Friday, June 10, 2011

Sleep deprivation – A study into the effects of

Along with putting your pyjamas on at 4:30pm because you’ve lost the will to go on, walking into large items and not realising until you notice the bruise and/or blood, and extending the ‘five second rule’ to the ‘however many seconds it takes me to pick it up because I’ve been getting up for work at 4am and I can’t move that fast this week’ rule, these are some of the other plights of the sleep deprived (and by that I mean me):

Hearing loss
Well rested person: ‘I like Jack and his wife.’
Sleep deprived person: ‘What? Japanese wife?’

Odd trains of thought
Well rested person: ‘The flaps on the coffee cart are held up by gassy struts.’
Sleep deprived person: ‘“Gassy Struts” sounds like an overweight stripper.’

Falling asleep while standing up
At work
At work for a second time
On public transport

Hate
‘Bloody kids.’
‘Bloody wind.’
‘Bloody kids with wind.’

Strange relationships with food
-Eating every item of food in the house not because you’re hungry, but because it’s there and if you’re chewing you won’t fall asleep.
-Eating because you can’t remember whether or not you’ve already eaten.
-Cursing the wind again while waiting for the train because it’s blowing across the smell of deliciousness from the bakery a few streets over and you would genuinely consider punching a stranger in the face for a donut.
-Falling in love with a bag of chips and threatening violence against people you’ve known and loved your entire life when they ask if they can have one.
-Being sickeningly nice to a co-worker all day because they bought you a bacon and egg sandwich and you’ve now reached the conclusion that nothing else matters in life but the magical taste of bacon.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Mr Potato Head's journey through time and space

It all began when Mr Potato Head made the questionable decision to start a band with Hipster-Tickle-Me-Elmo. Not surprisingly, this partnership fell apart thanks to their different musical influences.Now stuck for a way to spend his afternoon, Mr Potato Head did what any logical thinker would have done: he stole the Tardis that sits next to my telly.Then he learned that while it's all well and good for something to be bigger on the inside, you need to be able to fit through the door first.So that logical thinking of his came in handy once more.First he met the locals.Then he fled from the locals.And took part in some (not so)petty theft. Then Hipster-Tickle-Me-Elmo showed up in his time travelling calico bag, because 'Tardises and Deloreans have, like, totally been done before, and this is, like, way more environmentally friendly and that. You should totally grow a moustache.'
And sadly, Mr Potato Head gave into peer pressure.He also put his hand in a somewhat suspect area that the photographer didn't take any notice of until it was too late.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

I’ve done all the dumb things

I left work at 1:00pm this afternoon, and as I began to cross the street I noticed a man crossing in the opposite direction. I looked up at him briefly, then did a double take. It was Aussie icon Paul Kelly (if the blog title doesn’t make sense now, you are lacking basic musical knowledge and I’m not sure we can be friends anymore [foreigners are excused]). This is the man whose music I was playing just before I left work. The man whose songs about Melbourne make me feel homesick when I’m still in Melbourne. The man whose autobiography I’m pretty sure I’ll never finish because it’s too heavy to carry around and when I’m at home I’m generally too distracted by Facebook and sleep.

For non-Australians and Australians who live under a rock, in a nutshell, he’s like our Bob Dylan. Except he’s talented.

I didn’t have the guts to go talk to him, but what really worried me was that this thought crossed my mind: ‘…should I follow him?’

SHOULD I FOLLOW HIM? What the hell kind of crazy stalker thought was that? No, no I’m not going to speak to him, I’m just going to walk behind him for a while to see where he goes. And you want to know what’s even more worrying than that? I’ve done it before.

The year was 2009. The place was Edinburgh. The person was a reasonably well known comedian. I’m not even a fan, I just saw him walking around and I had some time to kill. It ended when he seemed to realise I was following him and slowed down to a pace that made it impossible for me to maintain the same distance behind him without looking extremely suss. So I walked past him and tried to look as casual as possible. I wasn’t arrested, so I think I got away with it.

The following year at the Melbourne Comedy Festival a similar situation arose with a comedian I am fan of, though I refuse to take responsibility for that one. The reason we were walking in the same direction was because I was on my way to his show. As, not surprisingly, was he. I felt too awkward about standing next to him at the traffic lights as we waited to cross the street, so I sat down on a nearby bench and played with my phone for a while before continuing on my way.

So later tonight I’m going to take Paul Kelly's autobiography down from my bookshelf, place it on my bed so that I don’t forget about it, then proceed to not finish reading it again. Then I’m going to take a good hard look at myself and my thought processes.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

EUROTRIP 2011! Things I learned in London

I learned…







…what Fosters tastes like. London pubs have Fosters on tap. Australian pubs don’t have Fosters at all. Sorry if I blew your minds with that, international readers (eg. that one person in Guatemala).
…I’m the kind of person who laughs at this:
…celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal will charge you a butt load of money for this, and you will pay it because it’s meat that looks like fruit and you’re convinced he must be some kind of crazy wizard.
…the people who run the London Eye have something against obsessive compulsive folk. There's one red capsule. One. I took countless photos of this from a ridiculous amount of angles and was convinced for a while that I’d never be able to sleep again knowing it was there. Bastards.
…it’s 11:57. …some people will name their business without properly thinking it through.
…you shouldn’t buy a drink just because it has a picture of an old-timey robot on it and you are someone who loves old-timey robots. I drank freakin yogurt.
…sometimes in life, you will be faced with near impossible choices……but if you follow your heart, you’ll be happy with the choice you made…
…and I mean really, properly, ecstatically happy.
...and finally: this is, and forever will be, the best money I've ever spent.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

EUROTRIP 2011! What happens on tour, stays on blogger

I'm back! I spent about 5 weeks travelling around the UK and Europe and it was awesome. There may be more of these posts in weeks to come... or there may not be. But there probably will be.

FRANCE
Frog’s legs taste like fishy chicken. Or chickeny fish. It depends on your perspective. But look how excited I was! (Don’t ask about snails. I couldn’t bring myself to try the snails)I also got extremely sunburnt here. Yeah. And I live in Australia where the sun is about a metre from your face. I hope this helps you all understand why I don't go outside.

GREECE
MYTH ABOUT GREECE: It’s all about dancing and plate smashing and sOOper happy fun good times.
TRUTH ABOUT GREECE: People on the roads are crazy. You can’t flush toilet paper down the toilet and instead have to put it in the bin because their plumbing is crazy. You shake your head for ‘yes’ and nod your head for ‘no’ because that’s crazy. You can’t drink the water (I’m assuming this is how you catch the crazy).* (artist's interpretation of toilet paper being thrown into the bin. No photo for obvious reasons)

CZECH REPUBLIC
Ever been to a restaurant where everyone cancelled their reservation for that evening except for you and your friend? Because I bloody well have. Then the three piece band awkwardly plays for you anyway? And the girl who was supposed to sing with them puts her comfy clothes back on before she comes out to sing for the two of you? And the guy who works there keeps bringing you drinks? And you get to a point where you can’t drink anymore, so you leave a bit of beer in the bottom of your glass, but he takes it away and brings you another one anyway? Then you get so drunk that the awkwardness becomes hilarious and you start having the time of your life? (the old guy on the left checked out my friend’s ass when she came back from the toilet. Ah, precious memories.)



*Dear Greek people: I understand that you, personally, as individuals, are not crazy. You are victims of circumstance. Apart from the bad driving. That's all you.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Leavin' on a jet plane

I’m getting on a plane tomorrow night. Here’s why I’m freaking out:

Leaving the country is a big deal for Australians because the rest of the world is really freakin far away. People in Europe can go to Paris for the weekend. It would take an Aussie most of the weekend just to get to Paris. Because of the travel time, it’s not worth going anywhere just for a short trip, which is why I’ll be on the other side of the world for the next five weeks. It’ll be my third time out of the country, and since Melbourne is my heart and my soul and my favourite place on the face of the earth, I don’t know if I can be away from it for that long.

To make leaving Melbourne just that little bit harder, to do something awesome, I’ve got to give up something awesome. It’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival time and I’m leaving Melbourne. Woe is me.

To summarise my relationship with the comedy festival, it’s better than Christmas. It’s like some kind of Super Christmas. Over the years, I’ve laughed so hard that I pulled a muscle. I’ve met some awesome people. I’ve been pulled up on stage. I’ve seen a well known comedian strip in a public space in the middle of the afternoon. I’ve thrown up in a pub toilet at 8:30 in the morning. Clearly, it’s the highlight of the year.

Because I was so shattered about missing the comedy festival, I’ve tried to cram in as many LOLs as I can before Friday. I went to the Gala. I went to the opening night show. Tonight is the only night I can go to regular shows, so I’m seeing two. ‘But Lauren,’ you ask, ‘with working all week and going out at night, how have a found time to pack?’ I haven’t. I have, however, managed to find plenty of time to panic.

The panic isn’t just because of my lack of packing skills. Oh no, sir. I’ve been burned my international travel before, and what I learned last time was that you should never go to the other side of the world on your own and that airlines live to make your life miserable. I was so desperate to get home by the end of my last trip that while I was waiting for the plane to take off from Heathrow, I cried during a QANTAS ad. For the non-Australian people who haven't been exposed to the humble QANTAS ad, just know that they're shite. They send a bunch of children’s choirs out to well known locations around the world and get them to sing ‘I still call Australia home.’ It’s balls. But that day, it was the most sentimental and beautiful thing I'd ever seen and now I have to live the rest of my life being the person who cried over a QANTAS ad.

But no, I’m sure the trip will be awesome. Right? RIGHT?

Thursday, March 24, 2011

The modern man’s guide to understanding modern women

Lesson 1: Body Language

HOW TO TELL IF A WOMAN IS INTERESTED IN YOU WHILST AT A PUB OR CLUB
You know who doesn’t find you charming when you’re drunk?: The sober girl.
You know who does?: The equally (or even more so) drunk girl.
There is a clear and simple way to differentiate between the two.
Exhibit A: The sober girl.
Note the well put together appearance combined with a look of ‘I would quite like you to go away now, please.’ Now compare this to Exhibit B.
As you can see, our drunk friend has already managed to throw up on herself and lose her shoes. She also appears to be quite thirsty. Before judging her, always remember that you are in a similar state and would be asking far too much to aim any higher.

HOW TO TELL IF A WOMAN IS ANGRY
Female anger comes in three escalating forms.
Stage 1: The ‘I’m a little teapot.’
Attributes: One hand on hip, other hand hanging by side, unimpressed look conveyed through eyebrows.
Meaning: ‘I am somewhat displeased with your behaviour.’

Stage 2: The ‘Sugar bowl.’
Attributes: Both hands on hips, furrowed brow.
Meaning: 'I am extremely displeased with your behaviour.’

Stage 3: The ‘You’d better run, biatch.’
Attributes: Snarling mouth, cartoonish pointy monobrow, hands tightly gripped around some kind of weapon or blunt object.
Meaning: ‘You’ve left me no choice but to fetch my shotgun.’

HOW TO TELL IF A WOMAN IS INTERESTED IN YOU WHILST IN NON-ALCOHOLIC CIRCUMSTANCES
Just look out for something similar to this: