Dear Jimmy

I have had such a busy/lazy weekend. I was working all weekend at hugo's but didn't really achieve anything. I've got heaps of work to do for the all ages tour we are doing at work and am kind of switching between that and deciding whether I should buy a new pair of swimmers or not. This is the extent of my life - although the swimmers are pretty cool they come from a collaboration between Oscar & Elvis and People like Us. I know this doesn't mean anything to you, they are Australian designers, but look how cool the swimmers are. The label is called wearehandsome.

 

Anyway I really spent most of my time this weekend on this blog that Gemma sent me, which is a nice little sidewind into the Photographer of the Week. So this guy in Chiacago went to an auction of a deceased estate and found hundreds of thousands of negatives and unprocessed film. He pretty much discovered our photographer of the week a Vivian Maier. This blog is a jounral of finding out who Vivian Maier is, if you read through you'll find out that she was a photographer in Chicago from the 50s till the 90s, street photography her forté. An immigrant from France she learnt to speak english by going to the movies, spent most of her life as a nanny and passed away days after this guy bought her photos in April last year. 

Looking through alot of her pictures they are almost bittersweet. They are a perfect representation of life in the 50s and 60s in the states but looking at them you don't feel like you can connect with the subject or the life that is being depicted. I wonder if this reflected how Vivian Maier felt during her life, she lived in their world but maybe she didn't feel she existed in it.

In other news, I went to the premier of Game On. It was a hit there were so many people there and everyone pissed themselves laughing. I think the boot was the funniest moment for everyone. Pheebs and Emma got up and said a few words - people kind of talked about you like you were dead, which I'm glad your not!!! -but I guess I hope you know that you are missed and loved, but everyone is so proud of you. especially Tim and Emma they miss you the most I think.

I'm shooting for girlfriend mag tomorrow - going to get my teen on. So I'll post some pics of that up and let you know how that goes.

Love you HEAPS!
Mxx

p.s Bob says hello.

Dear Jimmy

Dear Jimmy

So I really miss studying photography, this whole weekend I've been surrounded by people studying photography and photographers and I think I want to get back into it. But I don't really have alot of inspiration at the moment so I'm going to bring back the Photographer of the Week. This will also help me combat my Sunday blues.

This week is Nick Knight.

So he's this photographer from London, shoots alot of fashion but also a lot of portraits and most of his work really challenges conventions and styles and methods of photography. If you go to his site there are so many cool pictures, I like the nude one where the legs and the body looks all distored. There is also a bunch of black and white shots of his, i'm not sure what they are for but they are amazing. Soft focus and harsh contrast, dude. This is him in action, one day I'm going to buy a wheel of cameras like this.

I'm also going to shoot with Sophy and Clemency next week, those two girls you met at chadwick christmas party. Have you been taking any photos lately?

I miss you so much, we haven't spoken in ages! Mum gave me some bad news today about Leo so I really want to talk to you.

I love you and miss you

mx

Dear Jimmy

Sundays I think are the worst days now. There is nothing to distract me on Sundays and I'm always alone. We used to hang out heaps on Sundays too.

When you first went away I convinced myself that you had the short end of the straw. You had to move away, leave everything, your comfort zone, your world, your life. Start new. But that's just it, you can become a whole new person, lead a whole new life. Move on. Is there anything over there that reminds you of me?

Everything back here, reminds me of you.

Each day someone will ask about you. Or in that patronising way ask how I'm doing with their frowned brow and half smile-frown like their whole face doesn't know whether to cheer me up or just leave me miserable, or even worse they applaud me on how well I'm coping with out you (still with that face, not wanting to make any sudden moves). I'm not coping though. Not really. I don't now how to tell people that, I always just used to talk to you about how I felt, and that's why Sundays are the worst days, it's Saturday for you and your too busy to talk.

Mx

Dear Jimmy

I went and saw Snowdroppers play at the Annandale last night, this was the only band that I regret not seeing at Peats Ridge so I'm glad I finally saw them. It was so much fun, they started out ripping off 1920's blues I'm pretty sure but have just released their debut album of original songs and it's still pretty blues and rockabilly but sped up and almost a bit more punky than you'd expect.

I think I freaked the girls out a bit cause I went straight into the moshpit. I got really carried away and totally forgot who I was and just totally let go and slammed into people and jumped around and sweated on EVERYONE! It was amazing. I felt like I was 16 again and you know how I love recapturing my youth!

But then it all came rushing back and hit me in the face. Literally. I punched myself in the face with my lomo camera. now my jaw and my camera doesn't work. Devastated.

So I spent a whole lot of time on youtube this morning (as you can see frm previous posts). This is a video of The Snowdroppers when they turned the bridge hotel in prymont (?) I think into a 1920's beer house, with cigarette girls and chicken wire in front of the stage, and dirty floors and knickers from the ceiling. They had a residency for a month there in November.

Hope you like them, but this clip doesn't do the crowd last night justice.
Love you xxx

Dear Jimmy

Please can we go?

Dear Jimmy

Finally got those shots from that campaign.
I thought you might like this one.

Dear Jimmy

I had my first shift at Hugo's Manly tonight. It was all new people I'd never met before so I had to make all new friends. Brasil wasn't even there, apparently he is going home in like a month so is travelling and surging his was around Australia. Maybe we can go and visit him on day?

It was pretty fun to be behind a bar again, it's all the usual characters that you'll find at a bar; the loud forienger, the quiet friendly guy, the good lookin' girls, the arrogant customers, the "over friendly" customers, the locals and the sweet 'arts that ask alot of questions (to which I've forgotten nearly everything from our Hugo's days).

I'm only working wednesday night and saturday night but I'm going to ask them if I can work more shifts cause if I can't I don't know if it's worth staying there, I may as well get a bar job at a local bar and save on the travel expense to get to Manly.

Anyway, how's school going? What plays are you reading? Whats the new house like? Are you going to get a job at the school?
Soooo many questions. I'm sad we haven't spoken on Skype in like TWO days. I've even changed my hair this time, it's this awesome red that I always want it to be (cause I left the guy I get it done for free at and went back to SUKI I think).

Miss you more each day, March can't come soon enough.

mxx

Dear Jimmy

I really missed you on the weekend. I Friday night was the worst cause everyone was out with their significant others and I just sat at home watching seinfeld, wondering how many times we've actually seen this show! I thought it would be easier than this, I don't think I really prepared myself for you being so far away and now I don't know how to deal with it.

I think I am going to be ok, I had a really great conversation about you with my old bosses husband on Saturday night at Sydney Festival First Night. I've been doing that alot lately just talking about you to random people, I come away with a new perspective every time so I don't know how effective this 'talking' thing is.
I really wanted to call you after Sydney Festival wihch, I'm really sorry, was so much fun. It wasn't as crazy as last year I think there was only 200,000 people (compared to the half a million that was there last year) it might have had something to do with the fact that it was 40 degrees up until 7pm. But totally worth the heat in the end.

There was this random DJ that came on that I wish I could comment on but he was so quiet I couldnt' hear anything. Then the Black Arm band also played which is kind of like a supergroup of some of the best or more prominent Indigenous artists and I really got into them they had a huge band and so many great performers.

Off course the Reverend Al Green played, he spent more time that I like telling us about how he little time he had to perform, but he did play Let's Stay Together - when off course I got emotional AGAIN, and just wanted to ring you, but it didn't go through (which is probably a good thing considering I've got to save money for my trip!)





Finally yesterday I went to the beach, I've never seen Bondi so blue it was seriously the color of your eyes (how's that for corn) or we can go with the color of that blue robe I wear, or the shirt that I bought you (or the one that is the exact same that you bought a few weeks later x)

It's really weird not having you hear, it's not even been a week and I can't handle it. I just don't understand how things are still going ahead when your not there? Which off course no one else understands, but everything that I do just seems surreal when your not doing them with me. At least when you were in Argentina I knew when you were coming back. I wonder if you will ever come back to live in Australia?

I'm sleeping better than I expected though, only really two rough nights but the fan you gave me is helping so thanks for that. Oh yeah, Bob is really mad at me for some reason, he's fully traded me in for Kate and Phil so I'm even more alone with out my other man in my life.

At the time of writing I think you'll either be still in bed or just getting up to go to your first day of school and I'm so nervous for you. At least you've already met everyone at orientation right? How is the house moving planning going? Are you still going to crash on that chicks couch until you move in with that guy? Did you take any photos with your marine mates from the weekend? I still want to see a video of the strip in full force.

Well until next time lover, here is a picture of Bondi on Sunday I didn't take my camera so I had to steal this photo from my friend Trevor. It doesnt' do the color of the ocean any justice. It was so beautiful (like you).

Love you and miss you.
mxx

Dear Jimmy

This is what happened when you left :(

Dear Jimmy

I'm glad you arrived O.K. terrorist scare aside. Bummer about the movies on the plane but hey what are you going to do. It feels weird writing this when we just finished talking on the skype machine but I just found this article on SMH that I thought might interest you - and seems to be causing such a commotion over in states I bet your asked about it.

So I know you don't watch the cricket and probably didn't see this KFC ad but it has apparently been causing the biggest ruckus in the states and is another cause for Australian's to be seen as racist from the American view point. This is the article.

When I was reading it, before I saw the ad, I was thinking oh crap another 'black face' on hey hey it's Saturday scenario, where we're seen as bad as the idiots who allowed that skit to go to air. I got really upset that your stepping out into the world that thinks where your coming from is racist. When I watched the video I really didn't get the racist comments about it that some people were talking about.

It was about an Australian Cricket fan sitting amongst the opposition (The West Indies) who were being loud and he was feeling a bit inundated - imagine sitting on the QLD side at the State of Origin! So to quieten the opposition's fans he produces a thing of KFC chicken and the VO announces "KFC's crowd pleaser. How sensitive and insecure do you have to be to think that is racist? Or is Australian's banter with sports oppositions at the cricket really that bad?

Now KFC always has cricket ads on during the season - they are always bad, they are always boring, but they are always on. They don't normally directly involve the opposition or their fans but I do remember the ads involving the Barmy Army during the ashes AGES ago but no one thought that was racist? I wonder what it is abot the West Indies being the brunt of a cricket ad that has American's up in a huff? I found out also that the West Indies cricket team are actually SPONSORED by KFC which throws another spanner (justificaiton) into the wheel. It was only America that said we were acting racist - the West Indies didn't seem to be too upset.

Anyway I hope you convince the entire country that we're not racist but maybe they were being a little bit too sensitve and are commenting on an environment and sense of humor they don't really understand!

Here is the video.



Oh and in other news in the first day you were out of this country; a Japenese Whaling boat and one of the Sea Sheperd (I think the one they named after Steve Irwin) have collided and the Australian Government are going gun-hoe to find out what happened. And a manly man has been arrested for taking inappropriate photos of young boys at the Beach!

Speaking of Manly I think I'm going to go and work at Hugo's Manly on the weekends to save some cash before I come over. Evan rang me and said that I can have/do what ever shifts I want which is dope, almost as dope as Evan is.

Hope you get some sleep tonight on that crazy strip of yours. Make me a video of what it's like .

Love you more than eucalyptus n aloe tissues when I have a cold.

Mxxx

Dear Jimmy

Hey, there's not a cloud in the sky
It's as blue as your goodbye
and I thought it would rain
on a day like today

Hey, there's not a cloud in sight
it's as blue as your blue eyes
and I thought it would rain
the day you went away

I miss you already big kid xxx