This is totally unacceptable.

9 games? 9 games out of the lead of their division? They're defending World Series champions! And I was hoping I could feel all cool wearing my StL hat around the world, but no.

Now since we don't get any baseball on tv down here, I can't say who's fault it is. And so naturally, the only way to make sure I blame the right person is to blame the entire city of St. Louis. So St. Louis, I'm ashamed of you. Yes, you. Now go fix this problem so I can have something to brag about when I mention St. Louis. Because 'Home of the former World Series champs and current last place team' doesn't have a nice ring to it.

Reasons Why New Zealand Is Cooler Than America

So I figured I needed to post something on here, so here it goes. Why I like NZ more than the US, from my nearly 4 months in the country.

1. Sensible drinking age. Like most of the world that isn't America, they figure at 18 if you're deemed an adult, you should be old enough to drink. And I firmly agree. Mostly because I couldn't drink otherwise and living this close to downtown, the bars and clubs are a major source of my entertainment.
2. Censorship isn't as bad. For example, there's a hilarious billboard that's up on the motorway overpass on Khyber Pass Rd that says "I predict this billboard will get a shitload of complaints." I was cracking up laughing, cuz that'd never happen in the US. I also heard uncensored metal on the radio at like 8:30 one night. It made me happy as well.
   
3. Everyone's more laid back. It's true.
4. They have cooler fruit. Like feijoa and passionfruit. And it's delicious.
5. They have a much cooler accent.
6. Everything is multicultural. There are so many Maoris, Islanders and Asians running around everywhere it's excellent.
7. Every little town has everything it needs. At least around here, from what I've seen.
8. Everyone here laughs about military service because they know fighting in Iraq is pointless.
9. Everyone has house parties. All the time. There's yet to be a weekend where I haven't been able to find something to do.
10. I'm here.

And there are 10 reasons off the top of my head why NZ is far cooler than the US. Honorable mention, they use regular buses as school buses (they just slap on a sticker on the front that says SCHOOL) and today I saw a party bus called Purple Rain being used as a school bus. I wish I could've gone to school on one of those...

So I've gotten experimental

Surprise, eh? I've realized how much I miss my weird indy flicks all the time and have gone on a massive internet binge for crazy media. And I've decided that although I want to study photography, I want to minor in film. I found a college down here that has a Photography/Film/Video course, but I can't start until next school year in February. So I'm going to go ahead and apply there and see how it goes. It's far cooler than MDS where my only photo option is in the graphic design program. I'm basically going to apply for heaps of universities for next school year in the coming weeks and figure it out like that.

But in the meantime, here's a video you all might enjoy. It's called Egg and it's an animated short by Benh Zeitlin. I saw it at the St Louis International Film Fest a couple years back and I remember thinking 'Holy shit! That's amazing!' and then I found out they put it on MySpace. But it doesn't have many views so here's me doing my part. Check it out.

Virginia Tech

So I just heard about the VT shooting a few minutes ago. For those of you who know me, you know I tend to get all obsessive about any random shooting sprees that happen in more of a 'How did that happen?' sense than anything else. But this time it's kinda different.

I have a good friend who goes to that school, which made it quite a bit different for me. I found out about it through facebook. One of my friends changed her status to 'having a weird reaction to the VT shooting' and that's when I went ahead and checked the news. And then I realized Heather went to VT. She's alright, but it's still quite nuts. I haven't looked into it too much and I don't really care to. I guess her being there made it all seem a lot more real than just hollywood style shoot em up on the news.

I don't really have much to say but keep em in your prayers. They're gonna need em. And I'm glad I left America when I did. It's hard to realized just how messed up the place is until you leave it.

Employment, Round 2

So I've spent the past couple weeks sending out heaps of applications and fun things like that and tomorrow it sounds like I'm actually getting a job. Not only does the company have a cool name, not only is it located 10 minutes up the road, but it's still in advertising. Yay! I'll post more about that tomorrow after the interview when I've figured out exactly what's included in that job.

I've also made a strict budget I have to follow. It's gonna be weird. I suck at keeping track of money so it's a good thing, though. I also sent my application into Media Design School this morning so I should hear back soon and start sorting all that out. I need 2 people to write letters of recommendation. Not quite sure who I'm gonna have write them up. I know I'm going to get one from someone at Poz but I don't know about the other one. Maybe I'll get em both from there.

I also have some saving goals, including concerts, iPod speakers, actually having a savings account, and a break dancing midget for my birthday party. Because all of that sounds pretty sweet instead of living off not much. So hopefully this job works out and I'll be all squared away. I dunno why but today seemed like a good day to organize and get my life started. Weird.

The Current Status of Me

So I actually haven't written in this once since I got to New Zealand. Kinda ironic, eh?

Well here's your current update. It is currently 8:48 PM on Friday March 2nd, 2007. I'm 19 and sitting on a couch in the flat I moved into about 2 and a half weeks ago. About a week and a half ago I got fired from my job with 3P Advertising. I have yet to find another job. Instead, the past week has been spent sending out CVs to companies, growing a beard, rebuilding my photography myspace page, getting in touch with the photo world in New Zealand, and deciding that I'm applying to go to AUT next semester either majoring in graphic design or photography.

I'm going to make up a day in the life thing next week for you guys so you can see the flat, see the flat mates, and basically give ya a peek into the life of the random 19-24 year old life in New Zealand. You'll enjoy it, I promise.

But yea, just basically saying 'Hi, I'm still alive!' and such. More to come in a much sooner time span than this one.

How I make decisions...

I leave for Auckland in a week. Let's run it through the flow chart.

Do I want to go to New Zealand? Yes. Will it likely end in disaster? Eh, most likely not. And even if it does it'll be a cool story. So that means I've reached my final conclusion. Do it!