:05 PST
It's been a fairly long while since I last updated my journal, and I've had several interesting, or more accurately, annoying, developments over the past few months.

Now, having left school last year, I decided to skip studying at university this year, and enlist into the Australian Army gap year, for 12 months service. This was an ongoing process since last November, involving months of exercise and training, multiple interviews, blood screening and medicals...all of which I passed. Thus, having met all the requirements to enlist into the gap year, the single most annoying event of my life so far occured...

...I somehow managed to tear a muscle in my right leg, that litterally kept me from running, about a week before I was supposed to enlist. Thus, having consulted a doctor, a physio therapist and the recruiting medical staff, the overall conclusion was that I wouldn't be fit to commence basic training by my enlistment date...which effectively meant waiting between 6 - 12 months for the next intake into the gap year.


Seeing my plan was to do the gap year in 2008, and uni in 2009, I defere my uni course for 2009, and wasn't able to change my deferal to an acceptance, seeing classes started 4 days later.
So now, I have a year to either get into a business traineeship, or get myself a job, before I can either do uni or the gap year. Not exactly what I had planned for the next few years of my life.

So yeah...that's the biggest event over the past couple of months. Not much else worth mentioning apart from hanging out with friends, doing some gardening around my parents property, and resting up this torn muscle.

On the plus side, if there even is a plus side to this, I now have more time than I had planned on having this year to do some more cartooning and sketching.

So yeah, until something else worth mentioning happens...

James

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/15553906/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/15553906/ Sat, 17 Nov 2007 20:35:18 PST
Well, 13 years of school are officially OVER!!! I finished my last exams on Wednesday, and don't have to study or do homework for a year!
Now that I've got some free time, I'm back to drawing.
Working on a couple of short comic series, which I should begin to post here fairly soon.

'till later all...

James

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/15429677/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/15429677/ Fri, 09 Nov 2007 05:07:40 PST
I've managed to finish most of my exams. I never have to do maths, biology, spanish, drama and half of my english ever again...
w00t!!!

I've still got another english essay, and 6 history essays left, finished by next Wednesday. Hopefully, I'll be able to get some new stuff drawn shortly after these finals are over.

'Till later...

James

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/15039529/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/15039529/ Sat, 13 Oct 2007 06:34:28 PDT
Once again, the end of the school year draws near, which always means exam finals for that year...
...except that these ones are different...these ones a litterally my FINAL exams at school.

Mixed emotions...

1) "Hell yeah!" This means that 13 years of study and hard work is about to pay off, and I get to enter the real world.

2) "HOLY S**T!" I've got two years worth maths, english, spanish, history and biology to remember for my exams in 3 weeks...

3) "Wait...no school next year?" I'm still coming to terms with the fact that this is my last year exer at my school, after attending for thirteen years...it's been a while, and as tired of coming to it every weekday of every term for 13 years, I'm gonna miss the place...
...that and now I've got to decide what uni course I want to take, and what future I want.

May as well through in a quick update of events while I'm at it.

Handed in my university admission forms about a month ago, applying for a forensic science course at one uni, several history courses at other unis, including the Australian Defence Force Academy. Been studying my butt off, doing individual study, study groups and past IB exams, as well as finishing off two last assessment tasks. I've done only a few quick small pictures, that will probably be my last until after my exams.

Having said all this, here's the punch line of this journal entry; I'm on a hiatus until November 16, after my exams. So until then people...

Cheers

James

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/14127110/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/14127110/ Sun, 12 Aug 2007 00:31:05 PDT It's been a while since my last journal entry, so here's a quick update of the past few weeks of my life.

School, as usual, has been ever increasingly hectic, with various teachers breathing down our necks about various final copies of essays and other assessment tasks to be handed in. On the bright side, most of these assessment tasks are handed in, and I never have to worry about them again (until I get my marks back).
Unfortunately, now that our teachers have stopped breathing down our necks about assessments, they're now breathing down our necks about our upcoming trial exams.
A week ago, on Saturday, my family got news that my great-grandfather passed away, after having a hip replacement operation after breaking his hip and one of his legs. As he was a close family member to about half my extended family, this was a fairly traumatic experience. The funeral was last Thursday.
This week I have my group drama performances, where the four groups in my class will be performing out pieces that we've been working on for the last few months, before an audience over Monday and Tuesday nights. Now, if it wasn't bad enough performing somewhat...bizarre...pieces in front of an unknown audience, what's worse is that the majority of the groups, mine included, DON'T HAVE THEM DONE! Fortunately, we have all day Monday and Tuesday as a last minute rehearsal with our drama teacher, and another experienced drama teacher. However, if these rehersals go according to the last lot of long rehearsals with our teachers, ONE of our group members (in my group, worse still!), may or may not turn up, as she might still be working on an assessment task that's due on Monday. She's done it in the past, hopefully tomorrow and Tuesday won't be a repeat.
My trial exams and the last of my assessments are up in a couple of weeks, so I expect there will be many a sleepless night in the very near future. Hopefully I'll be able to work in some drawing...for the sake of keeping my sanity.

Well, that about concludes my update. 'Till later people...

James

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/13952042/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/13952042/ Tue, 31 Jul 2007 06:22:17 PDT
Well, in that case, time for a recap...

School, as usual, has been hectic and somewhat stressful. Fortunately, I've finally gotten rid of 6000 words worth of essays.
Been to a couple of friends parties, been up late stufying and working...and thus have managed to catch a second cold in 2 months.

Still haven't done any 'big' drawing, just small 'one of' sketches on bits of paper and book margins. Haven't had much time for drawing, and with trial exams coming up in three weeks, I probably won't get much time for the next couple of months.

Well, until I get another break...cheers!

James

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/13198719/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/13198719/ Sun, 03 Jun 2007 06:54:59 PDT
Time for a quick dust up on my life these past couple of weeks.
Firstly, 2 weekends ago, I finally dragged my dad and 5 other of my friends out into the middle of nowhere for a day of paintball skirmishing...too many funny stories to post, but some examples include popping my head over a wall at same time someone one the other team fires a pot shot at it, getting hit, teaming up with a friend...and getting shot in the back from point blank range, and crawling into a concrete pipe for protection...with a dozen guys at the two ends shooting at me.
I haven't gotten to draw much of the 'long hours quality' stuff, due to the ever increasing workload that the IB dumps on us students. I've got several sketches and quick doodles lying around on scraps of paper, and in some class books of my more...boring of subjects (cough, theory of knowledge, cough).
I've only got a couple more assessments this term, then a three week break, so I should be able to post some new stuff in the near future.

Well, apart from mentioning that there's only 1 term and 2 weeks until graduation (w00t!!!), that about conludes my busy life.

Until I get another break in the work...

James

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/12883585/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/12883585/ Tue, 08 May 2007 03:46:59 PDT Not much to say really. Had a family lunch, where my parents dug up family videos of when I was little...plenty of embarrasment there!
My friends at school remebered, and had plenty of birthday punches waiting....plus a crash-tackle. This coming Saturday, I'm dragging some of them out to a paint-ball skirmish, so I'll hopefully get back at some of them.
And for some strange reason, apart from the different number, I can't tell the difference between being 17 and 18 (apart from my friends calling me 'old').

Well, that's it for now...

Cheers

James

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/12700785/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/12700785/ Mon, 23 Apr 2007 05:51:52 PDT
Yet again, it's that time of year where the party decorations go away, and the school uniform comes out for a press....
....yeah, school's starting again, and what better way to go back than have one of our teachers breathing down our necks about a 4000 essay draft due first day back?!?!
Perhaps all the history and bio notes to have done for the first couple of days back...or the Spanish...or the final copies of my World Literature essays...or perhaps even the fact that ALL of my major assessments are DUE over the next 2 TO 3 MONTHS?!?!....*sounds of hyper-ventilating*...

My second last 'official' term (not including the last one where we spend the whole thing doing our final exams) of school, where all the assessment tasks are due....all 16,000 words worth of them! Plus oral commentaries for english, drama group devised performances and finishing 150 hours of creativity, service and action for the second most pointless part of the IB (the most pointless being TOK - Theory Of Knowledge).

Only two terms left. And they're going to be hell.

Cheers, until my next break in the study and work...

James

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/12614247/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/12614247/ Mon, 16 Apr 2007 04:22:47 PDT
1) You offer to do EXTRA history study notes than needed over the holidays.
2) You get up at 6:00 a.m. to watch the Spanish news to help your language study.
3) You read your English texts while downloading past IB exams off of the internet.
4) The only social plans you make are with friends to go to the Macquarie University to study for the day.
5) You panic when you can't access the email your Maths teacher sent you with comments on your assessment draft.
6) You begin to panic about not finishing the work when there's still 1 and a half weeks left of holidays.
7) You spend more time on MSN asking friends for their copy of the assessment criteria.
8) You only emerge from your bedroom to use the bathroom, eat, drink and exercise.
9) You debate withyourself over which 4000 word essay should be done first.
10) You bring Biology notes to read on your hiking camp.
11) You communicate with friends via email as opposed to the phone.

....yeah, I should probably get out of my house for a day or two....lol.

Cheers

James

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/12575950/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/12575950/ Fri, 13 Apr 2007 04:24:44 PDT
I've been pretty busy for this week, out doing things, so I didn't get a lot of time at the computer. Soooo, hopefully, this will make up for the lack of a 'Happy Easter' for then...

On Easter Sunday, I was out with a friend war-gaming with Warhammer 40K. He had an army of Chaos Iron Warrior Marines, and I had a combo of Ultramarines ('Smurfs') and Dark Angels.
Seeing I was new to this game, we started off with a single squad each for the first game, on half the board. I learnt the basics, and wiped out his squad. The second round, we started with two squads and armour. I got a Dreadnaught, while he got a Predator. I lost that round, after wiping out 1 1/2 of his squads and disabling his Pred.
The third and fourth rounds saw the use of the whole boards, along with all our infantry and armour. I won the 3rd, he won the 4th. With 2 wins and 2 loses each, we held a tie-breaker....which I narrowly lost. I lost all my infantry, and only had my Landraider. He had 3 men and his Predator, which didn't come out from its hiding spot for the entire game (I had a heavy weapons team placed on a hill which commanded the entire field), but took pot-shots from time to time. As his infantry couldn't harm my tank, he started shooting at my, and vice versa. His first shot disabled my tank, as did mine, so for the next 6 or 7 turns, we simply sat there taking shots at each other, and missing. Then, he pulled a fast one and took out the only gun that could hit his tank, and ended up taking me out (at least the exploding debris took out his men!!! lol)

For the better half of this week, I was away on the anual RFS Cadet camp, out in the middle of the bush, doing initiave exercises and cooking for ourselves (breakfast, scrambled eggs, lunch, exploded hot-dogs, dinner, scrambled sausages - yeah, none of us can cook!)
The exercises had us wandering around bush and down a cliff, blindfolded and trusting some of our 'trustworthy' cadets (chewed on many a tree branch and almost had a damn fire ant go down my neck...) as well as rescuing a dummy parachutist from a tree (who I had to put there in the first place), and playing crash tackle tip...in the dark.
All in all, good fun, except for the....hygiene facilities there *shudder* (I am NOT touching that one with a 10 foot stick!).
Came back today, with my RFS uniform and face and arms covered in enough charcoal, ash, dirt and other grime to easily pass for having fought a bushfire (my mum nearly freaked at the prospect of me walking through the house to the bathroom...lol).

Well, that's all for this update. Again, hope everyone had a good easter!
Cheers

Jimmy

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/12452174/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/12452174/ Wed, 04 Apr 2007 03:41:29 PDT
IB definition of 'break' - a period of time away from school where students are expected to acomplish the same level of work if they were at school.

So yeah, with two english essays, my 4000 extended essay, a history essay, two drama essays, a TOK (Theory of Knowledge - basically philosophy), a stack load of Bio and Spanish revision, and my maths internal assessment, my holidays are pretty filled.
Fortunately, I've done drafts for all of these essays, and just need to finish them up.

As well as this, these holidays feature the annual RFS cadet camp, where I'm off for three days doing training and other activities in the bush, going with a friend to a gaming workshop, and probably more trips to Macquarie Uni (hopefully without getting lost this time!).

Well, hope everyone has an enjoyable easter!

Cheers

Jimmy

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/12228218/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/12228218/ Sun, 18 Mar 2007 05:33:36 PDT
Seeing my history teacher was at Macquarie Uni doing some research, he offered to help us with our Internal Assessments if we came on the Saturday.
So, I made plans to give two of my friends, Zac J. and Doug T., a lift there, seeing I've now got my P's.

So, we arranged the previous night to meet at Windsor KFC, and I gave the street directions that I got off my mum, for where it was.

8:30 Sat morning: Waiting at Windsor KFC for Doug's mum to drop Zac and Doug off at the carpark.

8:40 Sat morning: With still no sign of Doug and Zac, I call Doug up, and ask we they are....here's the conversation, quoted;

Me: "Hey Doug"
Doug: "Jimmy, where the hell are you?!?!"
Me: "in the carpark, where are you?"
Doug: "in the carpark, what colour's your car?"
Me: "Brown, what colour's your car?"
Doug: "It's a white, sedan, thingy...Jimmy, there are only two cars in this carpark, and none of them are brown..."
Me: "....wait a sec..."
Doug: "Jimmy, I think we're at different KFCs..."

Funnily enough, it turns out the directions I got off my mum were for Richmond KFCs, where Doug and Zac were, as opposed to Windsor KFCs, where I was.

8:50 Sat morning: Having finally met up with Doug and Zac, we set off to Macquarie University.

9:30 Sat morning: we arrive in Macquarie, and make our way to the uni. we enter through one of the main entrances, drive around, taking many a left and right turn, and finally end up leaving the uni, without finding the library.
So, we turn around, and drive back in, and take a different turn. We spend about 5 minutes winding our way through the campus, only to leave at a different exit, still having not found the library.
Sooo, we turn around again, and re-enter the uni, AGAIN, and park in a car park, while Zac and Doug go off to look at a map. % mins later, they return confident that they have found the road which leads to the library...which on the map, has a grey bit running across it....
....which turned out to be a walkway, with no road.
So, we turned around, after concluding that my car did not qualify as a service vehicle, thus no parking near a staff building, and leave the campus AGAIN.
We turn around, and take a different entrance, which we believe will lead us to the road which leads to the library...
....and instead of the library, it led us to the playing fields.
After refueling at a station, we return to the main entrance, and pull over to read the map. We find what road we need to take, and this time actually manage to find the library...
...then I realised I've been there before, in that carpark, and park close to where I parked last time I was there.....annoying! All in all, one and a half hours just driving around trying to find the damn library!!!

Having finally arrived at the library, we begin our respective history research, photocopy a huge amount of paper, and get a good way into our assessments.
After a couple of hours of research, we finish, and head over to the shopping centre for a late lunch, around 2:30, 3:00, and spend an hour window shopping and exploring some book stores.

around 3:30. we set off for home, taking the same way we took before.....easy enough, right?....
....except for missing the turn off, and continuing down the wrong way.
So we figure that we can turn off the highway, and head back home another route, on the M7....after all, we've got a road map...
...which is 4 years old, and doesn't have the M7 on it, so we have no idea where we are....
...so we turn off, and start driving down one road, make a turn at another, playing it by eye...
...we end up driving around in a huge circle!
So we make different turn at one intersection, and head off down the road, which we believe will take us home...
...then we realise it's leading us back onto the highway, heading in the wrong direction.
So, with a quick pulling over and turning around, we're back on our way, and enter the right highway, and set off home...
...only to quickly discover we're in the wrong lane of traffic.
So pulling off AGAIN, we set off trying to find our way into the right lane, and in doing so, learn that one of the first roads we were on after getting lost...well, we drive by that road, and come onto another road we were on, heading in the other direction than before.
So we finally make it onto the RIGHT highway, and in the RIGHT lane of traffic.
It's now about 5:30, 5:45... about 2 1/2 hours since leaving the Macquarie shopping centre.
Eventually, we make it back to Windsor KFC, this time with no confusion as to which KFC to meet at, at 6:30, and go our seperate ways.
All in all, 2 hours of study, about 1 1/2 hours eating lunch and br... ]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/12177530/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/12177530/ Wed, 14 Mar 2007 06:38:15 PDT
Today marks the last day of my written exams (still have damn Spanish orals...grr), coming in at a 2 1/2 hour english exam (6 1/2 pages and a swollen hand), a 2 hour maths exam (including an 8 mark question based on stuff they haven't taught us!), a 3 hour Spanish exam (my Spanish teacher is the devil incarnate...), a 2 1/2 hour History exam (12 1/2 pages worth of essays and extended response questions pertaining to 20th century wars...w00t!), and a 3 hour Biology exam (I actually knew most of the stuff!!!).

Ordinarily, I'd be happy that these tortures are over and done with (until I get the marks back...)...

However, no...

Instead, I'm not going to be getting much sleep for the next couple of weeks, with drafts of 6 different essays, research and all sorts of other tedious school work, all being crammed into the next 3 WEEKS!!! Along with the standard mountain load of homework assigned each day in class.

I can't wait until I get out of school and away from all these assessments and exams.

On a slightly happier note, my history teacher has struck my class a deal. If we all score over 75% in our exam, he's shouting us lunch.
....oh, I can almost taste it now....

Anyway, that basically wraps up my last week or so, so until I actually get some more free time to myself, cheers all!

James

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/12076263/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/12076263/ Tue, 06 Mar 2007 03:30:42 PST
Once again, it's that time in everyone's school life, where the teachers sit you in a room for 2-3 hours, and expect you to write about 20 pages worth of essays in that time...

...Yeah, I've got exams.

For the most part, I don't like this. They are said to be VERY hard, and coupled with the number of asignments that are due IMMEDIATLY after the exams are over.......shoot me now!

First up, history (which will probably be my best exam), followed by english and Spanish (with 2 FREAKING 90 min long exams.....3 hours of Spanish exam...ARGH!!!)

Thus, I'll probably be out of the game for the next month or so.
Until then people....
Cheers

James

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/11983220/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/11983220/ Tue, 27 Feb 2007 04:54:47 PST The past week has been...hectic, to say the least.
For starters;
1- all of my teachers are breathing down my neck to study for my half-yearlys next week...
2- some of those teachers are breathing down my neck to get various essay and other assessment drafts done, for immediatly after my exams...
3- started back at RFS cadets, and as the new logistics officer, had the somewhat tedious duty of assigning the cadets new uniform, in a room which has no air-conditioning, thus gets very, VERY, hot...
4- Finally, after having my L's for one and a half years, I've finally clocked up the hours, and have got my P's...w00t!!!
5- started work on a 'to-be' online comic with some school friends, have done the character profiles, storyline and script, and the first couple of pages....I may post them here, and see what people think.

As usual, my drawing is interrupted by the sheer volume my teachers are stacking on me, but I have several pics underway, just need to sit down and actually finish them.

Cheers

James

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/11678623/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/11678623/ Sun, 04 Feb 2007 01:34:23 PST Met with all my friends, caught up with some that I didn't see during the hols, got a stack of homework from my teachers, including a 'welcome to 2007' history source task, due tomorrow.....that and re-established the deadlines for some of our major assessments, like the first draft of my 4000 word personal topic essay, also due tomorrow...
Will be keeping up with my drawings, as usual, as I'm doing them for part of my school work, as well as a hobby.

Cheers

James

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/11605247/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/11605247/ Sun, 28 Jan 2007 21:40:09 PST
About time I got back online. Things have been pretty hectic around my place since I got back from Spain (N.B. never fly Thai Airways, the food SUCKS!!!), i.e. Christmas, birthdays, homework, internet failing etc....., thus I haven't had a lot of time to get online. That and I've tripped up to Queensland for a weeks holiday, gone sailing around the coast for three days, and have generally been swamped by homework, and not having easy access to the internet (damn wireless router got fried in a storm, Grrr.....).

Still, I've managed to get several pics done, and I'll hopefully scan them in in the very near future.

And even though it's about a month late, merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Cheers

James

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/11013254/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/11013254/ Sun, 10 Dec 2006 04:51:29 PST
What would you know, there´s an internet cafe 5 min walk from my host family´s house, so I have some limited access to email, MSN and DA...

Sadly, there isn´t a scanner here, so I can´t scan any of the pics I did on the 23 hour flight until I get back to Australia in 2 weeks.

As for Spain itself, very cold, and has some spectacular sights, especially in Seville, but there are some crazy drivers about (they´re like kamikazes on wheels!), very, very, VERY narrow streets for cars and pedestrians, and some interesting markets around here.

Well, that´s all from me for now. Adios for now...

Cheers

James

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/10897786/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/10897786/ Thu, 30 Nov 2006 04:35:02 PST
As of Friday 1st of December, I'm going to be away in Spain on a school study excursion, until the 22nd of December.
Seeing the flight to (and from) Australia to Spain is about 23 hours (not including the 6 hours at stops), I'll hopefully get several new pictures done, which I'll upload hopefully when I get back.
Depending on whether or not I have internet access in Spain, I may/may not get access to DA, email, MSN etc...

So yeah, I'll see everyone in 3 weeks time...

Cheers

James

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/10685446/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/10685446/ Sat, 11 Nov 2006 00:53:10 PST I ended up getting in for free (as opposed to paying $5), as my drama teacher, who was directing the show, gave me a 'Yr 12 IB Drama Student Discount'.......translation, she recruited me to film the performance, from the lighting/sound/film/projection booth, above and behind the audience.
The show was brilliant, and was performed in a 'Brectian' style (again, search google if you have to...).
The show ran for about 55 mins, plus an intro speech by the director, and a cast thanks to the director and assistant director....which took enough time to leave 30 seconds to spare on the tape (it was a 60min tape)...
...
...and then, after the show, the REALLY interesting stuff happened.
Firstly, one of my friends who was doing the lighting for the show, went backstage, and brought up one of the cap guns that they were using in the show.
He brought into the technical booth, and tried to fire off the caps in the gun....he *tried* about 30 times, before he finally fired a cap off...which seemed to annoy him (or maybe it was me laughing at him, which would explain the next part).
Anyway, he figured he'd play around with it, so aimed it at my head from about half a metre away, and fired.
...this cap gun was one of those plastic revolver types, so had a hollow barrel (the orange safety bit was removed for the show), which led direclty to the chamber where the caps were fired...
...and somehow, a bit of HOT plastic, from that cap, was funneled up the barrel, out the barrel, and INTO the side of my head.
While it wasn't the most painful experience I've had, it still hurt like a cast-iron-b***h.
My friend didn't seem to understand what happened, so he figured I was faking. It wasn't until he fired it at someone else, and got them in the chest, that he put 2 and 2 together.
A while later, several other friends who worked backstage came up to see what I'd filmed. My friend who previously shot me with the cap gun, found a use for a roll of nearby duct tape, and ended up tieing me up from shoulders to toes. All my other friends found this hilarious, and seemed to particularly enjoy my attempts to hop down the stairs, falling over on several occasions. In the midst of trying to untie myself, having my friends follow and photograph/film me in my dilema, I managed to break my watch, and fall over to the point of not being able to get back up.
It was at that point my friends decided I'd had enough tormenting and untied me.
With friends like mine, who needs enemies? lol
Thus concludes my reflections of my most 'eventful' experience.

Cheers

James

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/10473070/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/10473070/ Sun, 22 Oct 2006 06:49:23 PDT
Haven't done a journal entry in a while, so I figured I may as well recount my weekend

Over the weekend (21-22) was the Richmond RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) air show. Needless to say, it was an air show, it was an air force show, so it was great fun! Even if my little brother did have to tag along...lol

The show kicked off with the static displays of various military aircraft, some C-130's, several F/A-18s and F-111s, some Blackhawks, Kiowas and a couple of Super Pumas.
There were supposed to be a pair of American F-15s on display there...but, for some reason, they never turned up, so that was a bit dissapointing

After walking around for a couple of hours admiring the planes (and browsing over the defence force recruiting tent), we headed over to the helicopter joy flights, and took a 6 min flight around the Richmond/Hawksbury area.

After the flight, we took a bus over to a nearby cafe, where we had a lunch reservation, and enjoyed a meal while watching the flying displays.
The best of these displays was undoubtably the F-111....flying low over the airbase and surrounding area, showing off it's manouvrability....and concluding with a neat party trick, dumping fuel into its afterburners, creating a 20m long plume of flame trailing the jet....it flew close enough to the cafe doing that trick that we could feel the heat on our faces.

Other flying displays included a P-3C Orion making a simulated attack run against a simulated submarine, a P-51 Mustang, a C-130 making a low level parachute drop, Blackhawk helicopters dropping off a group of soldiers, a few vintage jets, being a Gloster Meteor, a De Havilland Vampire and a Canberra bomber.

The finale of the day WOULD'VE been a flight of F/A-18s dropping simulated ordinance onto some fake targets...except my little brother had to get home to finish an assignment....so we missed out on that part of the day.
Still, it was a good day out, and a brilliant opportunity to see some quality flying.

Thus concludes my eventful weekend....except for a history essay and some other tedious homework and assignments.

Cheers

James

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/10211705/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/10211705/ Thu, 28 Sep 2006 06:19:49 PDT
Finally, after a busy term of Yr 11, the holidays have arrived.
These holidays are my main chance to do some serious drawing, as well as starting/finishing all the tedious homework and assesments my teachers have blessed me with....not that I mind doing a 4000 word essay, three 1500 word essays and numerous other bits of homework...it's not like I have anything better to do in these precious two weeks...

So yeah, over the next couple of weeks, I hope to draw a couple dozen pics/comics, and upload them here.....assuming the mountain of work sitting on my desk doesn't get in the way....lol!

Cheers

The guy who prefers an art pencil to a digital camera...

James Post

]]> ~Postie-1944 http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/10104333/ http://Postie-1944.deviantart.com/journal/10104333/ Sun, 17 Sep 2006 18:11:15 PDT
As the title suggests, this is my first time here.....and I have absolutely no idea how some things here work.

For example, submitting art.....all the different catagories.....I spent fifteen minutes trying to figure which catagory my art belongs in.....and I still have no idea, so I just put my first picture in scraps.

If anyone has any suggestful hints, drop me a line.

Cheers

The guy who prefers an art pencil to a digital camera...

James Post ]]> ~Postie-1944