Real Life

Ive been in Canada for nearly a week now and ive adjusted to the cold. Its starting to warm up but is still around -20. I got my season pass this morning so i have been enjoying free endless powder lines all day today. If you want to contact me send me an email at sammjb@hotmail.com or try and call me on skype (samm.burrell) around 2pm Australian time.


Hitch Hiking in Canada, Endless


Time stands still

Update

So last night i finally arrived in Lake Louise to be greeted with negative 50 degrees temperature and a bunch of drunk friends. We went out to the pub up the road and i got far too drunk which lead to me being a corpse in bed all day today. Its unbelievably cold here. Im living in an apartment with wes and a few canadian and french guys, which is pretty cool.

Streets of Vancouver


Tourist



My Bed

Lost At Sea

This morning i finally arrived in Vancouver after endless hours traveling through airports and bus stations. After 14 hours flying over the sea and a few scotches i stepped off the plane and breather in that fresh negative 6 degrees air. At the moment Im sitting in a hostel in downtown Vancouver, getting ready for tomorrows travels to Calgary and then onto Lake Louise where ill be living. Im excited to unpack and settle in for the season.
For now, Where is my mind?

Commuting

Passers by, Strangers caught up in the hustle and bustle of the rush that is peak hour in Melbourne. Today, well actually right now as im typing, I caught a train to see my father. As i sit here and wonder where everyone else is going and what they are doing, I realise that this is what my life is going to be like for the next 7 or 8 months. Living out of bags, sitting on trains backwards dazing out the window as a blur of green and browns flies past, im excited. Speaking of, My flight is on the 18th of december, and being the 1st today, I am extremely anxious to leave. I fly to Sydney extremely early in the morning of the 18th and then have an 8am flight to Vancouver, Canada, which arrives at 7am the same day, weird being 18 or so hours behind us. I then stay in Vancouver for a night as i need to get my bank account set up etc... The next morning i am flying to Calgary, this will only take an hour and a half or so, which then I will catch a three hour bus ride to Lake Louise where I will hopefully be greeted by my friends and where i will live for the next 5 months.

For Now, Where is My Mind?

A New Beginning

As this is my first post in a month or so now (due to exams), I thought id update on what is happening in my life at the moment.

I have just recently completed VCE and have entered what is stereotypically called 'The Real World'. With the thought of studying, homework and exams out of my mind, its given me more time to think and prepare for my 8 month voyage across the world, which by the way i embark on in 20 days from now, so much for entering 'The Real World'.

With this fresh new break i thought i would return to steady blogging, Plus i just bought a new Acer Travel Mate to take overseas with me.

I picked up my itinerary and 'e-ticket' yesterday from the travel agent, i may post pictures soon to show all of you where exactly im going to be and when.

Ps: Re-reading this post, My writing and literature skills seemed to have decreased due to absence of blogging, this is not a good sign as i just completed my year 12 english exam.

I took a ride through a city called fuck, and smashed through your dreams

Sick of sickness, sick of mistakes, sick of regrets.

I leave Australia for my around the world voyage in just over 2 months now. Leaving will signify a lot of things for me, it will end and begin a lot of things. Either way, Im definetly needing the time away, i need to find myself and make up for past errors.

Honestly, Please Release Me

I am exhausted, angry, furious and filled with rage. I want to escape this prison i have been confined to for the last 13 years of my life. A month from now I will finally reach the light at the end of that tunnel.

Works great even on blood stains

Last night i watched for the first time FightClub. Edward Norton alongside Brad Pitt play two characters who begin a fightclub in order to somewhat release their emotions? The film has some good twists towards the end which really sealed it as a good film for me, it was definetly not what i had expected upon purchasing it.

I also really enjoyed it as it reminded me of my good friend Frank pictured below:

Looking

When did this blog become about art?

I stood there last night, at 1am with the warm yet chilling breeze gliding over my kneck. As i glanced at the moon and then looked over frankston i began to wonder what was going to happen to me? where was i heading? I wonder how things will be one year from now, its exciting yet scary, as one year from now isnt too far away.

Art Bang Part II (2)

Todays weather was nice, so despite being upset and angry with last nights performance, and instead of studying, i decided to set up my paints and paint in the sunshine which filtered my backyard. Although i had my usually annoying mother buzzing around like the wasps that have inhibited my friend maxines backayrd, the scene was set to get all creative etc...



These photos are a continuation from the post titled 'That is not fucking art is it?'. Although i spent most of the day outside working, i actually watched the paint dry more than applied it. However this is what i achieved.



I sat there with the roasting sun on my back as i listened to Ian's permanence playing in the background and wondered wether to keep going with my painting, however with the thought of mondays week long media sac for my year 12 class, i decided that i should packup and continue another day...(to be continued)

Anthony Lister

While im on the art front, id like to mention Anthony Lister. I have only just recenetly heard of this incredibly talented artist and have been captivated by his work. He has a cool and original style and paints like it just aint' no thing.
Here are some shots from his page, which is http://www.listerart.com.au/ by the way,

Thats Not Fucking Art Is It?

So Today i started this little collaborative series artworks(consisting of two), titled THATS NOT ART IS IT? The reason behind these pieces (other than my year 12 studio art class) is to provide the public (mainly directed at people of a similiar age to me, 18) with something that provokes and questions their little minds with what they think art is.
The Beginning:

Synthetic Polymer on Chip Board yo!



Hopefully Ill have some progress shots along the way.

Good Weekend

This weekend, although not outrageously different or unusual, is still pleasing me (monday afternoon). Friday night I saw friends, drank scotch and went out into mornington for a total of 1 hour, this did not upset me at all. Saturday was spent wondering about in the morning until we decided it would be a good idea to go to southland. After an hour oh general pants, bad haircuts, adidas tracksuits etc..we decided to drive home, picking up a Mcdonalds coffee on the way as they oh so sweet. Early saturday night Elli, Luke, Maxine and I caught a train to hawthorne where we met up with Lily, Selma and Karina at their apartment. Here we drank and listened to music, soaking up the joy of being free of the 'frenemies'. After a few hours we headed out to The Hawthorne club, however our attendance was short lived as Lily, the birthday girl, was refused entry upon arrival for being too drunk, funny. We then caught a taxi to The Arcadia, which we spent the rest of the night in. All in all, I had fun, hanging with good people is always a treat.


Lily on stage

Enjoying ourselves

And Again

Lily and Maxine.

Isolation

So just recently CARPATHIAN released their newest record ISOLATION. The record is so good, unlike Nothing To Lose their previous album, Isolation has a far more defined and mature sound to it. One of my favourite parts about the new release despite the great sounding songs are the lyrics, below are two of my favourite songs lyric's wise. Read them and find out why.

CURSED
The realisation that I still don't know what I'm doing here,
Put in perspective I am nothing, we are nothing
It feels like something has been wasted, and I am fading
Time is growing against me as I grow tired of being
Just another soul spent searching for something inside,
I hate my fucking guts, I hate desire, I hate lust,
I hate humanity, I hate instinctively, I hate this fucking world for fucking hating me

The chasm in my chest
Screams of resounding emptiness
I've never tasted this bitterness
I never felt this solitude, worthlessness

So what great vision is this to sail amongst the vast indifference?
Accept a trail to hollow senses, where only tragedy breaks the numbness
So what great epiphany, will spell out beneath my feet?
Chain my wrists, and admit defeat, imprisoned by 'the clarity'
So is this destiny, a doubtful life, feeling empty?
Worst of all to make me guilty, blindest of the blind, telling me to see
I might hate this world, I might hate myself
But I wont be a wasted soul, another ghost like everyone else


ISOLATION
Overflowing with hatred, I cannot contain me, I erupt
I feel violent, volatile, on the verge of destruction
So lost inside myself, it resonates this beating against my head and heart
So lost inside myself, it isolates as routine bites hard

This downward spiral, this endless circle, this solitude
I am nothing, I am permanence.

STRAIGHT EDGE XXX

No this is not a post declaring my edgness against drugs, drinking and smoking, its a post set out to inform anyone who reads this about the straight edge lifestyle. The purpose of me writing this is that im sick of people at school talking about straight edge, or going around and calling people edge when they dont even know or understand what they are talking about. I do NOT live a straight edge lifestyle, however i have nothing against anyone who does.

Straight edge summed up is a lifestyle chosen by some which includes no drinking of alcohol, no illicit drugs and no smoking. However there is far more to it than that...below is a short documentary on the XXX lifestyle explaining what it is about and where it is going, if you have the time i suggest you watch it, it is quite an eye opener.

Part One:


Part Two:


Part Three:


Part Four:


Part Five:

Tired and Exhausted

Havent been blogging much as of late. Guess i havent had much really to rant or write about. Going back to the mountains this weekend, which means ill yet again miss out on a good show and miss out on hanging out with good people, see you all later.

Lomo!

The world’s only 35mm camera with a built-in fisheye lens!
So these have been out for awhile now and I really want to get one. They take great photos with a cool fisheye effect, and are really lightweight and compact! They also just look good aswell!

Continuation

So many thoughts running through my head, when the fuck are we going to be dead? I paint this picture i call a life, which looks as promising as a neck to a knife. My soul is as black as the night, just like the result of this last final fight.

Its an unfinished passage, I cant control this madness, the same old story, different ending, its becoming a growing sadness.

I keep trying to purify this soul, all there is however is a great big fucking hole. The wind blows through me and takes me away, I am gone and forgotten by the end of the day.

I am Nothing, We are Nothing

So many thoughts running through my head, when the fuck are we going to be dead
I paint this picture I call a life, Which looks as promising as ones neck to a knife
Why cant i sustain, through pleasure and pain, This painted picture, that i call a life.

The Beginning

Today i started uploading and documenting footage i have been filming over the last few weeks for a film that im producing for my year 12 media class. Its rather exciting yet daunting as this can/will be a very long and gruelling process. I should have a little youtube clip up maybe later today or sometime this week.

I Need An Explanation

I need an explanation...Of the human mind. Everyone everynow and again has hard times when it looks like though there is no upside to your situation. What i want to know is if your in a life and death situation, why would you turn to something that is only harming you more and increasing your risks of failure? I dont expect many or any people to understand this, but I needed to write this down so i could read over it and ask myself the same question, why?

Songs to scream at the sun

If you havent allready checked this out...check it out. The new Have Heart album,titled Songs to scream at the sun is absolutely amazing. Any hardcore fan will like this. It has a suprisingly happy looking vibe on the cover also, always a plus.

Time Is The Enemy

Tommorow is that time again, the day we have all been dreading for the last two weeks...the first day back at school. Time to file into line (although we dont do that anymore) and get our names marked off the stupid role again. Everytime i think how much i dont want to go, i think that the more days i go, the less i have left.

Rat Race

Year 12 syndrome...whatever it is, ive got it.
I seem to eat and breath school at the moment, everyday and night not a moment goes by where something about school isnt on my mind. However i must say, this year is going extremely fast, it feels as its just flashing by and im getting left behind.

The thing that gets me though is, why? Why do we (except a few) get so stressed about this (what feels like a never ending)rat race? To achieve a number score at the end of the year, that will let us know whether we can enter into tertiary education where yet again we will feel like we are in hell? All i know is im definetly looking forward to leaving the place for good that has confined me for the past 13 years of my life, whether or not i continue with my schooling in the future, i will be glad to be gone.

Music, A lifestyle for living

Although this view is not shared by all people, I see music as a way of living. Music is my life, I am not involved in the music industry, however it is a massive part of my life and i wouldnt be the same person today without it. Everybody has their own music tastes, and i can respect that. Music can change moods, calm people down, infuriate people etc...

Sometimes i see music as my release, Hardcore music in particular, The heart and effort that goes into hardcore is really overlooked by other people who just think it is screaming and loud noises. If your not a fan of hardcore music and your having trouble understanding what i mean, heres some photos of two Australian hardcore bands and the effects they have on their fans at shows.


Carpathian, Melbourne


50 Lions, Byron Bay

Foals

Not only do they make great musique, but they have very cool/interesting artworks as record covers!


Go and listen!

Save me from ordinary, Save me from myself

Again i am going to write about myself.
I cant keep letting myself down with the 'performance' that i keep having to put on for everyone, 'performance'.

Shut up and re think what you just thought if you thought to yourself "Performance? Just be true and act yourself", how the fuck do you act yourself? act normal? what the fuck is normal? Everyone wants to be seen as someone with these morals or beleifs, classy, mature, nice etc etc...its a fucking lie, everyone is living a lie, especially me.

No love Lost

This is one of my favourite scenes from Control, Its also one of my favourite Joy Division songs aswell. Epic

False Sorrow

I tell you what really annoys me?
Now some people may call me harsh or heartless, however I am not.
What annoys me is how the public and media treat the death of a celebrity. Everynow and then we hear on the news (unfortunately), that a celebrity or a wife/friend/mother/brother has died of a disease or in a car accident etc...
Now ofcourse you can feel sorry for these people, however THEY are NOT the only people dying. In the time that it takes to broadcast the incident or read about it in the paper, probably 5 more people have died in the same way. It annoys me that just because they were celebrities everyone is so interested or sad etc...what about your 90 year old nextdoor neighbour suffering from MS or whatnot, you dont see her on the front page?

Same goes for celebrities and their business in other contexts, WHO GIVES A FUCKING SHIT IF THEY DID COKE ON THE WEEKEND!?! People who read those magazines and actually care about the articles have no life.

Pressures

Imagine someone saying to you..."At this rate, they WILL die, so if you dont *******you will never forgive yourself" I experienced that tonight.

* unable to publish on the net.

Where is my mind?

I like the whole concept of blogging, however i am yet to find a host site that satisfies me. So this is just a test post.