Zach Pilgrim vs. The World

¡Holo!

Welcome back to the blog. This post is long and I hope it keeps your interest even though your Christmas time is a lot different from my mine. Mine isn't perfect and I reserve the right not to feel perfect. I feel this way more because there's a lot of people who really have a reason to complain and don't even have a lot to celebrate, let alone the means to air out their grievances on the Internet. And partly I feel this way because there's a lot of uncertainty in my life. What I need the most now is patience... But anyways, enjoy the show!

Thanks to having stayed up until 3 AM on Sunday updating my blog, I haven't been able to get up early. Staying in bed has felt just a little bit too good. I have some kind of case of the "morning blues" and getting out of bed hasn't felt like some wonderful must have experience. Fortunately, I have been able to get going despite being a little sluggish in the morning.

On Monday I wanted to visit two places. First I made a trek towards the Queen Victoria markets at the end of Elizabeth Street, my stomping grounds from late September. My hike up the street didn't bare the fruit I thought it would because the markets were closed on Mondays. A fact which I found out when I arrived at the end of Elizabeth street. Whatever, I would just come back the next day. Next on my agenda was The Melbourne Museum.

Before going there though I took a detour and went to the old Melbourne Gaol, an old prison turned award winning tourist attraction. My main reason for going there was to use their men's room. Unfortunately, their poop-making facilities had no locks on the doors so I had to skip that part. I headed into the museum shop where I decided that the price of a ticket was way too high. I wasn't that interested in some damp prison sells. But I did check out the shop for anything unique and affordable. What I found was both; A replica of a hand-drawn Ned Kelly poster for $3.50. A good homecoming gift or something to put on my wall, when I have my own place again, someday.

At my next stop, the Melbourne Museum, I checked out the IMAX theatre first. It was 2 PM, the first showing of TRON: Legacy started at 4:30, and the museum closed at five, so I bought a ticket to go see the movie on the 3rd biggest IMAX screen in the world -- Sydney has the biggest -- and got free admission to the museum thanks to my ISIC (International Student ID) card, which has proved itself very valuable in Melbourne. Then I checked out the museum.

It wasn't too special and to tell you the truth, I'm getting a little burned out on museums; Walking from a stand to another reading plaques is getting very tiresome. My brain still has capacity for visuals but I'm tired of facts. The best parts were the dinosaur and megafauna bones. I also learned of an interesting human condition, the name of which I can't remember. The condition's best described as "seeing words and music" in colors. And here I thought Bill Walton was the only person who could see sounds and smell colors.

After the museum I headed down to the IMAX theatre to see TR2N. I had done some reading on the movie so I knew what to expect and didn't have too high expectations. My thoughts: The young Jeff Bridges was the best looking CGI human I've seen. But it still was noticeably CGI. 1) It seemed to be reacting to the actor's performance, not duplicating it. 2) The slightest emotions seemed exaggerated. Now, I know Klu was a computer program made to look like Jeff's character but the same CGI was used for young human Jeff and, well, it wasn't perfect.

The 3D was immersive, but subtle. Sometimes I wasn't sure if it was a 2D scene or if the 3D was just too subtle. It never looked as good as it did in the IMAX Hubble 3D trailer, that we saw before the main feature. The biggest problem with 3D in movies is the fact that a lot of the 3D images don't fit the screen and are cut of by the edges of the screen. Since it's just a 3D image it throws the brain off. The middle of the screen is telling our brain that the image is closer while the edge of the screen tells us that the image is flat. The image ends at the edge of the screen instead of reaching over it. So most of the 3D looked a little broken. But there were still a lot of beautiful 3D images on screen. Crowds and landscapes were very well represented. A 3D Olivia Wilde was also a sight for sore eyes.

Which brings me to my last point. Ms Wilde is a beautiful woman and I ogled her as much as I could. This and the immersive nature of the film's highly imaginary world made me feel alone. Olivia Wilde might be out of my league but I long to have a beautiful woman in my life again. I'm sure the feeling will lessen when I get a job and a social network along with it in Tasmania, but at the moment movies and TV shows seem to showcase a lot of the things I miss: Friendship, family, companionship. Let's just say I'm very thankful that I won't be alone on Christmas Eve.

Enough with the sappy stuff. I guess the rest of Monday night didn't offer anything exciting because I don't remember anything about it. I did see the Parliament houses and took some pictures.

Tuesday afternoon I headed out to the Victoria Markets again. I didn't get up too early, but I did arrive almost three hours before closing time, which was more than enough. I walked up and down every corridor and checked out every stand. There were a lots of different kinds of stands; Stands selling shoes, or souvenirs, or toys, or Bill Cosby sweaters and many, many more. I know there are some souvenirs I want to buy for myself to remind me of my year abroad. One of them is a Didgeridoo, a long one. So I looked at all the long didgeridoos and checked them out for authenticity and price. I also looked at all the towels and most of the t-shirts. None of these are things I need before I leave Australia (well I don't necessarily need them anyway, but I do want them) so I merely "window shopped" for them. I did have one thing in mind that I wanted to buy though. So I bought myself a little bottle of tea tree extract. Tea tree is a wonderful plant and it can do wonders for a backpacker. I'll advertise it more once I've used it for something.

With some tourism out of the way, I returned to the hostel and... drumroll please. I did my laundry! I also showered. And ate dinner. Now please proceed to pick up your jaw which you just dropped on the floor.

Because it was Tuesday I had decided to go to the movies. The only movie I was interested in was Megamind. It was in 3D so the fact the day was Tuesday, didn't make it any cheaper. Thanks to my ISIC I got a discount and went to see it anyway.

Dreamworks delivered another good looking 3D film, but even the leading lady of an animated movie made me hope for female company. Get me out of here!

Today, a sunny day for a change, my places-to-visit list consisted of two museums, the maritime and the immigration. The Maritime Museum was a disappointment; concession price for basically one boat was $15. I said no thanks and briefly visited the South Wharf mall.

The following paragraphs are not about what I did today, but a more personal rant about my juvenile existence so feel free to skip the part separated from the rest of the text by rows of dashes if you prefer to know what I did and not what I thought today.

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I hung around JB Hi-Fi for a while, looking at DVDs, TVs and video games. Back in August, when I got to Australia I made a list of things I wish to get once I return. I had this list in my head before I even moved my stuff into storage back in May. I thought that writing down the things I wish for would take them out of my mind. I've had no such luck. This list of mine consists mostly of electronics; A LED TV, a PlayStation 3, a MacBook and some games, DVDs and Blu-Rays. All of these things I can find in, surprise, surprise, JB Hi-Fi.

It's definitely been more than four months since the last time I got to play with my PlayStation 2 before borrowing it to my cousin 'Tu 'Omo -- who's in the army and has a girlfriend, so he probably hasn't had a chance to play much -- and it'll be five more before I get it back. I know I did get to play some Super Mario on Wii at Sascha's but that doesn't help me now. Hey, I know what some of you must be thinking. "You miss video games? You gotta be kidding me! Go find a girlfriend! You're too old to play video games anyway." Video games might not be the way to spend 24 hours a day just as fast food shouldn't be the only thing you eat. But going to McDonald's once in a while won't kill you and neither will playing some video games now and then. Of course, people should socialize and be around other people, but how much, that varies from person to person. I probably have a lesser need to be around others than most people -- Ironic considering my current state -- and I am often happy being just by myself. And when I'm at home by myself there are three or four things I like doing. Watching movies, reading, surfing the net and playing video games. Now out of all these activities one is a lot more active than others. If you guessed reading, you're wrong. No, it's video games. 

Since I left Finland four months ago I've read around twenty books, watched season after season of different TV shows and been to the cinema about a dozen times to pass the time and to get a sense of accomplishment. But the only active things I've done in my free time is walking -- lots of walking -- and writing this blog. I should probably come out of my shell an introduce myself to some fellow backpackers, but I don't want to. I miss being around people who know me. I miss playing board games. And I miss playing video games.

I'm sorry I keep getting off track but this internal conversation needed to get out.

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After lunch I went to the Immigration Museum. Thanks to my ISIC, admission was $0.00 as my receipt read. Some night this week I finished the Mick Foley book I bought and in the book he wrote extensively about the charity work that he's done in Africa among other places. The Immigration Museum displayed some of the problems that have led to immigration into Australia from different places, even Africa. Australia is 99% populated by immigrants and their descendants. Many of the numerous reasons that people have had to leave their homes for during the two centuries of immigration make me feel angry. It is unfathomable to me how some of these conditions have manifested. Genocide, persecution, war. Sometimes museums cast an unfavorable light on past generations, especially white, rich people of generations past. It might seem like we are smarter than the people of the 19th century. But the truth is that the wealthiest, most powerful people on average don't care about those less fortunate. It's only because of the prevalence of democracy that the majority, the middle classes, have been able to stand up to the rich, and for the poor. Now the rich don't wield the same amount of power they used to until women and minorities were given the right to vote.

What I wanted to say was that I feel awful that the human race has done so many irreversible things, mostly out of fear or greed. Even Australia was a haven for racism and it lasted way too long. The Brits who populated the New World in the 1500's weren't much dumber than the ones who settled in Australia 300 years later. Mankind seems doomed to repeat its own mistakes.

So... That was the Immigration Museum! This is not blogging, this is venting. I apologize again. My arguments on video games are intellectual while my musings on women and white guilt are merely emotional gibberish. Let's get on with the show.

My plans for tomorrow include a river cruise so I visited the cruise company's office near the museum. The nice lady behind the desk told me that I didn't need to book in advance and to just come to the pier at Southgate tomorrow. Good enough! I had no more plans for today, so I decided I would enjoy the weather and find a nice place to sit and read, or write my blog. I ended up doing a lot of walking -- which led to a lot of pictures motivated by the blog -- to Federation Square, to MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground, not to be confused with McG), to the Olympic stadium and a pilgrimage to Yarra Green Belt and specifically the place where I had had lunch -- accompanied by my mom, her protégé and my then-girlfriend -- for the first time in Australia five years ago. I found the place, captured it as best as I could and surfed the under the same tree where I ate Chinese food more than five years ago.

I had some dinner in the city, found the correct pier for my cruise tomorrow and headed back to the hostel.

What have I forgotten? Oh yeah, I've been a little stressed lately. My main cause of stress, as usual, is money. Or the lack off. The lack of prospective money, which is due to a lack of a job. I have been preparing for the possibility that I can't find a job in Tasmania and trying to budget my life around that possibility. I still have the monetary means to do it. I could afford five weeks of accommodation and a flight to Sydney with a daily food and beverage budget between $20 and $30 if I don't have any further income in that time. But this thinking led me to not even look for jobs. 

Yesterday evening I spoke on the phone with my long time nemesis, Gay-Pooh, to congratulate him on his birthday and I mentioned the possibility of not finding a job. He asked me if they were hard to find and I replied that I hadn't even looked for them. Then I realized how stupid and pathetic I must have sounded. How could I get a job without looking for one? So this morning I did some job hunting. It wasn't fruitful in practice, but mentally it was. Now, instead of feeling pessimistic, I feel optimistic, and motivated to find a job. I'm also motivated to find the cheapest passable accommodation in Hobart before, after and around New Years.

Tomorrow is my last full day in the city and I plan to start it on the Eureka SkyDeck. Then I will take the river cruise after which I'll check some free-to-see art, write some postcards from Melbourne and pack my stuff. I'll cap of the day and my building-crush with a second visit to the Eureka SkyDeck just before sunset so I can see the city in all its glory during the night and the day. On Friday I'll check out of the hostel and spend the day in St. Kilda and Albert Park before catching a train to Bonbeach for Christmas dinner at Maria's where I will also spend the night. I shall bring some IKEA "God Helg" peparkakor and a bottle of wine to the dinner. I'll also get to open my one Christmas present that I've waited one and a half months to open. On Christmas Day I will be whisked to the airport by Maria and I'll arrive in Hobart at 3:15 PM. Sunlight wise that will be the longest day of my trip.

A lot can happen and if something special does you can read about it hear with a stomach full of ham or your preferred choice Christmas cuisine.

Merry Christmas to one and to all! I miss you!