So here's to a new year

*raises alcoholic beverage*

Here I am, yet again sleepless and a mind without the ever elusive 'off switch'

Another year has already passed by and dear god what a year it has been.
Year 12 completed albeit with some let downs - I saw them coming though - the band closer to being able to do gigs and dare I say it

a new romance?!

This year I was finally able to let go of my demons from the past and reconcile with some.
I'm not gonna lie, some things this year I have regretted - drinking and doing fucking stupid and pointless things - and I've done somethings where I've yet to look back and say

"well wasn't that a disaster?"

Like I've mentioned in one of my previous blogs, it's gonna be scary going to a different school/uni. Not being able to see the same faces I've become use to seeing as I walk down the year 12 corridor. I'm really going to miss it.

*They made us read Catcher In The Rye for a reason this year, man up Holden Caufield*

2010 is just 13 hours away at this point. Can't help but think of how I spent new years eve last year. Sitting alone on the couch in the lounge room watching fireworks go off on TV, a very low point of my life I must say. I know I have friends but that day was just 'off'

I really don't know what else to add to this blog right now, I've been awake since 12 30pm WEDNESDAY so thats 23 and a half hours with no sleep? I don't plan on sleeping till after
the countdown
is done.

Happy new year to you all


p.s. I'll still be at home celebrating new years eve, but with close friends and my bird.

2010 doesn't look too bad.

merry christmas

be safe in 2010

may you all have a good christmas and an even better start to the new decade ahead.

Take Care

J.Duong

Where The Wild Things Are

I'm not a movie critic but I'll say it was a pretty good movie.
They expanded the book
- which contains only 10 sentences -
Into a movie that went for 101 minutes.
Fair effort I must say.
The Soundtrack was possibly the best one I've heard this year.

So Christmas is fast approaching which can only mean the new decade is just up ahead,kinda scary considering there's all this hoo-haa over 2012 and what not. Who's to say it will really happen? Don't fret about the future but just take your time and soak in what's happening in the now...dude~
What does the new year bring?
Means that I turn 18 and that the band can finally, fucking finally start gigging. I think we've got enough connections - namely 3 bands - to which we can start organising events with.

2010 also means the yet another change in social life now that I've completed highschool and awaiting an acceptance letter to go into uni. January 18th is when I'm meant to get my letter but let's not worry about that now.

Off to bed it is,goodnight.

J.Duong

no need for despair

enter scores in 2 hours and a half?

I'm not really fussed since I'm not planning on becoming a doctor,lawyer or chemist etc

Who knows about the future, it's never set in stone but as lame as this is or might be to the minuscule number people who actually bother to read my blog

the future's what you make it to be

you set in motion the options that are presented to you so to all you people who believe in that psychic reading and tarot card bullshit

stop forking out money to old hags who "read" your future and go set the future in motion.

I'm only writing in this lame fashion cause of my lack of sleep.

Adios

J.Duong

attack of the dust bunnies

So today, I woke up at 7 30 to go to my girlfriends house.

shower,clothes,brush teeth,shave outta the house

Dropped by highpoint cause my mum insisted on looking at the Myer sales that are on whilst I ran down to jb hi-fi for some cd/window shopping time and by great odin's raven I want a truckload of cd's. Really should start to buy more vinyl records since I finally got myself a record player not too long ago.

So I fell asleep in the ride to the missus' house and to my surprise, she was awake! but considering I only had two hours sleep last night I konked out till 12 30.

hours pass

So now my mum has dropped by during her work break to take me and the girlfriend back to my house along with my younger brother, Jordan.
This is when the dust bunnies had grown in numbers under my bed, behind my guitar amp and in the nooks and crannies of my room - being shelve sides,rims of the room etc -

after two hours of cleaning my room and changing my bed sheets sucess was awarded with 4 packets and Mi Goreng and 2 scrambled eggs.
actually wouldn't mind some Mi Goreng right now
The band is rehearsing tomorrow from 12pm till 6pm. That should be good fun getting our chops back and writing again considering that the band has not finished any new songs throughout the whole year but instead simply had start/stop song ideas up in the air.

let's finish with some DANCE SKATING

take care, J.Duo/ng

505

slow days and long weeks.

I'm finally done with going to school since the last thing I did there was perform with the guitar ensemble at the awards night, yet again, I fucked up.

So whats been the buzz of busy jim lately?

bbc formal
end of year concert was nothing short of fun
previously mentioned awards night
setting up of the stage (hours of fun)
rehearsals for concerts (hours of fun)

I've got my interview on monday for the studio engineering course which I hope will be awesome. Learning about how to capture sound in different enviroments and according to the pamphlet, having unlimited access to studio equipment and rehearsal spaces.

Life doesn't seem too bad.


ciao

I'm losing sleep

The Arias have really gone down in quality the past few years, this year presented to me a brand new low.

Anyway

my resume has been completed!
all i need is a cover and im set to work where ever.

Ciao

its the beginning of freedom

Exams are over

nothing more, nothing less but freedom and 4 months of nothing to do but live life

J.Duong

happy blogging

the time has come again

for another blog!

quick as usual, time has flown by again.
exams etc etc etc

How to use a swing if you're Jim

anyone can be a photographer, just point and click

The effect of exams is showing on my friend Nhan, he left one question out on his methods exam. I feel for you brother.

The person who did this...

Is A Fucking Idiot

To kill time and other things

It's been too long

Since I've finished school I can blog much much much more often.

But what about?

Exams are the order of the day right now, I only have my HD, Art and Business exam to deal with...but that won't be the end of me coming to school, no.
There is still the end of year concert to rehearse for and a new song to play for the choir that will be happening this year, oh the static of it all is exciting.

So what has been happening lately?

Becker's 17th, my first record player, graduating, english exam, music (theory and prac) exam, a wall mounted aircon in preparation for the summer - that will no doubt be a scorcher - still needing to pay for my guitar pedal, formal shopping, hummer payment and the payment of my art canvas.

Damn, I'm so fucked.

Since its the holidays that are fast approaching, The time has come again for when the band converges at my house for a week-long rehearsal/writing/recording session. Things I hope will be much more organised than they were last year - last year the computer shit itself when we tried to record - couple of new songs to be written and recorded, maybe even work the kinks out of some of them.

not much else to report other than meeting Johnny Mckay from Children Collide at State Library, freaking awesome day that was.
cue short story

I was sitting with friends *cough* studying *cough* on the third level of state library when I see a red hair woman walk in with a familiar face accompanying her, they stood at the doors looking up at the ceiling while I looked at them thinking about whether it really was Johnny from Children Collide. Considering they're a band from Melbourne I got up and walked over to ask if he was Johnny from Children Collide,yes he was.


Johnny and I

put on your dancing shoes

savers is awesome, $8.

back to the engine room

And so with our music exam coming up next Thursday, pressure is upon us to rehearse rehearse rehearse.

George Harrison

some more stuff from Jim's world of art

J.Duong

Moleskine #1

Here are some things from my moleskine. Yes, i dont only write lyrics into it but also other mediums of creativity.

Elephant and Camel

My boredom during Business class leads too this kind of output

Drunken Poet's don't ask for much

Its the H o l i d a y s and I'm starting to slack a little already

The first few days have been swell, last night was spent at a pub celebrating the 18th's of the Marinelli brothers. We got the WHOLE pub to ourselves and it was an awesome night, although we did have a downer halfway through the night.

The day before last night which was Sunday, I spent in the city regarding personal matters. I highly recommend that you go out and watch 500 Days of Summer and visit one of the italian outdoor restaurants in the city. Maybe even get yourself a slurpee at 7-11?

Actually wouldn't mind a slurpee right now.

Again, I've found myself with nothing to blog about. Think it's time I picked my guitar up as I didn't get to play it at all yesterday due to the party.


Adios Amigos

1979

" It's the second last week of school & exams are in a month or so "

That is a scary thought. Stress is basically stockpiling inside my head as we speak. The first exam I believe I have is Music, not too sure if it's practical or theory.

So what's been going on lately? I honestly do not remember anything these days, minds always up in the clouds thinking about god knows what. What can I say? School?

Let's see, practice SACs for english on which I freaked out about because I only wrote 300 or so words during the two of three periods we had to do it. That last period, the word count went up to 798.

I need to get myself out of this slackened state. The end of the year is looming ever so closely and I need to finish this year how I started it. I'm going to miss school a heck of a lot. All the memories that I've gotten over the past few months have been nothing but positive ones shared with the people I care most about, my friends.

Study Camp at Newman College, now there's something I won't forget any time soon. Waking up as the birds were singing outside and catching the train to Melbourne Central. Walking from Melbourne Central to get to the College grounds and finding out my room was behind the laundry area and my fellow block mates were Jason, Khoi and Ary. Looking outside the window would be Thongs room and the tower of the College church.

*many lectures and hours later*

It's 10 and no ones about to go too bed anytime soon. A meeting has been organised as Jason, Greg, Khoi and myself are about to sneak off into the girls dorms. We meet an American student who's here with his class from the states. We ask him to show us how to get into the girls dorms and like ninjas we sneak around the back of the building and end up going to a carpark.

Now at this point, I was pretty sure that Jason, Greg, Khoi and myself were thinking... "we wanted to get into the girls dorms...but you've lead us OFF CAMPUS"

and so we headed to a pizza joint on Lygon street and wasted an hour or so there too only go back to the college and do a sneak run back to our rooms. The rest of the night involved trivial pursuit (yeah, real fucking bright idea, Jason) and eventually having Greg and Khoi head off to their own blocks. The night for us ended at 3am

The next morning was heavy bags under our eyes and a hearty breakfast in the awesome dining room of the college. Again we had lectures and the reach program which made alot of people very emotional, heck it made me teary to see my friends crying. Insert hot weather and lack of sleep with some lectures and BANG you've got a room of students falling in and out of sleep to an old person ranting about Catcher In The Rye. Before we said goodbye to the college we had one last assembly which some teachers fell asleep listening too and were set on our way to go home.

down the end of this hallway is the entrance



It's hard to believe this happened just 8 months ago, feels like it happened yesterday.



To any of my friends who read this, thank you so much for what you've done.

J.Duong

Moleskine

nothing much to say besides myself getting a Moleskine


songwriting wont be the same anymore

do me a favour

" she said do me a favour and stop flattering yourself "

Tis the 24th of August meaning that it's a Monday,

I hate Mondays.

not much to write about as of late, only one thing is nagging at me. That is the end of school is nearing each day which means exams and goodbye to the place that I've called school for the past 6 years.

It's quite frightening really, to leave school and head off to university. A huge leap out of my comfort zone as I'll make new friends and meet new teachers...

ALL OVER AGAIN

Such is life. As reference to one of the previous blogs posted here on this dead air space,
"people come and go out of your life"
Guess I have to put up with it.

I don't even know where I'm going with this post anymore.
Guess I've killed a few minutes at least



" cooking isn't my forte "




j.duong

saturday nights and sunday mornings

Saturday night was the 18th birthday bash of mr Jason O

not much too say as I didn't exactly enjoy myself as I thought I would have. The feeling of being completely removed from everything struck me after two hours of being there.

R E M O V E D

from everything, surely everyone's felt this way before? You feel like you're alone even though you're surrounded by 40 or so dancing drunks.

Sunday, a day where depending on who you are, you will find it to be the best day to just unwind and put a record on or have it bore the fuck out of your mind. I did the former whilst on the phone with a friend.

Not too much on the horizon besides a showcase night that will be at BBC, two nights with two bands, a dance act and a few drama pieces.

Technicolor Bells

will be debuting some new songs so if you happen to go to my school, come check out the night and my band.

Take care

Ji/mm_y

the fountain of youth

Kiet found the fountain of youth while we were lost at Myers

west side is so lame

CAGE FIGHTS IN SUNSHINE! NOW TAKING BETS

bit of fun

I've read that David Bowie and Thom Yorke would use this when they had a bout of writers block. Write up some lyrics,cut them up and pull them out of a hat. Let's see what we get...

Summer's gone and winter's thrown
to whom it concern
the bitch is a drag
colors are in flux
denial he called while leave me she cried
swear on this

I'm pretty bored

take care

Jim

true love waits

You meet people who change the course of your life every now and then. Whether it would be a friend, a work mate, a fellow student or even a girlfriend/boyfriend - whatever way you swing person who has taken time to read this blog - But as of late I've come to realise that many things that come along can either be good or bad. There is no in-between in this life we're living in, you have a set of options of which you must choose and follow through with. Yes, you may be indecisive about which path you'll be taking but there's always that glimmer of hope somewhere in your head. You'll take this chance expecting it to be of bad nature but it comes out as the opposite of your expectation. Euphoria is then shot straight to the head and off you go on your high. But as we all know, you have to come back down sooner or later. Right now, I've been screwed of my happiness so I have to regress to being the cynical and worrysome person that I've always been. Let's hope this changes soon.


It's sad to know that I'm still young and have many years of life ahead. With these years will come new friends. Opportunity will once again rear it's head in my direction and ask me "how do you want me to fuck up your life this time?" I'll answer nonchalantly and carry on about my life and wait for the outcome. Now I'm not trying to say that my friend I've just met won't fuck up my life, I'm just saying that this is what my head goes through everytime I'm presented with making a decision that will have a huge effect on how I think for oh, let say the rest of my life. Don't worry, my new friend, she's very much a person I see in awe.

I've got to stop worrying about the future and planning out how my life will be when I'm 20, 40, 60 or dead. We fall over our own feet, we pick ourselves up or we have friends help us up.

I'm glad to have met all these people who have "changed the course of my life" I don't care if they don't talk to me anymore,see me anymore or even hate me. I'll still love and care for them cause of the experiences I had with them.


I would like to thank Thong and Janina as a source of inspiration for this blog.
Thong, you have been a dear friend of mine this year.
Janina, its only been 5 days but you have made year 12 a much more joyful experience already.



With much love and gratitude

Jim

one day she'll be mine

Fender Jazzmaster in Olympic white

Faust Arp

Well its been a while since I've blogged anything. Since today was the first day of the holidays, I went out. Here's what i did

me and my good friend, Jennifer

and they said I was weird

giraffes are pretty cool

and they said it changes when the sun goes down

the sunset in braybrook

the sunrise in delahey

what is this six stringed instrument but an adolescent loom

take care


Jimmy

nothing gets chocolate off...

see?

i won't drift too far, i promise.

our love to admire

Things that have come and gone the past few weeks

Thong and I, talking of how to make an S with our hands.

Jenny with the number 35

moving while standing still is pretty awesome

The set of bombshells wasn't that spectacular,the play itself wasn't too

for a moment we felt like we were all in the matrix

blackbird singing in the dead of night

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Black bird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
all your life
you were only waiting for this moment to be free

Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise,
You were only waiting for this moment to arise,
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

i play the gee-tar

where most of my song-writing is done and where i should keep more neat.

ceremony

R.I.P Ian Curtis

This is why events unnerve me,
They find it all, a different story,
Notice whom for wheels are turning,
Turn again and turn towards this time,
All she asks the strength to hold me,
Then again the same old story,
Word will travel, oh so quickly,
Travel first and lean towards this time.

Oh, Ill break them down, no mercy shown,
Heaven knows, its got to be this time,
Watching her, these things she said,
The times she cried,
Too frail to wake this time.

Oh, Ill break them down, no mercy shown,
Heaven knows, its got to be this time,
Avenues all lined with trees,
Picture me and then you start watching,
Watching forever, forever,
Watching love grow, forever,
Letting me know, forever.

scattered diamonds

simply enjoying the view

How awesome is pollution? makes the sky burn red

The state library wasn't quiet that night


what happened in the city you say?

the city looks better at night

it does,doesn't it?

wow

This is pretty cool, I reckon.

weird fishes / arpeggi

The one time that Melbourne's weather was good this week. This is the VCE common room that is somewhat colder than outside. The heater in this room is broken too.

I was looking for drum machines on the internet and found this picture on Radiohead's website. Only a few thousand of these were made and they have one,mind you the production of these TR 909s were in 1980 something

Business management, we learnt of Inputs,Processes and Outputs - by making a microwave cake - Here's one we prepared earlier! Me and Trang decorated this...thing. The cake wasn't half bad either.

On the way to school in the car. This is a vacant field that spans to the horizon, its close to my house. You get an idea of how far I live now.

The week that was,in the medium of pictures.