a champagne supernova in the sky

on_a_leash @ 2008-07-15T21:02:00

2008-07-15T11:11:15Z

inga came home with a thing of tim tams so we sat around trying to do the 'tim tam shot' where you bite the ends of the tim tam off and then try and suck some kind of liquid through it (in this case tea).

it was good....but then my tim tam disintegrated faster than i thought it would and fell into my tea. then my tea became really really gross. but i still had another one. now i feel really sick and am guessing that hour i spent exercising today has been completely useless after tim tam consumption.

and that concludes my tim tam experience.

on_a_leash @ 2008-05-10T13:42:00

2008-05-10T03:48:32Z

conversation on the tram with my mother:

mum: the doctor said its because im going through...the what...manoposy...the manupose
(i can hear dad in background) dad: no no, its pronounced manuposal
mum:....what? manoposely
(dad in background) dad: no lah, MANUPOSEY
me (loudly):....MENOPAUSE (cue strange looks from women on tram)
mum: yah, the menuplase.

on_a_leash @ 2008-02-29T11:50:00

2008-02-29T00:57:34Z

i have a ticket to Air. awesome.

i am now officially poor. this show had better be worth $99.90.

on_a_leash @ 2008-02-22T12:20:00

2008-02-22T01:23:39Z

eeeee! Jesus and Mary Chain at the Palace! (which apparently is the Metro...ffffft).

but tickets are $85.10.....gah.

on_a_leash @ 2008-02-15T19:24:00

2008-02-15T08:39:06Z

our new housemate eddie (canadian boy, living in our house since december, leaving in two weeks) was outside having a cigarette and i had just finished putting out my laundry. he says

"hey linah, you know what? out of all the girls in the house, you have the best underwear..."

...i'm not sure whether to take that as a compliment...or be scared that he's been perving on my underwear for the past month.

man this deadline is killing me. in true style, my editor on chief has dumped another article on me last minute. the deadline was today, but it has now been extended to sunday. ffffffft.

oh, last night i had an AWESOME dinner with andrew (white tomato on bourke street. best korean food ever) which involved sizzling plates of meat and even more little plates of kimchi (im a sucker for kimchi). then we decided to go for a stroll in crown and check out the casino (something i had never done before). after staring at people playing roulette for 10 minutes, i felt the urge to gamble. it seemed so simple. i guess that was my inner asian kicking in. then i saw a guy lose $1,500 on one roulette bet...or was that $5,000. anyways, that pretty much killed my gambling urge.

i have more to write but deadline calls....after i make dinner.

on_a_leash @ 2008-02-11T20:20:00

2008-02-11T09:24:40Z

i am listening to Because of the Times by the Kings of Leon. when they first came out, i didn't really pay much attention to them because i lumped them in the same category as BRMC and...the Cooper Temple Clause. those bands have some rocking songs, but i also find their music tends to lag and become very dull at times.

but holy fuck this album is awesome.

on_a_leash @ 2008-02-08T13:31:00

2008-02-08T02:32:44Z

Juno was really not that great a film. people need to get over it because it really annoys me.

on_a_leash @ 2008-02-06T16:48:00

2008-02-06T06:02:49Z

i feel so ashamed. i completely forgot it was Chinese New Year until a lady behind a sushi counter in the city wished me Happy New Year. im such a disgraceful azn.

Happy Chinese New Year (Eve) to everyone that is Asianriffic like me.

on_a_leash @ 2008-01-29T12:52:00

2008-01-29T02:44:39Z

i don't really have much to say about the Big Day Out other than I was FRONT ROW at Bjork.

She was completely gorgeous and amazing. and very crazy. when you first see her all you want to do is pat her head and saw 'awwww', but then you look into her eyes and realize that she is one crazy mofo who will probably bite your hand off. her setlist was a mix of old and new - surprisingly a lot of favorites such as All is Full of Love, I Miss You, Unravel, 5 Years, Hyper-Ballad, Hunter, Bachelorette, Earth Intruders, Pagan Poetry, The Anchor Song and she finished with Declare Independence. oh lord it was fucking fantastic...

to be really honest, i didnt pay much attention to the bands that were playing at the first half of the day. the only acts that i saw and paid attention to started after 5 - mainly The Arcade Fire, Silverchair, Bjork and Rage Against the Machine. oh yeah, Rage were pretty awesome, their setlist was a mix of old and new which pleased me immensely.

i woke up this morning looking like someone had airbrushed a pair of sunglasses onto my face and bad back sunburn. i didnt realise it was going to be so fucking hot! the bom said 25 degrees which...well for someone from Dubai, is nothing...but it felt like 30+ degrees yesterday. awful.

anyways, here are two i took yesterday when i got close enough to the stage and when there was decent lighting.

Arcade Fire - Big Day Out 2008

Bjork - Big Day Out 2008

on_a_leash @ 2008-01-25T12:08:00

2008-01-25T01:32:52Z

hmm...apparently Bjork's gig at the Big Day Out Sydney has been cancelled because she did something to her vocal chords during her Sydney Opera House gig.

if she doesn't show up at the Melbourne Big Day Out I am going to cry. and then pawn my ticket at the gate because there's no way in hell im going to put up with a day of shitty kids and godawful bands without seeing her at the end of it!

GET WELL SOON BJORK....FOR MY SAKE.

on_a_leash @ 2008-01-24T16:10:00

2008-01-24T05:21:18Z

i have to stop thinking that i am very very rich.

because I AM NOT. and therefore should stop spending time in little boutiques down brunswick street. just because there is a huge sign saying 'sale' out the front, it does not make spending a ridiculous amount of money justifiable.

*smacks hands*

on_a_leash @ 2008-01-23T14:59:00

2008-01-23T04:06:02Z

....Heath Ledger is DEAD?????

i love you heath!

on_a_leash @ 2008-01-22T17:36:00

2008-01-22T06:44:23Z

for someone who hasn't really done much the past few days, i am really exhausted. i think it's because i am not used to having to go around socializing with different people. in Dubai i just had two or three people i used to regularly hang out with....but now, it's like i run into people every day. crazy.

i haven't really been doing too much. i pretty much spent most of the weekend with jackie! friday afternoon was spent lounging around brighton beach with andrew. ahhhhh. i could still do with a few more beach days, preferrably before the weather begins to get cold and evil (something it appears to be doing now). later that jackie and i hit up this awesome shisha cafe down sydney road (we both missed filling up our lungs with the sweet smells of apple and mint) which came complete with bottles of coca cola written in Arabic! ahhh just like home.

saturday night i met up with jackie again to go to ben's cartoon character party. it also rained like a motherfucker the whole evening, so i stood in ben's kitchen talking to a boy named diego and another boy named Andrew Wilcock. it was also the first time i got to use my 'oh i've been in Dubai working as a writer for the past year' spiel which actually went down really well. nice.

sunday night jackie was nice enough to cook andrew and i a feast of tofu stir-fry, roast chicken drumsticks and stuffed tomato. i had been yearning for home cooked food for the past week, i honestly cant remember what ive eaten because a lot of it has been eating out. it has to stop!

a tattoo shop has opened on nicholson street. i consider it a sign to ink myself (but probably not at that shop because it looks dodgy).

i watched the Kite Runner (with jackie) yesterday. the film was alright, although i think i would have liked it better if they didnt try too hard to make it seem like a powerful and moving films. some things just turned out really....overdone. and almost kind of cringe-worthy. the book is better.

on_a_leash @ 2008-01-15T21:41:00

2008-01-15T11:01:53Z

my triple J hottest 100:

M.I.A - Paper Planes
Interpol - The Heinrich Maneuver
Bat For Lashes - What's A Girl To Do?
Cut Copy - Hearts On Fire
Midnight Juggernauts - Road To Recovery
Shins, The - Phantom Limb
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Down Boy
Modest Mouse - We've Got Everything
Kasabian - Shoot The Runner
Kanye West - Stronger

ok this is a shitty list because this is all the music that i knew of after spending a year in the middle east...cut me some slack!

on_a_leash @ 2008-01-13T09:19:00

2008-01-13T05:37:42Z

my drinking tolerance appears to have completely dissappeared.

last night, after two beers and half a glass of jack daniels and coke, i ended up squatting on the floor of the Cookie toilets (which are very clean btw) puking my guts out for about an hour. welcome back to australia indeed.

nonetheless, i have had quite an eventful weekend. my actual birthday was a collection of backyard amusements, with enough shisha, beers, barbecued meats and marijuana on offer to keep everyone amused. i even recived a rousing rendition of 'happy birthday' at which the neighbors who were in their own backyard two doors down from us even joined in! hurrah!

andrew got me tickets to the midnight juggernauts gig AND the Spoon gig for my birthday! i am very excited about both events. i was also told that if i am considering getting my australian driver's license, i should get it before June because some crazy restriction is going to be enforced that will make it twice as hard for me to get my license. maybe i will get onto that within the next week or something.

you know, i never thought i'd say this but i miss my parents.

on_a_leash @ 2008-01-09T00:21:00

2008-01-08T13:46:14Z

jesus. im drinking beer in my room alone. this has never happened before! awesome. im actually just finishing my half-empty bottle off (for real), carlos came over with a six-pack and then kev and scott showed up and he left with them before i could finish my beer (i am a slow drinker after all). kev is still an amusing boy. he went to the kings of leon gig with scott earlier, but it wasn't until after they sat down and noted all the people leaving that he realised they had arrived REALLY late for the gig.

other than that, ive just been catching up with random people here and there. i met up with mark and drew the other day which was fantastic! i missed those two so much. unfortunately mark is up the coast for a month so i wont get to see him again after the 20th.

speaking of which, organizing plans for my birthday is friday is a mess. for some bizarre reason, everyone i know is going to see girltalk on friday or are going to be away from melbourne (including my housemates). imogen has been a dear and has tried organizing a picnic in the park, but that has now changed as a result of everyone's schedules (also due to the fact it's going to 40+ degrees on friday). bah. BAH. now i have to thinks of pubs to go to on a friday night...eek!

i also have developed this nasty rash on my legs. the pharmacist thinks it's a fungal infection. fantastic.

on_a_leash @ 2008-01-08T18:11:00

2008-01-08T07:17:31Z

ahhh smoking and alcohol. how i've missed you.

on_a_leash @ 2008-01-07T09:23:00

2008-01-06T22:26:08Z

well im back in melbourne.

it's....been ok i guess. ive seen minoo and emma but wasn't as enraged as i thought i would be. right now, i have to sort out like 10 million garbage bags and boxes full of stuff i left behind, that's been pretty tiring.

our house is full of boys. it's really weird. i guess it will take some time to get used to, but right now, it doesnt really feel like home...or anything at the moment.

and what the hell is up with the weather? it really is true melbourne climate.

on_a_leash @ 2007-12-27T16:02:00

2007-12-27T12:03:51Z

that does it!

im done with work. there's no access to livejournal at home. boo. ill miss you media city! your unlimited internet access has constantly kept me amused and behind in my work.

i'll SEE YOU GUYS IN MELBOURNE!!!!!! ill be back next saturday!!!!! eeeeeeeee!

until then, everyone have a fantastic new year.

peace out
xx

on_a_leash @ 2007-12-13T16:41:00

2007-12-13T12:43:58Z

Report on Dubai trying to ban smoking indoors:

> Ban at nightclubs and bars is delayed, says civic body
>
>
> Published: December 13, 2007, 00:09
>
>
> Dubai: Smoking in nightclubs and bars will not be banned, Gulf News has learnt.
>
> The decision to ban smoking in nightclubs and bars have been delayed after a meeting early this week comprising officials from the municipality, Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) and representatives of hotels and nightclubs.
>
> "We have decided not to ban smoking in these places because we understand the people going to such places are mature enough to take care of their health. Also no children are allowed to enter these places,"said the Director of Public Health Department, Dubai Municipality.
>
> He said people go to such places by choice and should be well aware of the health risks.
>
> He said that smoking would ultimately be regulated in these places, too, but it will happen in future.

haw haw.

people going to those palces are not mature enough to take care of their health! they're all underaged kids! pffft.

on_a_leash @ 2007-12-13T10:56:00

2007-12-13T07:07:12Z

eee im going to see Control tonight!

in the end i thought i wasn't going to be able to go because the cinema there is such a hassle to get to...however dalia called up last night and wanted to know if i wanted to see '4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days' with her, which just so happened to be showing at the same time AND at the same venue as Control...needless to say i cancelled on her film but pretty much just asked her for a ride to the cinema. thankfully she didn't yell at me. i was going to wear my Smiths shirt today! but i thought that would be too cheesy....but then again, i don't think people in Dubai really care.

my melbournian friends are arriving tonight! we have a busy weekend ahead of us. friday afternoon im taking them for delicious arabic foods and then probably the indoor ski slope (they're both really excited about the indoor ski thing...it's not that big a deal!) and then later that evening i'm taking them to the 'red carpet' screening of the Darjeeling Limited. i exchanged my sponsor invites and we got back tickets saying VIP/GA...which means they will probably just make us stand on the red carpet to watch. ah well. then we'll probably hit the town with rawaan and her friends. or something awesome like that.

saturday we're having afternoon tea at the Burj Al Arab. finally! i get to see wht this place looks like from the inside. from what i hear, it's tacky and gold.

i also have this humongous zit on my lip that appeared out of nowhere this morning...yuck! it's runing my weekend!

on_a_leash @ 2007-12-12T12:07:00

2007-12-12T08:11:12Z

i think gloria estefan is doing some kind of warm-up gig/sound check right now before her concert in my office complex tonight...all i've heard this morning is bad samba music....either that, or they're playing her greatest hits cd really loud. whatever it is, it ain't pretty and isn't making my awful day at work any better!

HELP.

on_a_leash @ 2007-12-10T11:00:00

2007-12-10T07:32:34Z

i've had this part of Gold by Spandau Ballet in my head all of yesterday:

Nothing left to make me feel small
Luck has left me standing so tall

Gold (gold)
Always believe in your soul
You've got the power to know
You're indestructable
Always believe in
'Cause you are gold (gold)
Glad that you're bound to return
There's something I could have learned
You're indestructable
Always believe in

i got given a whole heap of free tickets to the Dubai International Film Festival yesterday and press invites to the darjeeling limited gala screening and some kind of award party for it. wierd....but exciting. i might take jackie and richard there on friday night or something. ive already got my ticket for Control! hurrah!

i've made friends with the cats that roam around the media city lake...up until yesterday that is - i was eating a tuna sandwich and all of a sudden this cat appears next to me on the bench. it starts meowling and then tries to climb onto me. then it scratched my hand and left me with small, yet deep, cuts on three of my fingers. stupid cat! im never bringing a tuna sandwich to work every again.

on_a_leash @ 2007-12-09T11:21:00

2007-12-09T07:30:45Z

dita von teese really is comming to dubai!

but she's only comming to attend some charity benefit at a ridiculously expensive hotel with sharon stone. the charity benefit has tickets starting at $2,000. bah!

maybe 'charity benefit' is codename for 'burlesque show'? do people in dubai even know who dita von teese is??? i'll bet customs will have a fun time going through her suitcase. im really annoyed at the scheduling of the film festival because Control is being screened at really inconvenient times and locations. curse you DIFF!

my friends are comming this weekend! i still have a tonne of work to do and i know im not going to get everything finished by the 14th. but still! this weekend is going to be big. which reminds me, i need to think of a good drinking location to take them. a drinking location where they can smoke shisha. hmm.

on_a_leash @ 2007-12-06T13:00:00

2007-12-06T09:06:50Z

bah. i was supposed to be done with this artparis article days ago but right now im more engrossed in researching japanese haircuts for my hair appointment on saturday. i want something that i shamefully admit seems to look like a posh spice bob (slightly longer) with a fringe, although i think the problem is that my face will probably be too fat and round to handle such a style.

yeah i have a FAT FACE.