Albert Fish

Strange little run-ins kept happening this week. The first two were quick explainable but the second two blew my mind.

On Wednesday I was in town spending too much money at Billie and Rose and I decided I would go back to uni early and have lunch. I messaged my future husband Dean Hall to see if he was available to share a meal with me and as I sent the message I put my phone in my pocket, paid for my parking, turned around and there Dean was, standing right in front of me. Neither of us could quite believe it because he was in town doing sound for a film and I was just avoiding uni, but there we were. But I guess we live in the same city which is very small and these things happen.

It happened again the day after though. My friends and I were at The Bird and it was a little bit dull because Dean Hall wasn’t there absolutely kicking ass at Hip Hop KaraYoke and I messaged him telling him how upset I was he wasn’t there. We decided to bail and get some ice creams and as we were walking he wrote back and I sent him another message and as I put my phone back my bag I looked up and there he was again. He was in town and was walking down James St with some of our other friends. Now again, this coincidence is again a matter of us both living in a small city- but this was when the third coincidence occurred, which was the first properly mind-blowing one.

We were just standing having a chat when a boy walking past caught my eye. He immediately looked familiar and all of a sudden I realised who he COULD be. I lived on the Gold Coast for 6 months in my first year out of high school and before that I was a little bit in love with a boy who lived there. We had a young sweet romance while I was on holiday there in year 12 and although it didn’t end too terribly, I was heartbroken for a long time and we didn’t see much of one another when I lived there the year after. But time went on and although my best friend still lives on the GC, I haven’t been back since 2007. It took me by surprise, to say the least, that this same boy could be walking down the same street as me on a Thursday night in Perth and I didn’t quite have the bravery to go up to him because I wasn’t sure if it was him and, surely....it couldn’t be. But I rang my friend on the Gold Coast and asked if there was any possibility he could be here, and he said his band tours a lot so, yeah, could be. So I sucked it up and went after him into the convenience store. As soon as I walked in he looked at me with the same look of astonishment. It was him. We gave each other an awkward hug and he told me his band had just been playing at Black Bettys (oh yep I was in love with a boy in a hardcore band) and he was only in town for one night. I was in such state of “what is going on here” that I left it there, told him it was good to see him and went back to the boys and on with my night. But I could not actually believe that it had just happened. What are the chances of me actually running into someone who was only in town for 2 nights, when I’m a huge homebody and basically only go to The Bird, Moon and Sixpence and the Jizza? Weird.

The 4^th and final (for this week anyway) strange running-into-someone case came last night. One of my friends has told me a lot about some boys he goes to uni with and I have become a little fascinated by them. I’ve never met them but I’ve heard lots about them and have created a little Masterchef half-life for them (they’re surfie dudes and there is a surfie dude on Masterchef so clearly they’re the same person....also the 2 boys have been moulded into one boy in my mind). I’ve seen a few photos of them on Facebook when my friend has showed me their jokes with one another but I wouldn’t have said a few days ago that I would know them if they walked past me. But turns out I would....After a few hours at the Jizza we went out to City Kebabs and just watched the filth parade. But then a little blonde head popped up in the line and being the nosey parker I am, I stared blatantly. He turned around and I just had that same “no way” moment. It sure looked like it could be him and while I waited for the boys to collect their kebabs I made up my mind to ask him what his name was. He said it was Kane. One of my friend’s friends names is Kane. I asked if he went to Curtin. He said yes. I asked if he went to Curtin with my friend. He said yes. I started to laugh and explained I was a friend of my friend and then the penny-dropped for him. “Masterchef??” Yep that’s me. We had a good laugh about how he doesn’t look like the Masterchef dude (he actually does) and about my friend and the normal late night things that people who don’t know one another well do. When we left I offered him a chip and couldn’t wipe the smile off my face about the fact I had run into him. I wish the other surfie had been there, that would have been too much. But alas, one Masterchef twin is better than none.

Writing this all down I now realise I can’t impress my shock and surprise at each one of this coincidences, and I know that that’s what they were, just coincidences, but they made life a little brighter this week.

NRL Debate Moves Closer to Home

The Brisbane Broncos and the Sydney Rabbitohs rugby league clubs will play one of their National Rugby League (NRL) fixtures at NIB Stadium in Perth on June 24. With two big clubs playing an exhibition fixture over here in the west, the issue of a Perth team joining the NRL competition has again been raised.

Rugby league is a football code that experiences fanatical support in the eastern states of Australia but what are the chances of the game being brought to WA in a national incarnation?

A proposal is currently being put to the NRL which suggests Perth for the base of a new rugby league franchise and the CEO of the WA Rugby League Association, John Sackson, says there are a lot reasons why Perth should be given the opportunity to enter a team into the NRL.

He says that WA, and in particular Perth, offer facilities and qualities which the NRL will find very appealing.

“WA has the strongest economy in the country and the corporate economy can support an NRL team. We already have a sponsor lined up for the new team and we have a few more that have suggested they would be very excited to get behind a Perth-based franchise. From a sponsorship point of view, we’re in a good position.”

“Perth currently has a dedicated rectangular stadium in NIB stadium which is ideal for league. The State Government recently approved an $88 million refurbishment for the eastern grandstand at NIB Stadium to improve the ground for patrons. But even more encouragingly, NIB Stadium in its present form has got the tick of approval from the head of the NRL, David Gallop, to hold games there.”

Although it seems Perth has the facilities to build a successful franchise, the NRL has not even yet made a decision about expanding the competition which puts a dampener on the speculation.

John Brady, the media officer for the NRL told 3^rd Degree that although there are encouraging signs coming from the west, there are a few massive hurdles that need to be overcome before a decision about where a new franchise would be based, if and when it ever does become a reality.

The expansion of the NRL is a fairly regular debate in the media according to Mr Brady and without a decision being made about whether or not it will occur; there is no number value which can be put on the likelihood of Perth getting the new franchise.

He says the most important step towards a decision being made is the deliberations over the television rights to broadcasting the NRL which are currently underway.

If a deal is brokered and there is a cash injection into the NRL he says it is not just as simple as a geography based decision on who gets the new franchise.

“You have to be careful to expand somewhere that’s going to add value to the competition, both for the club themselves and for the game.

“If it’s just about the money we have to look at how a team will add value to the NRL with a quality product rather than just increasing the amount of matches in a season.”

“We’ve worked hard at the NRL to build a quality competition with teams who work hard and we want to focus on the strength of the competition so we have to be very careful when considering new teams.”

In an encouraging sign for Perth however, Mr Brady and Mr Sackson mentioned that in a meeting of NRL CEOs and chairmen in November 2010, Perth was unanimously voted as the preferred place for a new franchise should the NRL decide to expand.

WA has a chance to taste NRL in its current form when The Brisbane Broncos face the Sydney Rabbitohs on June 24 and Mr Sackson thinks this event will be another great stage for rugby league to make an impact in WA.

“The Broncos and the Rabbitohs are great sporting brands and they’re both strong teams. The game will also be the last chance for WA fans to see the great Darren Lockyer play here in Perth.

“We want West Aussies to vote with their feet. We want them to come out and support league here in WA. A big crowd at that game will reinforce to the decision-makers in the east that rugby league is alive and well here in WA.”

Dumb

I did something without thinking the other day. I posted a considerably mean and scathing Facebook status which was, hugely insensitive to females who are, for want of a nice word- fat. I had said to my housemates the night before and we had had a good laugh about it and when it came up the next night I thought, yeah this is funny I’ll whack it on FB to keep the laughs rolling.

The laughs did roll. One or two “Babe, that’s pretty mean” but I just laughed it off until a girl who is, by her own admission “fat and ugly” pointed out to me the reality of how my words could affect someone unintended. I immediately felt overcome by shame and guilt, removed the post and sent her a hugely apologetic private message in which I told her how sorry I was that something I had said had offended her. I meant it as well. In my haste in posting it I had not imagined that someone who fit my words would actually read it and get upset by it.

She was admirably positive about it and said that she knew I had not said it to offend her in particular and she could see how awful I felt about the whole situation. It didn’t make me feel any better but at least I could implore to her that I had seen the error of my ways and I would think-twice before posting something as stupid as that.

But it got me thinking. I have a really harsh view on “fat people” in general. But so do a lot of my peers, as the reaction my post showed me. What’s so ironic about that is that my own opinion of how I look is, well fairly negative. I’ve tried to slow down my “oh my god I’m so fat” outbursts when I’m not feeling good because the sheer fact of the matter is that I’m not. Sure I’m not the in shape that I would like to be, and like most girls there are lots of things I would like to change about myself. But they are all things that if I could really be bothered, I would. If I were THAT concerned about not looking my best, I’d just go running more often, or take advantage of the free gym at my work, or maybe think again when I order that late night Maccas on a Saturday night when I’m walking a little boozy down Murray St. But clearly, I don’t care that much. I whinge and moan about how I look but people tell me that I’m “pretty” and while most of the time I think they’re lying, there must be some truth in it because why would people lie to my face like that?

My natural chain of consideration lead me to ask the question of whether or not calling someone who is fat, fat, an insult? My knee jerk reaction is no. Being overweight is unhealthy. But so is binge-drinking on Saturday nights...So why is ok for me to merely state what I think is the obvious and not expect people to react negatively?

Losing weight is hard, I know that. And I do believe that being healthy means looking like a normal human being. Not horribly, little boy thin, but with meat on your bones. That’s how women are supposed to look. I worry though because in this age of “big is beautiful” and “we should all learn to love ourselves” some girls are letting that be an excuse to be unhealthy. But it’s not that simple. I’ve never been really overweight so I don’t know what that huge task in front of you would feel like. When I came off the pill I shed a lot of weight very quickly through little to no action and it came to a point where I started to panic a little bit. But I think I’ve filled out a bit since then, and I am not the weight, or shape I was before this but I’m a bit more satisfied generally. Fitting into small jeans feels good! But it’s not fair for me to then turn around and make horrid statements about girls who don’t fit into the same size jeans as me. I don’t want to be that girl. I definitely don’t want to be that girl when 90% of the time I look in the mirror and I’m really unhappy with what I see.

I don’t really know where I’m heading with all of this, other than again trying to create some of catharsis for me and feel less terrible about upsetting someone.

My Jenny

I'm pretty cynical about flicks of yourself on blogs, but considering its Mother's Day, this is my Jenny. She's beautiful.

Colin

We've got a little baby at our house. When I was in Kununurra I was nearly sick with jealousy when my housemate sent me a pxt of a beautiful little fluffy ball who they were cat-sitting. She told me he would be at our house for another week which meant I would get a whole day with him when I got home.

Well that was over 10 days ago now, and I have now had 10 days to fall in love with this beautiful little boy.

His name is Colin. Well it's not, his name is Casper but I keep making up new names for him. When he came to our house his name was Mike, but the housemates re-named him Casper. But he doesn't look like a Casper to me. So far he has been Colin, Konrad, Gerald, Gordon and The RZA (thank you Spazzy for that one). He is such a little beauty. He had a kitten-cold when I first got back, but Maggu and Mazza have nursed him back to health beautifully and now he spends most of his time running around the house. He likes having little sips from the shower and playing with the bell that came with my Lindt bunnies from a new pal. The new pal is allergic to the little boy, but he's coming round to him. Everyone does. Even Toby the animal hater fell a bit in love last night and let him sit on his lap.

I will feel empty and alone when he has to go back to a real home. But we'll make sure its to someone who will love him just as much as we do. Little baby boy.

I'm at Dad's house for a football evening. I have missed this since moving out again. Although I have picked up a Football watching pal in Maggu (and the Commercial Rd lads), I have missed annoying Dad with my stupid comments about the crowd and everything except the football itself. I've got my little spot on the couch, he just made me a nice cup of tea and Stoke just scored their third goal against Arsenal which means Arsenal are out of the race. Tonight is going to be very exciting. I should have had a sleep this afternoon but there was a nice dinner to be made.

They coined the term....

My Granddad (he insists it's spelt with the DD) sent me this photo today. Its of him, my nan, my aunty and my dad before they emigrated here. I like my aunty's socks. And my Granddad's moustache.

I don't have a story or anything particularly significant that goes along with it, I just like things that make up a history I'm a part of now but wasn't once. I've been to the house this was taken outside of- father/daughter pilgrimage to Surrey, so it was nice to see the shot in my inbox today.

A little update to the stop-smoking campaign for those playing along at home. It's been two weeks and although I'm ashamed to say I haven't passed with flying colours, I am happy to report I can still count the amount I've had on two hands. 6 in 2 weeks is still better than it was before. Unfortunately spending time with an old friend who has returned from a international sojourn with a new rolling skill has made giving up completely a little bit difficult. I enjoy having a chat with him over a coffee and a cigarette (or in this evening's case, a cigarette and some Mad Men) and that's not a guilty pleasure I want to part with just yet.

New Friends

Self Portrait by David Maisano

I came across an interesting couple of people today. They were 2 gentlemen who are currently hosting an exhibition at the Moores Building in Fremantle. Writing an article for uni sent me down there, and I confessed to them my ignorance when it comes to art but they both facinated me.

They didn't strike me as the "artsy" type of people that I usually associate with what I like to call "proper" art (stuff thats not music, photography, writing etc), art you can hang on a wall, or walk around. One gentleman was a bricklayer when he wasn't an artist and to be frank, he sounded like he was living the dream. He had bought a block of land and built a house on it about 12 years ago so now, because he has a trade, he can basically work one week to earn some money to spend the next few weeks painting. The second fellow had a similar job working at the wharf in Fremantle. I ended up spending a lot longer than I expected standing and talking to these two men. I liked their accessibility as both people, and artists. They were aware of the fact that lots of people don't understand art and don't understand how artists work- but they weren't sarcastic or hardened toward people like that at all. Quite the opposite in fact.

They both spoke of a sense of frustration at the fact that ultimately when you present an exhibition, you as an artist are hoping that people not only like your work, but buy your work. Commercialism in art is a reality, and one of the gentlemen explained to me the differences between showing work at a private gallery, and using a space like the Moores Building where there is a lot more control from the artist themselves about what work goes in and how it is presented.

They were both very warm and charming people and I enjoyed the talk I had with them immensely.

If you read this before the 15th of May, go in and see the Milk exhibition.