Some people are so white

Last night I was getting on the bus underneath Star City, so naturally the whole area is packed full of jostling elderly people, trying to push their way to the front of the line to get the best seats, most of these elderly people were Asian. That’s pretty normal for Star City at 9:45pm on a Wednesday night.

What’s not particularly normal is that there were some young white people amidst the thronging masses of greying, wrinkly gimmers. Well, when I say “young” I mean “mid thirties”, which is older than me, but who’s counting? Specifically it was two women and a man. They did not appear to be drunk.

These people have manhandled and pushed their way to the front of the line with sheer brute force, whilst I hung at the back of the line. I’ve caught this bus too many times to bother pushing to the front, only to receive an elbow to the groin because I accidentally nudged the wrong little old lady. These people clearly had no idea what they were in for.

The man in the group then turns around to the elderly Asian man behind him (who had given him a good whack with his walking stick, much to my amusement) and upon seeing this enfeebled old guy has said, in all seriousness mind you, he actually said: “Konnichiwa, are-you-Japanese?” … I was flabberghasted! Where the hell did that come from? He was speaking slowly and with a raised voice, as if adressing someone of diminished mental capacity who was also hard of hearing. But of course, it gets better. The old man pushes past him muttering darkly in Mandarin, so this guy turns to the bus driver, who is also Asian and says “Konnichiwa, you’re-Japanese, aren’t-you?”… What is this madness? My mouth is agape with shock and awe that this guy can manage to offend two people individually in the space of 5 seconds.

One part of me wanted to point and proclaim loudly “That’s so racist!” another part of me wanted to launch a tirade at him in Japanese to see how he’d respond. I also wanted to know what he based these assumptions on. Neither of these people gave any indication that they might be Japanese, the old man was talking to a woman next to him (possibly his wife) in Mandarin before this guy randomly asked him that stupid question, and the bus driver had an Australian accent. Does he not realise that there are many Asian nationalities? Is he actually being racist or is he just a moron? I guess i’ll never know.

His two companion were very annoying. Each time this guy opened his mouth to say something idiotic these women would screech with preemptive laughter. They talked loudly on the bus so everyone could hear their various racist comments (they were actually beginning to be quite offensive, so i turned up my mp3 player and closed my eyes to avoid witnessing an uprising of angry old people) and when they got off the bus they actually tried get everyone up the front of the bus to high-five them as they got off. Even now, I’m trying to make sense of it, what leads people to be complete idiots in public and not be embarassed and ashamed of themselves? How small minded can some people be? I think I just have to accept that some people are just idiots who have no idea about the world.

Holy flippin’ Mexico!

I have just found a little news article on The Ultimate Easter Show Showbag here! Yes my dear friends, The Hoff Showbag!

The Hoff has been a source of almost constant fascination for my friends and I for the last few years, so much so that 2 years ago I actually purchased The Hoff’s biography for one of my friends for Christmas. Now we are planning a road trip to the Easter show to purchase as many Hoff showbags as we can afford! It’s almost garunteed to be the ultimate work outing ever!

The showbag contains:

• 1 Hoff T-Shirt
• 1 Hoff Wig
• 1 Hoff Ceramic Mug
• 1 Hoff Love-Dice (?)
• 1 Hoff Stubby Cooler
• 1 Hoff Headband & Wristband Set
• 1 Hoff Air Freshener (?)
• 1 Hoff Bottle Opener
• 1 Hoff Non-woven Carry Bag
• 1 Hoff $ Bling Necklace (?)
• 1 Hoff $ Bling Ring

Brilliant!

(Pic from: The Daily Hasslehoff)

The little things…

I am very amused by very small things, my good friends. I’ve been well aware of the fact for quite some time, but every now and then something so small and petty will amuse me so much that it will bring my own simplicity to the fore of my mind.

For example, today I walked in to work, quite aggravated that I had to deal with not one, but two shows in one day (Wednesday matinee’s are surely the most hated of all shows for people that work in theatre) And that the previous day we had completely run out of tea bags, so I couldn’t even drown my sorrows and keep myself awake. To my suprise, my good friend Emma had bought a fresh supply of tea bags! Not only had she splashed out and bought our favourite kind (the Lipton Black Label ones) but she had bought in bulk, it was not so much a box of tea bags, as it was a cube! 200 tea bags (they will almost certainly be gone within a month) contained in a cube! It beggars belief! It did come as a relief to know that I was not the only person amazed that Lipton would deign to package 200 tea bags in a cube, as it turns out, the reason Emma bought the cube in the first place was because of it’s shape and the fact that it contained a seemingly unreasonable ammount of tea bags within. However, as I did point out, we went through 100 teabags in just over 3 weeks, so I’m pretty sure (with two shows running simultaneously) we can whittle down the 200 in almost as short an ammount of time.

I am similarly amused by the fact that I have recently encountered a person who looks exactly like Penfold from Danger Mouse! Meeting this person was like being introduced to a beloved, yet long forgotten childhood imaginary friend. Again I was relieved to know that I was not alone in my judgement of this person, my beautiful colleagues shared my opinion, and thus we have dubbed this person “The Mole”. I realise it’s a cruel nickname, especially when the person in question can be quite lovely.

Finally, I am amused by the friends I work with. We’re such an odd group of people, we all have different things in common, but we’re it’s such a diverse group none the less. We all come from different backgrounds, our ages vary dramatically, we all have different interests and aspirations, and yet we are a fairly tight knit bunch (or at least I think so) Although I know I take my job for granted, I constantly whinge about having no money, and having to actually work occassionally, but I really am lucky to have the opportunity to work with the people that have become my good friends. Especially when I consider, before I started this job I had no one I would have called a friend, and now I am in the midst of a large group of them, and I love them all!

Well, that was a rather mushy ending to this post, don’t you think? I certainly do. I’ll try not to be too heartwarming like that too often, it could result in me breaking into song.

Reality is for wimps!

There is a lovely young man who lives 2 doors down from me. I must say it always suprises me every time I run into him, that he will stop and chat. He actually goes out of his way to make conversation with me.

I know I’m sounding like a social retard, but I am unaccustomed to people actually wanting to talk to me! Perhaps I’ve lived in the city alone for too long, but I have never had a neighbour who would acknowledge me at all, let alone stop me on the street to ask me how my week has been! It really is amazing to see what effect this has on my mood too. Tonight, for example, I was feeling quite dull and decided that I simply could not be bothered cooking dinner for myself, thus I found myself trudging down the street to purchase something to eat which would involve no preparation on my part. Halfway down the street I glanced up and there he was, waving to me with an almost indecent amount of enthusiasm. What ensued was a lovely conversation about what we’ve both been up to and then we went out seperate ways, but the whole thing left a huge smile on my face.

He even listened patiently as I recounted my adventures in the comic book store today (i.e: Being the only girl, and having all the men in the store glancing around to see what I was reading [Note: I was reading "I Killed Adolf Hitler" by Jason]) He was also kind enough not to laugh when I told him about the computer game I am one day hoping to make.

Which leads me to another (not so) interesting highlight of my week, I have, after much careful deliberation, decided on a  course I wish to take. I want to do a Multimedia/I.T. class at TAFE. The course I have found encompasses everything from web design to animation and video editing, to games design and general I.T. It’s a rather different direction when One considers that up untill 2 months ago I was certain that I wanted to become a translator, but I feel that since I’ve probably got a few years up my sleeve to play with, I can afford to have a few career choices as well. The only drawback I have identified with this idea is that it will involve me moving back to the Central Coast (or the Mount Druitt area, but that’s not going to happen) which I really don’t want to do as I swore when I moved away from there that I would return as seldom as possible (For those who don’t know the Central Coast, it’s like the western suburbs of Sydney by the sea, sans the cultural diversity) Yet although this is a major drawback, it does have a positive side. If I were to move back to the Central Coast I would be able to save money so that by the time I finish my course I could travel (and possibly permanently relocate myself) to Europe. So in the end I think that spending a few years in a crappy location to save money and do a course so that I can leave Australia would be worth it.

Progress!

Loobyloo Falala land

Good evening to all.

My name is Syrup (Although i also answer to: Sirp, Sirpy and Soupy) And this charming young fellow, to whom I am gesturing (Although you can’t see it) is called Bluebear. He is my co-conspirator, mentor and platonic life partner. I am 22 and a half, and he is probably around 24, although on his acting portfolio it says he is 16. His portfolio contains many other blatant lies, but that is another story for another time.

I decided to create a blog on this fine evening to assuage my boredom, as it is Friday, and I am 22 and living alone in the city. It’s only natural that I would be lying in bed (sans human company, avec laptop) trauling the internet for laughs and creating blogs willy-nilly. It’s youth gone wild I tell you! The fact that I actually have far too many internet related commitments has only just dawned on me, but I have always been spontaneous, I live in anticipation of further spontaneity. Further frivolous blog creating which will undoubtedly lead to frivolous blog neglecting. Expect very little from this blog, dear friends, and ye shall not be disappointed. Or maybe you will, but only a little bit.

 I do have a Facebook, which I check frequently. However, before all the Facebook haters out there start pummelling me with a barrage of assorted rotten vegetables, I spend most of my Facebook time deleting spam from my account (friendspam) and all those silly, pointless “applications” that people keep sending me, possibly because they feel I could glean some sort of enjoyment from them, possibly because they too have people spamming them with pointless applications and they feel that passing said applications along to other people will help them vent their frustration, I don’t know, I’m not a psychiatrist (more on that later) Also, I have a lot of free time at work (or, more specifically, I am easily distracted and quite adept at putting work off till a little later)

I have a MySpace, but of all my internet hobbies it is the most neglected. I seldom check it, I can never remember the reason why I have one, and why I have never deleted it, and yet it remains. I could never get into the MySpace craze, it always felt too young for me, it made me feel old and obsolete, like MS DOS. I fear that a majority of regular MySpace users are too young to remember the good ol’ MS DOS system, ahh, those where great days, staying up till 1am playing Lemmings with the sound turned down so your parents wouldn’t hear that you’d snuck out of bed. I digress, MySpace has also caused me slight emotional pain by being so simple yet complicated! Everything you do is automated for you so that there is absolutely no thinking involved, yet it caused me to think a great deal whilst I tried to discern exactly why it’s “the greatest thing ever” according to my younger brother. All in all, MySpace frustrates me still, so i avoid it at all costs.

My Livejournal (I have 3, but only actually use one) is pure nonsense. I love it, but I have had it since I was 17, and it’s starting to bring me down. Time for a change, I say!  Or at the very least, time to expend some energy typing something that is a little more coherent than the rantings of a drunken club goer during mardi gras (One doesn’t like to be too ambitious) Even if it’s only a slightly more coherent it’s a good start.

We all have to start somewhere.