more painting

hello,

 

i went and saw Angelo and he offered to let me stay at his apartment in china town for a while (Angelo was a co-producer on the movie ashes). in exchange i have been painting his walls for him. he offered me money for it but i didn't accept it, i am just happy i can stay here, rent free :) Angelo, being the connected person he is has taken me on a few cool nights out. the first night we go to this small but famous sake bar, there sitting in this tiny restaurant seated at one of the 3 small tables in this place. the kitchen is half in view and is made up of a bench the size of my shoe and an even smaller sink, and a fridge. so we order some sushi and wait an hour while this big Japanese chef delicately slices little fish on my shoe. we order some sake and the three of us; Angelo, atul (an actor on the film and business partner of Angelo's) and i sample the whole bottle and order a different kind of sake. it gives a strange feeling, you know your drunk, but you don't really feel drunk, your not sloppy and stupid, very Japanese.

 

the next night, after a long day of painting Angelo gets us on the list to go to this concert at irving plaza in Manhattan. Angelo knows this guy called Micheal on keyboard, hence why we are on the list and have VIP access. the band was called Skye and the lead singer was the front women for a group called morcheba. they were actually very good with a unique sound and minimalistic lyrics, it was hard to look away from their siron songs. after they finished their set Angelo and i left the VIP area upstairs and went back stage for a beer with the band. Michael was a nice friendly guy and he wanted to experience a bit of new york rather than following his band mates back for an early night. so the three of us went to this renowned restauraunt called moto or muto or something pretencions like that. this restaurant had a fantastic kitchen on display and a very friendly staff, it was filled with trendy rich young professional men and established wealthy couples. it was fairly new so had sex and the city gone on for another season they would have shot a scene here. i got the eye steak fillet. it was incredible, and it came with a verity of freshly grinded herb dipping sauces. the desert was incredible; candied pumpkin shavings on top of rich creamy vanilla ice cream with dark cooked caramel sauce. as it turned out Michael was a very interesting man. he had just been touring with savage gardens front man. had played at a gig with 80,000 fans and was responsible for most of the advertising jingles in Australia, e.g. "no body does chicken like KFC" and the theme music for account affair which apparently alone makes him $40,000 a year in royalties. but i was most impressed when he told me he was the composer for the amazing NZ film, whale rider. he wrote and performed every song in that movie. much respect and good luck to the guy.

 

i saw koala jack yesterday which was nice. i met him on the corner of Central park. filled him in on some of the fun of my European adventure. he is doing great, working at a restaurant in central park which is a top of the charts gig. he is a very good guy and lives well. last night we went to this bar, with Indian/house music, dimmed lights and a hookah pit. this was the setting of our final wrap party for the film so i knew this place well. i met some random and very cool NY doctors who shouted me drinks. i spent much of my night out the front talking to the bouncer; this guy, Jesse was so cool. he was by far the nicest bouncer i had ever met, he wished everyone who left a "pleasant trip home" or a "safe ride" and was never rude to anyone. we discussed many things; eBay, Asia, Europe, Thai chi, fung Sui, the Bronx, skateboards, adventures, NY-LA by car, mushrooms, wind chimes etc... it was a very cool conversation and night.

 

today i have spent much of it on the Internet looking up everything i can about the a-league and Melbourne victory and the FANTASTIC WIN YESTERDAY!!!!!!! i was so stoked that we beat the only team we have never even scored against. not even once in 6 or 7 games. muscat converted a penalty that was created by a great attacking run from Alessandro. the second a good put away by Claudinho. i love football! i recommend you all take an interest :) because it is a great game, scrap that, it is the best thing in the entire world... that's more like it! lets just say that if i had only time to edit a small portien of this blog, you would only be able to read the part about melbourne victory.

 

sincerely,

 

Jake.

paris - london - ny

hello.

i got my ticket to Paris and left later that afternoon. i arrived at
around 10pm and found a bed. the next day i moved to a cheaper hostel
and put my stuff down and went walking, i saw many places; sacre cour,
notre dam, the louvre, Eiffel tower and a lot of other places but i
forget the names. i had some fantastic patisseries, amazing mil foil,
incredible croissants etc... the next day i booked a train to London
for my flight to NY. i left Paris and got seriously delayed in Lyon,
something about the train not being safe enough to go through the
chunnel. i couldn't help but laugh as this one guy is constantly
complaining, this older guy from upper class London i guess. he got
angry at the train staff who knew as much as we did, he got angry at
the fellow passengers who would try and play it down "i think it is
just that the windows are not sealed so it cant go through the
channel" and he would yell that he just wants someone in a uniform to
tell him what is going on, not that him knowing what is going on will
make the process of getting to London any quicker. i get to London at
around 10pm find a hostel. i am checking in when to my surprise a girl
who was in my political class at school storms up to the desk and gets
really furious because there are some random bags in her room and she
is freaking out about it, what is wrong with people, learn to accept
:)

the next day i spend alot of my time finding stoke lodge, to return a
book that koala jack borrowed from the Honorable Richard Alston, megs
or nick, i'm not sure. i finally found the place but no one was home
so i left it on the door step. you may have heard recently about the
planned terrorist plot on heathrow airport; they were targeting London
to NY flights, planning to use liquid explosive in drink bottles and
shaving cream cans. so i got to the airport at around 2:00pm for my
6:40pm flight. there was a lot of waiting so i spent my time playing
this pool game in the arcade. you get the first 4 shots in and you get
1pound credit, you get another ball, you get 2, another 3 etc...
untill you miss in which case you loose it all, or you collect your
money anbd start again. i started of with 5 pounds and i lefts with 30
pounds, it was great, if i find one of these games in Australia, it
could be great to help beef up an income :) i have been playing alot
of pool on this trip, cant wait to play with Clare, Jen and Clare b
and all the rest of my pool junky friends (it's a good thing being a
pool junkie, it's a good game, but you wouldn't believe some of the
stupid rules people play with overseas, it really gets my goat) i make
it just in time onto the plane. i watched MI3 and inside man on the
plane. i wait for 2 hours in immigration before i get out into the
subway.

it is 12:something and i call up lyndi to see if i can crash there. so
back to Roosevelt island i go. now i am back in the apple store, a
place i frequented to bring you this blog while i was here last time.
i don't know how many people i know are still in NY, but i will call;
jack, josh, Attila, Angelo, Brian, heather and Tyrone and see whats
what. I'd love to get a car and take a road trip to LA rather than
flying but people wont just drop what they are doing for stuff like
that unfortunately. it would rock though, feet up, drive through
Philly, Vegas, see Steve there, coldplay on the stereo, sunsets etc..
I'll ask anyway. i would like to do a road trip when i get back to
Australia, i haven't ever really seen Australia, really, it could be
cool, drive up through Sydney, watch Melbourne victory kick scum fc's
butt. go on up to qld, find a place to stay for a few days.

i have lost alot of clothes on this trip; countless socks (probably a
good thing), pants (which were my dads hand me downs), jumper (which
Steve lent me) my good shoes (which i wore to Steve's wedding) etc...
my backpack which i traveled in around Europe weighed 6.4kgs. that
really isn't much to go backpacking, my Canadian friend had a fairly
average sized bag for his travels, it weighed like 45kg's or more at
least. so i am back in NY, the stuff i left in NY is in Harlem at
Steve and Sarah's apartment, including my fake ID so i will have to
make the trek up there at some point. I'm bored, i feel like playing
some pool, and meeting some cool people tonight. i wish i had a small
digital camera, i see things that i used to see but from a different
angle, if that makes sense, i just want to film it all. great for
memories and technique for film and television industry.

i have some calls to make now so I'll catch you later.

Jake.

p.s. i am down to two cigarettes per day, which i know isn't great
Steve but it's better.

barca - amsterdam

hello,

 

the next day we decided to something a little different. my mate Marsh has a small video camera which he has been using to make a travelling movie. we came up with the idea of making a small video of us juggling the football around Barcelona. we would find a cool location, nice setting, good light, interesting angles and architecture and we would film a few seconds of one of us doing some nice juggling skills (keeping the ball of the ground by kicking/kneeing/chesting/heading etc.. the ball)then we would kick the ball of camera and the next scene would be the other person doing something similar with the ball coming into say camera left if the last person had kick edit camera right, so in editing it would look like we were passing the ball to each other across the city. we had fun doing it and it was great to practice with the camera. after that we went to one of the main squares and played football with the locals, this one guy i swear was marradona, looked just liked him and he kept touching the ball with his arm.

 

the next day we went in the rain to book a ticket out of the city, we were planning to go to San Sebastian, named after the saint who was famously depicted in many paintings as the man with like 20 arrows in his body (Clare you should remember this from our trip to Italy with stoney). but when we get to the station and after waiting like one hour to get to the desk we are told that there are no more trains today leaving Barcelona with any seats available. marsh is getting very annoyed, he decides he has to leave Barcelona now. we go to the other station and start asking for seats on a train to anywhere, we asked if we could go to Lisbon, no seats, Geneve, no seats, Andorra, Munich, Milan, Zurich, Valencia, Bordeaux no seats. the poor guy typing in all this information into the computer is almost freaking out, poor guy; he has two guys in front of him asking him a hundred questions, he has angry people coming up and asking to be next, everyone has been waiting for like an hour to get a shot at the front desk, including us. he is foaming at the mouth a little bit but he doesn't realise, his hands are going a million miles an hour and he is shaking a little bit. finaly he says there is one seat in first class to Paris. marsh buys it. i get a reservation on a train to Madrid, planning to arrive in the capitol by 12 at night. it was raining so we ran back to the hostel and we booked a night at the very popular Kabul hostel down the road. we then went and watched  flamingo danging which was great. the next day we decide to go to the beach for a swim. the beach is packed, thousands of people all the way along it. lots of topless women and men in budgie smugglers, very European. although i only had my underwear to swim in and they had shrunk in the wash so i fit in really well. the water was really warm and there was some waves. it was a hot day and we spent a long time relaxing on the beach. it wasn't till that night that my skin turned from a light olive colour to a Orange, then red then finally a dark red with a shade of purple and blue coming into it. my thighs were the worst. it hurt allot. i thought the ozone layer was only bad in Australia. but today the redness has gone down and i doesn't hurt to rest my hand on my legs. marsh had been trying to convice me that i should go with him to Paris rather than Madrid, and it wasn't till right before my train that night that he made the match winning point. since my train pass expires (which means i only have to pay reservation fees) on the 15th and i get to Madrid on the 14th and i wouldn't be able to book a ticket till the 16th i would be stuck in Madrid which is alot more expensive getting back to London than say Paris. he was right, so we made a decision to go to Paris, on the 13 hour trip together. the only problem was of course i didn't have the ticket for this train. at 9pm we get to the train going to Paris. we get on and take a look around. we are in first class which contains carriages with only sleeper rooms, no seats. the hallway is so thin that only one person can fit down there at one time. there is a dinning cart and a bar cart. i know  the train is full so i cant sit in an empty seat as someone will come for it soon enough. we go to the bar cart and get a sandwich and a glass of wine. i had to walk up and down the train for a while while they were checking tickets, they don't really ever ask someone on the move jsut those at the seats. i evade for 2 hours to be safe. at around12 marsh go's to bed as do most people, planning to have a nice big sleep before arriving, fresh, in Paris. i walk as far down the train as i can hoping to hit 2nd class and hoping that there is maybe a seat free, but i couldn't get out of first class as they don't let the two classes mingle, ha. so i spend the next 10 hours sitting on top of the toilet seat, too uncomfortable and bright to sleep, and occasionally getting up and walking up and down the carriages like a mad man, i tried sleeping in the hallway but it lasted only until one of the conductors asked me to return to my room. ten hours is a long time to spend in such confined spaces, i think i went a little crazy. at 9 in the morning we roll into Paris. i get to marshes room and he is just waking up, stretching with a smile on his face, sipping his complimentary drink and nibbling his croisant, then there is me, freezing, exhausted, confined and hungry. we go to the other station to get our connecting train to Brussels , i fall a sleep and wake up around 5 times on the train. marsh later told me i was waking up and saying really weird stuff. we get of in Brussels, Bulgaria. we don't stay long before we are on the train again to Amsterdam by way of Rotterdam. we arrive and it is raining as it does alot in Amsterdam, we go find a hostel, believe it or not the same bed i slept in last time i was here. we played alot of pool that day and that night me and marsh went undefeated in doubles. we met some Americans and walked around and went to a museum. last night was great, we met these Amsterdam locals that marsh had met in Prague. they had bikes and we would sit on the back, side saddle and they would hoon around the streets showing us how the dutch do Amsterdam, we saw some great improv music, great base player too. today we went on a hour long canal cruise which was great fun. got to see alot more beautiful buildings. soon i have to go and book my train to Paris, so i better go find an ATM.

 

cheers,

 

Jake.

quick update

hey guys and gals,

 

well, after that crazy night the next was kind of plain. we heard from locals that the good place to go to was core. we turn up their and the bouncer says it is full. then the door opens and there is a guy carrying a girl out of the bar with her friend holding her hair back. she wasn't moving, we decided we have never seen someone so drunk in all our lives, after a while talking to the conscious girl and the guy we all decided that this wasn't drunkenness, this was drink spiking, it makes me furious!! her friend didn't seem too concerned as she was taking photo´s of her friend laying barely conscious on the ground. we left after the girl made a couple of movements on her own, back to the hotel and watched anchorman. the next day we get up at around 9am and i had only managed to get 1 hour sleep for some reason, i just couldn't get my brain to shut off as i had a million things going through my head. we get to the train and we are headed for Nice with a quick stop at Juan Le Pins. we get of at this little destination and walk towards the beach, it was beautiful, touristy but at the same time not, if you know what i mean, like the infrastructure was their to support many many more tourists that their were so it was kind of peaceful. we decided to stay for only 45 minutes till our next train but ended up staying 4 hours, swimming in the pristein Mediterranean sea, eating perhaps the greatest muscles of all time in a restaurant on the water front, laying out in the sun on long beach lounging chairs, dozing off to the sound of the tiny little waves coming up the sand. it was a wonderfully refreshing place and we all agreed we needed it after being in so many large cities, such as NY, LA, London and Munich etc.. the water is very calming and the salt is good for you.i bought a cheap pair of sunny´s, got the price from 15 to 5. we were sad to leave Le Pins but we wanted to press on to Marseilles. after staying in Marseilles for two days in hindsight we would have much preferred to stay in Le Pins, sleeping on the beach. Marseilles is an ugly smelly little capital of corruption and filth. other than a fort on the neck of the bay this city has nothing but hustlers and open sewage. we were stalked by this big black guy who looked identical to Djbril Cisse (football nuts will know him, i´m looking at you Marcus and Aidan). the night life was dead by 10, not that it had much of a pulse before that.in two nights the hottest spot we could find contained 4 french guys and one Maurie turned french guy, we spent maybe 30 minutes watching them taking it in turns to touch some box hanging from the ceiling: in case your wondering, the mauri guy couldn't touch it but three of them touched it every time and the last Frenchmen took 4 go´s to get it.... see this was the highlight of Marseilles. our friend mike who was leaving us to make the 60 something hour trek to Croatia waited at the train station for about 5 hours rather than venture out into the cesspool.. OK maybe i am over reacting but we were having so much fun bagging the city that i think we hate it a little more than is necessary, but i don't suggest anyone go´s there, go around it. we finally get on the train and go for 6 hours to port bu, in this cramped little train, i got some sleep somehow, and when i wasn't i was reading ¨one flew over the cuckoos nest¨ ´then we waited at this random port bu for an hour and then got on one more train and landed in Barcelona, very relieved. we got here at around 10am so had the day to check it out. we walked up and down the main drag for a bit, then went to Camp Nuo (another one for Marcus and Aidan) Barcelona football clubs home ground, we took the tour and got to go inside the stadium, took some photo´s and then went to the football museum and looked at some memorabilia from Barcelona´s football history. it is now 5:55pm and i am about to go to the hostel to have a late siesta, i will need my energy for tonight, barca is the home have partying and we are going to have a BIG one!! we got about 5 places to go to, finishing of in this one club which has 5 floors, different themes and music types on each floor, then we might go to this salsa club and finish the night with some hip moving Spanish dancing under the quite lights of early morning, but plans never stay the same as the night go´s on so who knows where we will end up.

 

Jake.

 

p.s. today on the train we saw a guy going through some wallet he had obviously pick pocketed, since he did not look like a young English women

No Pants

hello,

 

well, alot has happened in the last few days. first of, not long after i sent the last blog the Canadian, American and i decide to travel together for a bit. we try and work out a plan but that isn't as fun so we decide ballpark Switzerland. so after another big night we have one hour sleep and make it to the train to Zurich, one of the cities i wanted to see. unfortunately for me it was only a stop over so i had only about 20 minutes to look around, so off i go, running around taking pictures like a mad man and then back to the station and on to the train bound for Interlaken, with a stop over in Lezern, another city i really wanted to see. we get to Lezern, the most photographed town/city in Switzerland which is saying something as this is probably the most attractive country i have ever seen. i get a little bit longer to enjoy this place, a whole 38 minutes before we are back on the train.

 

now because of walking in the rain in Munich early in the morning, my pants got very wet, the pants i have been traveling in for three months, wearing them most of the time. i am wearing shorts at this point and decide before we get of at Interlaken that these pants are not in very good shape, still wet sitting in the bottom of my bag, so i leave them on the train. we arrive in Interlaken, the extreme sports capital of the world some time in the evening. a place where lonely planet recommends booking accommodation around a month in advance, most certainly not when you arrive at night. now this town is lovely, a very small town surrounded by absolutely massive mountains, known as the Swiss alps. it is also very cold here, for me at least, the Canadian was wearing shorts by choice; and i was regretting mine. after checking about 7 hotels and dorms we find Balmers Tent Village and they had a very cheap option, 15 Swiss franks for a bed in this dorm, with no door or any luxuries like that. we leave our stuff and head towards happy hour at one of two bars in town, both are run by hostels so it is mainly inhabited by young travelers such as our self's. we hang out with some American girls and party for a while. the next day marsh (Canadian) and Mike (American) decide they want to go canyoning, which is basically jumping of big rocks into small sections of water, freezing cold water. i decide hang gliding or paragliding would be a little warmer so i wait for the rain, wind and clouds to disappear so i can book one of the two, but unfortunatly it didn't. the boys said they had fun whitewater rafting (canyoning was considered too dangerous in these conditions so they had to change sports). apparently mike, big mike fell in and it took everyone on the boat to get this man mountain back in ha ha. that night we went back to the bar and met up with our friends and partied a bit more.

 

the boys had not been impressed with our accommodation the previous night so had booked a night at another place, which was 12 franks more expensive but much better as it had locks, doors, showers and all these other totally unnecessary stuff. i decided to stay at my cozy little pad another night. i just happened to be the only one with an alarm clock so it was my job to wake them up at 8am so we could head on out to the train. i had however left my luggage with my friends in their new accomodation so i wake up at 7:30am look out side, it is freezing, raining, no pouring and it is misty. i look on the floor not remembering what i had worn last night but hopping there is at least one item made with wool, alas.. my thongs, underwear, SHORTS and a traveling shirt (collared and extremely thin, mainly for traveling in say Delhi or something like that). i am a little disappointed to tell you all the truth. but i put it all on, brace my self and walk out the door....way. i am around 15-20 minutes away from my friends accommodation and another 20 minutes away from the train station. it was a very cold walk, and now as i am writing this from Nice in France i am coughing, only a small cold but it isn't helping anybody. anyhow i get to their hostel and wake them up, they take ages to get up but eventually they are ready, somehow i had left my jumper in some dorm room and it was lost, so i am pantless and jumperless, so i put on 9 tee-shirts, later mike would come to judge the temperature of a place by how many shirts i was wearing: "hmm no marsh i don't think we need a jumper, Jake is only wearing 4 shirts". we get to the station and make our way to Milan, Italy. traveling through Switzerland by train is the best way to do it. we had the most amazing views, picture it, half way up a mountain, looking out your window hundreds of metres down upon a small village with a stream running through it, the greenest grass you have ever seen, at the foot of another massive mountain with the sheerest faces and waterfalls, capped by snow at the top, all from the warmth and comfort of the train, it was amazing. in and out of tunnels, up and down mountains, over rivers it was cool. the train was about 5 hours to Milan, trains are much easier to handle the planes, so much better. we entertain our self's by making fun of Iggy Pop, mike is reading his autobiography as we travel. making fun of my no pants situation, and  listening to more and more and more stories of our Canadian friends adventures. it is now his birthday, he is 25, we partied last night and we planned to party again this night in our destination of nice. we stop of in Milan and it was wonderful for me as this was one of the places i wanted to go to, you all know how much i love Italy. unfortunately i had only an hour there and the time was taken up mostly by waiting to reserve our seats on the next train. i did however get to go out and take a few photo's. we get back on the train, and went along the coast of Italy and France, along the Mediterranean, it was lovely and it was wonderful for my pantless legs to be bathed in sunlight for the first time in a few days.

 

we arrive in Nice last night at around 8pm. it is raining, again no hostel booked and most hotels had a fully booked sign out the front, we finaly find a hotel and it is 30£ each for a hotel room with three beds, we are exited to be living in such luxury. it is still marsh's birthday so we dump our stuff and head towards the old town, the party town. we find this bar and it is happy hour all night, we play pool and drink tequila beer. we meet a very mixed group of people, a gorgeous long island bikini model, a bald Indian/black/white Brooklyn kid, a fiery English girl, a English guy and some others who i cant even visualise now. we play pool and hang out with them. we want to go to this club so we run but we get there at 2:02am so we just missed the window of free entry so we go back to the pub. my friend marsh is annoyed because i am chatting and drinking with the long island girl away from the rest of the group so he takes mike who is tired and they leave, with the map, directions and name of the hotel. i ask if anyone wants to come back and party in our hotel, no one seemed really exited about the idea, they wanted to go to some other club. but the long island girl was annoyed that her friend who she had come all this way from long island NY to see had not spoken to her all night, which was totally ridiculous and it seemed like she was just making up reasons to be pissed of at him, he is angry and wants her to come back and stay at his place where all her stuff is, she doesn't want to go, she throws his keys away in front of him, she grabs my arm and starts walking. the plan was to go back to our hotel and have a beer and i said she could crash at our place. so we start walking, we keep walking, it is around 3:30am in nice, which is actually fairly dangerous i hear. i don't have a map, i am a little drunk and we are lost it is pretty cold and she isn't wearing a great deal so i give her my shirt leaving me with a singlet, very cold. we walk around for just under 3 hours trying to find my hotel, it was the most frustrating 3 hours i can remember, she is walking in stilettos which i cant imagine been much fun. i feel terrible, men are supposed to be good with directions and i usualy am, just not this night. we walk and eventually see her friends? walking out of this club, she and the guy start yelling at each other some more and he pressures her to come home with him and the guys friends are telling me to get away from the situation in not a very friendly way, but she had told me some stuff about him on our walk and she didn't really want to be around him. but when it is 3 guys and 2 girls pressuring her to go back with them i knew we had lost this battle, she was upset that she had to go back with them and i was pissed of that i still couldn't find my hotel. so i am walking and i see the fiery English girl and the bald Brooklyn kid; she yells at me to come over to where she is. she starts yelling at me about how much of a prick i was for taking the long island girl on some massive night walking tour of nice which was a valid point and i was about to try and explain the situation when some dodgy guy comes up to them and offers the girl some umm.... it rhymes with stash, or mash. she starts talking french and makes a deal with the guy, and stupidly pulls out about 400euro and is about to take one of the bills out of the stack when the dodgy guy grabs the full 400euro and starts running, me and the bald kid start sprinting after him and we are chasing him through little side streets and up and down stairs for about 10 minutes before he looses us in the city he obviously knows very well. the bald kid asks me to look after the now fuming fiery English girl while he go's in search of someone who obviously doesn't want to be found in his own city, kind of pointless at that stage. so i sit there and put up with this girl jumping all over the place swearing at the city, swearing at random passers by and swearing at me, she is threatening this guy who could probably hear her from where ever he was hiding, laughing. the sky is getting lighter and i am so tired, annoyed, drunk and some other adjectives. so i tell her good luck and i leave as she is on the phone calling down all her 'BoYz' as i have seen so many times girls doing in Melbourne. 'I'm going to get Marco, James, tony and they are going to come down here and get him' etc... i walk for another hour before i find my hotel, i kicked my self when i saw it as me and the long island girl had actually walked right past it but it was before we were lost so i wasn't paying much attention. i get to my room and hit the bed. now it is 5pm the next day and it is a lovely day in Nice. i am going to get some food and find a place to wash my clothes. tomorrow i think we are of to Marseilles before heading on to Barcelona which will be amazing fun.

 

jeez i have been writing for a while, so i will stop now.

 

love Jake.

Munchen!

hey everyone,

got to Munich after 11 hours of no sleep on the train. Munich is cool.
Amsterdam was fun, met some really strange people it was cool. you
cant eat healthy in Amsterdam and i am feeling it a little. i got to
the station and went in line to buy a ticket, i get to the counter and
she asks where i am going to. i didn't really have a plan but i wanted
to go to Germany and then Switzerland, so i said munchen. met some
cool guys from Utrecht on the train. yesterday i get to Munchen early
in the morning, no sleep for so long, i walk around. find a hostel. so
last night the American, this guy is 6.6 250pounds. cool guy, and this
champion from Canada and i go to this awesome club district, it was
full of real German people which was cool! before this we went to a
real beer house, one litre glasses of beer, massive! after clubbing i
get back to my hostel at like 6am. i woke up at like 10 and had the
worst hangover of all time!!! i tried to get back to sleep but
couldn't, my head hurt too much to sleep so i spent most of the day
trying to sleep. at about 6pm we went out for some food, horrible
burger king, but i needed the fatty food. i thought i lost my wallet
but it was in my shorts at the hostel. so now i am sitting at the bar
using someones laptop with a beer almost empty next to me, my head
still hurts too much and we are about to go out. two Americans and a
Canadian are arguing about oil, America, thrid world countries,
globalisation, national geographic etc... it is funny.

much love,

Jake.

no sleep

hey all,

still in london, going to try and get to paris today or tomorow. i looked around and decided against the train and the plane as it is around £100, instead going for the scenic route on the bus for £30. have been going to bed at like 7am or later every bloody night - it's crazy. the other night i had dinner with Zoe Tryon; steve's ex girlfriend. i havent seen her for like 7 years or somthing. so i turn up to her fantastic apartment and meet some very nice people, including Zoe's sibblings. we had a wonderful dinner and i had a great chat with her brother Ed who is a legend. he sells homes to football players like Crespo, Shevchenko etc...

last night was interesting: i thought i was going to leave yesterday so i dident rebook a room at the hostel. so after drinking at the bar it's 4:30 so i decide to have an early night but i have no place to sleep, but jake being the resourceful guy that he is makes do. it i so hot at nights in the hostel so most 14 bunk dorms leave there door open, so i walk from one to the other to see if there happens to be an empty one... all full. so i walk around and find this little room with videos, broken beanbags and lots of other random stuff. only problem is that it is next to this room, which has some sort of genereator which is loud and makes alot of heat. by 7am i still cant get to sleep so i get up and have the complimentary breakfast they offer. played some pool and sharked this dreadlocked aussie guy who dident sleep either. now it is 11:15am and i'm pretty tired but i am not going to sleep as i need to get my sleeping pattern back. discarded pizza boxes are an inexpensive source of cheese.... kidding.

jake.

Amsterdam

:D

 

this is one rocking city. arrived here from london yesterday night at around 10pm. had no accomadation booked. got of in the centre of the city, known also as something about red, or some district named after a colour i dunno :P i found a dorm so it's cool. this place is awesome. i dropped of my bags and went to a coffeeshop to chill out, then went to a bar and met some spanish born amsterdamn guy with slicked back blonde hair named ronaldo, we hung out for a while, then i went walking and got some food, had a look around. it is crazy here. it reminds me so much of venice with all the canals.... just with out the rules. got semi attacked by some coked up black guy, they start by asking for the time then try and talk nice to you, then they... well this one guy at least grabbed my arm and i guess in an attempt to perform capuera started trying to do this weird leg trip/kick. i shouted to his face a prophanity and told him to get off me, he did i was more worried about his circling friends, anyway it was fine it turned out ok although he and his mates did follow us for a while, we lost them then they saw us later and followed us some more. i guess the rick is to yell really loud or be really angry because they can allways try and rob an easier target, buti after being here for a night i guess i am an easy target, by my self, not a big guy - doesent help, but dont you worry guys and girls, jake will be fine. oh yesterday i got kicked out of the hoste l in London for sleeping in the storeroom, it was so comfortable with like 15  beenbags to lounge on, i guess that is why they allways check that spot at like 6 in the morning. so after 2 hours sleep and zero hours sleep the night before i was on the street with my bags. but i realised the night before i had left my cammera with the t ourist shop lady inside the hostel, so like a covert ninja i went inside evading and blending in and retrieved my cammera..... then lay down on the couch and slept for a few hours :D well i am of to go do something fun, or find a cool place to see,

 

much love, from amsterdam. oojlk kelooil jasaasl keejk (i dont know what that is but their language is crazy..

 

 

oH!! i forgot to tell you, i bought a rail pass so i am going to go to germany, switzerland, italy, france and spain for only 275pounds, so much cheaper than flying and the views are amazing i hear, especially through switzerland, crazy!!! but i dont want to leave amsterdam just yet. my destinations might change but that is the plan so far. munich, sttutgart, milan, nice, marsaille, barcelona, ibiza (if time permits) madrid, bordaux, paris - then london, ny, LA - MELBOURNE! i love it.

 

jake.

More from London

I got of the train at earls court, looked around but couldn't find any hostels/available. I called up my mate (whom I met in NY) and told him I was here- had 2 seconds left on the phone and he said to meet him at Tottenem something. So, T go to T Court rd. and lucky enough I see him there. We have a beer and catch up.

Anyway, I ended up staying with him for the first three nights, went out with him and his emo mates to some hardcore rock club called... Rock. It was pretty cool, had to adapt my dancing a little. We almost got into a fight with some punk/ skinhead morons.

Now, I am staying at The Generator. 848 people- has it's own club with 1£ pints and a hot tub... with more aussies than in Melbourne. I have allready met dudes who went to Wesley. It isn't too pricy here. I had dinner last night for £4, went with this aussie girl. Chips, beer and beefburger for 4£ is pretty good, I thought. I had an early one last night, got to bed at 10, needed to recharge hardcore.

Tonight i am paying 9£ for this deal at the hostel. We go to 3 clubs, one free drink and we get VIP access so we dont have to wait in lines... I doubt there will be any lines and I doubt I can get a free Fosters, prolly a green king ipa, but good way to meet more people (yes, sorry to report i have started drinking Fosters). I can't believe nobody told me that english girls were so hot!!! I was really expecting average central but, my god, there are hot girls everywhere! I had some good nights at the South Watford local - The George with Piers and his friends.

I am going to look around the net for some good deals on trips to Greece, Spain and France- I might find someone to road trip it with on gumtree.com haha that would be sweet. I just can't believe how many Aussies there are, a few of them are cool... but a lot seem like the children of the big fat Aussies that go to Kuta in Bali and are loud obnoxious and... ok relax.

jake.

London, yo.

For my last night in NY I went to dinner with Ajay, Heather, Atilla, Laset, Angelo etc... then about ten of us went out and got drunk for my last night. It was good. After we left there I stumbled into Roosevelt island, waking Lyndi and Heather up at like 4:30am or somthing like that.

So now I am in London, in Earl's Court. I've been looking for a hostel but cant find any. So I gave up momentarily to have my first "legal" drink in months. I'm going to give my mate Piers a call soon and hopefully hit the town tonight pretty hard...

Wow, i am in Europe :D The flight was pretty easy, only 7.5 hours. I have Zoe's email so I am hopefully going to get to see her in the next little while. (Zoe was steve's girlfriend years ago, she's a great woman!) I am very hungry and am looking forward to taste testing the English version of KFC. I hope I find a place to stay tonight. I'm pretty jet lagged but I will push through it.

much love,

Jake

2 days to go

Hey, hey.

So, I'm off in a couple. I had a great night the other night: Junior, Kristen, Heather, Lyndie and I left a bar and jumped into a limo parked out the front, $100 so $20 each. It's an hour-long ride and you get as many drinks as you want, then we went back to Roosevelt and partied till like 10AM - it was a sweet night.

Last night, I went to a BBQ out in Queens with Atilla, Tiago and Leset etc.. met lots of cool Brazilian people. As I was right next to the bridge to Roosevelt, I went over there to visit the crew. I had to go with Heather deep into Queens because she had to go collect some stuff from this guy she didn't like, so I went with her. We got lost and the taxi driver had no clues, and the trains took us to the wrong places. Finally, we find the guy's place at like 2:00AM, did what we had to do there, and I arrived back in Lower Manhattan by like 3:30AM.

The last three nights I've been staying at Angelo's while he was in Atlantic city. Angelo is a cool guy and was the Co-Producer of Ashes. If- after Europe and the planned LA film, I'll come back to NY and I think I might make some trips to Boston, Chicago and Atlantic city- sounds like fun? I love road trips... though I've never really been on many.

I would post pictures, but in NY there are only Apple Macs and I don't think.... not good enough Jake! I will get batteries and I will load my photo's up for people to see.

The job I did a while ago for yahoo music is now on the net. go to www.pepsismash.com Damn! I just checked it and the new "street buzz" has been made and has replaced the one I worked on and had a little cameo in ;)

I am sooo hungry, so i am going to go find that great little Caribbean diner and have some eggs.

Jake.

...booked my flight

Well, I officially booked my flight for london, i leave in a week. I will be there for approx one month. The great thing about it is Ryanair.com flights around europe are like $15 including all taxes and surcharges- so I might decide to go to France, Spain, Ibiza, Amsterdam etc... :D it is going to be crazy. Atilla is back in NY so I might see him today. Since leaving Ajay's, I have been moving around, couple of nights at the tapedeck, Lyndie's and Steve & Sarah's up in Harlem...

My friend Tyrone arrived back in NY yesterday from Detroit and he is staying in the Bronx, I haven't been there yet so I might have to check it out.

In Soccer related news, Melbourne Victory bought a third Brazillian player. So, we have a full line up and we are looking very strong. I know Olivia Richards is in London- anyone else I might know in Europe??

jake.

the tapedeck

hey hey!

Well, since moving out of ajays i have spent the last two nights at Nisian's with Koala Jack. The first night we went out to this fancy bar, club called tribeca grand. We met up with some people and had a good night - took people back to the tapedeck (Nisian's) and chilled on the roof.

Last night, I went to my mate Brian Tucker's going away party, he was a producer or similar on "Ashes" and is going back to Dublin so he had a roof top party, it was pretty good.

World Cup Wrap Up

Wow! what a game. I can't believe it! Zidane!! I just can't believe he ended his career in such a stupid fashion. this could have been a fantastic finish to an amazing career but instead he goes out like an idiot, I would have held him up there with Franz Becenbauer and Pele, but now... maybe he is on a Eric Cantona level. I gotta go- the computer is in hot demand!

Last night in the directors chairpad

The man himself, ajay naidu. tomorow he gets back with his girlfriend, heather burns:


So, I am back out in the mix. I'll be ok as I know many people now who I am sure won't mind having me for a couple of days here and there... I hope.

On the plus side, Attila is comming back from LA on sunday- great! He's a champion.

A couple of nights ago, Angelo ("Gelo") the guy who connected Steve and I to the film, and one of the cultural icons of lower manhattan (no joke) got me on the vip list for this great club called Avalon. It is in this huge church with two different rooms, hip-hop room and the techno room. There's nothing like walking through the velvet ropes, looking back at the huge line of people you just walked past- haha!. Also, Gelo gave me some free drink cards- so it was even better.

They look after me pretty well over in NY. I played some street basketball on Roosevelt Island which was fun, I have no fitness though!

Last night I went out to Brooklyn with Josh for a concert. The Broken Social Scene played and they were pretty good. Of course, we didn't pay $30 to get in, we just chilled with the other bums on the outside of the fence. The gig was in this big park called Prospect, kind of like the botanical gardens but it had nothing on the BG! It was really nice though to get out of the buildings for a while and lay down in amongst the trees and plants and watch the sunset and hear the music - it was very chilled out. I am thinking about going back their tonight as there is a reggae band playing and I think hearing that in the middle of Brooklyn that would be a cool experience, but I have to clean up Ajay's apartment, and make it all nice, then I am meeting someone at like 11:30 so I am not sure if I will go.

Brooklyn is pretty cool. I saw lots of spinning rims, baggy red shirts and loud music. oh and the best part was seeing these four old black guys playing dominoes on a little home made bench outside a deli. The fourth of July was a couple of days ago and steve, koala jack, and I went to this party in midtown with a fantastic view for the fire works. it was a pretty god party, i saw heaps of people I hadent seen for a few weeks, which was cool.


After that we went to this really exclusive expensive hotel/club/bar etc.. called The Hudson. Sarah- along with five of her friends(all of whom I met at the wedding)- used woth work at The Hudson, so they showed me around, Steve and I played pool against some rich father and son and we lost- was all my fault. I was happy to even just hit the right ball after a while... free drinks.


Tomorrow is Saturday night... I think I'm gonna have to party. I have been skateboarding all around the city the last few weeks- ever since my bike was stolen. I just dont want to fall of the board because one way you hit a parked car, the other way you hit a moving-towards-you-car, haha... Though it's not so bad- you don't need to worry yourself Dad.

Oh, my iRiver broke a couple of weeks ago, the bottle of drink in my bag opened while I was riding. it sucks, I have no music :( I go a little crazy with out music, but never in my life have I listened to as much music as I would like!)

Dad, can you please go to sam's house and let him know about my email and blog? I didn't see him before I left.

Friends-wise Could Clare (or someone) please give my blog address or email to people like Zak, Rowen, Bettsie, Aimee, Kat, etc.. as I would hate to fall out of contact with people. The night before I left to go to NY I was driving to Tom's to pick up something I left there and I went past zak's but he wasn't there...


(great story jake, great intrigue)

The Streets

We got the tickets! It was a great night! The gig was at Webster Hall- a special night as it was the last night of their longest ever tour. Hundreds of people... The crowd was loud- going crazy by the last song. I know most of my friends love the streets and I thought about them a bit when I was there.

Yesterday was insane; Steve calls me in bed, just before ten telling me to come and help him move apartment. I was out at Roosevelt Island so got a train back down town. Steve, Koala Jack, and I were moving Steve and Sarah's possessions from downtown Manhattan to Harlem thomasr: about 130 blocks . Sarah's old apartment is on the fifth floor, and there is no elevator, so we spent ages moving boxes and large furniture up and down the stairs. We had a small truck/large van and filled it to the brim, with each piece of furniture wrapped in hot furniture wrapping material. The roof of the van was made of plastic so the light and heat simmered the furniture, and me. Of course, there was not enough room upfront for Jake- no, no Jake had to sit in the back of a mobile sauna (without the nice refreshing feeling) So for 20 mins I sat there bouncing around hoping that the bookshelf wouldn't fall on to me from on top of the tea-chest.

I kept my self entertained for the full hour of this first leg of the trip by guessing whether the pool of sweat accumulating at my right elbow would beat the pool at my left. Outside it was around 31c with high humidity - inside, probably around 42 with humidity. There was no air, I'm not certain if the truck was airtight, but if it was filled with water it would take maybe two days for the water to drain out, so breathing wasn't exactly easy. Thirty 30 mins into the trip I was down to my underwear. An hour later we get to Harlem, the engine turns off, the back door opens up and this huge rush of freezing air comes in. It wasn't actually cold but 31c feels like 5c after a ride in a moving truck up through the streets of Manhattan out to Harlem. It took out a lot of my energy but we got right into it moving the boxes up, this time, only two flights of stairs... OMG I just realised- it was four story's up- just with only two flights of stairs, so they were longer. Once we had carted everything up the stairs, we got back in the truck. This time the back was completely empty so I couldn't rest against anything, so for the next hour I am bouncing around the back of the truck in my underwear! The Van's engine is right under the floor of the back so the only thing in the back that was not as hot to sit on were the furniture wrap covers, I think they were made of a mixture between wool, polyester and nylon.... and MAGMA. So, we finally stop back at Sarah's old place; the door comes up, and there I am sweating like crazy in my underwear- as one of those buses where there is no roof so tourists can get a good feel for the city comes by...

What could I do but wave?

we spent the next few hours moving the last of Sarah's stuff into the truck... and when I say the last it was actually more than the first trip, it barely fitted into the truck.

The guy who was helping us on the first trip- Theo- had quit for the day, so I got promoted from the position of "Mexican" to "up front rider". We drive up to Harlem again and spend what was left of our energy hauling more large furniture and boxes up the stairs. Finally it was all done at about 1:30AM- 15 hours from when we began. We drank a beer and marvelled at the magnitude of our accomplishment. I thanked Steve for letting me have use of his sauna and for the great workout - free of charge too- unlike every other gym in the city!

Then I departed back to Ajay's apartment, where I am staying now while he is in Chicago and LA. My body is pretty sore today, but I had a great nap in between world cup games today- Italy and Germany got through. gooooooooooo Nicaragua!!!!!!!

Australia 0 Italy 1

:( :( :(
I can’t believe it. Fuck that penalty! Bullshit. Very upset. I am proud we got that far but not happy with how we went out. 3 Min's of extra time and at 93:28 seconds they get a penalty, should have been a yellow for diving...

the last couple of days I haven’t done so much, just been chilling at Ajay's mostly, going out a bit. my friend Lyndie got the lead in this movie which is cool. i might still be going to the streets concert if my mate josh can get the tickets of the net.

So, what has the atmosphere been like for the world cup games with Australia? I had forgotten how attractive Australian women are until we started going to this Australian pub for all the Australia world cup games. believe this or not; $7(us) for a bottle of- Boags premium!!!!!! how crazy is that! that really means $8 because you have to tip $1 for every drink you get.\

Melbourne victory has on the preseason cup beating, grand finalists CC Mariners, young Socceroos and Yatai something (Chinese team) wooooooo good MV, and Alsop has been scoring goals too! ...and we bought a "exciting" left midfielder from overseas. In case you didn't know (or care) we also got two Brazilian strikers. It's a pity that I am going to miss the season, but props to Marcus and Aiden who are getting memberships, great work boys!!

Jake.

testing photos

Editors note: this did not work Jake- email me the pics OR download them to your PC first then upload them.

hey, these arent photos i took, ones that were sent to me:

click on these to see some photos,
1. walking in the met museaum with sarah and nissian etc... wedding day.
2. me and kerri at the wrap party for the film.


oh, and marcus:
i dont miss Fifa, i miss you me and aiden playing it together, i miss that brothers from different mothers shit :P

close call

Yesterday was interesting- I got hardcore scammed, for $25. He (the scammer) deserved the cash after a great performance so I am not so sad, and besides I have no chance going to war with the Canal St hustlers- so what can I do?

One of the scenes we did for the shoot was of these "coke whores" and they used my credit card as a prop for this one scene, anyway there were so many takes of this scene that my credit card got a little damaged. Last night I went to dinner with Angelo and I said I would pay but I didn't have as much money as I thought- I had forgotten about a certain $25!

So he's broke- it is 11- and the place is waiting for us to leave so it can close. Angelo is sitting there being the victim of like 5 Chinese workers angry stares while I am running around Chinatown looking for an ATM that works. I tried 5 and for some reason they wouldn’t accept my card, I thought it was because of the excessive use of the card in the coke scene. I had around $5 of change to my name and was a little worried that I would have to survive on that till I could get a new card or something like that, but luckily today my card was working again….

I am off to watch some World Cup action.

ciao ciao

australia 0 brazil 2

what a game, although we lost I don’t think the score really does reflect the game. I was at the eight mile creek pub (Australian pub) on mulberry st. there were hundreds of Aussies there and it was cool, Still wished I was watching it with my friends, but I was there with Steve, Sarah, Luke, his dad, Christian, some cool Scottish guy, koala Jack and a few others.

I had great bacon and eggs, brilliant, just not enough bacon.

The last few days, I have been going out a bit, Watching football. I made $100 yesterday. The unit production manager from the film ashes asked me to work with him on this job for yahoo music. Pretty simple work, just walking around the street looking for the "right" people and asking them and then briefing them on some topics we wanted them to talk about in front of the camera. when we were finished we went for a beer, then met up with Attila, Brian, Chad, Laset etc.. For more drinks, we found a cheap place called cheap shots which had $2 pots, the cheapest I have seen in NY by far.

so we drank there for ages, then me and Brian in our state thought we would go to this strip club to meet a friend of his who works there, but we ended up stumbling into a gay bar (apparently the club had moved locations). Then we went to this fancy bar, with heaps of open rooms and attractive young rich people.

I am sooo lucky, i move out of the actors loft on Wednesday and move straight into Ajay Naidu’s (the director/writer/star) apartment in the trendy east village for the rest of my stay here, he is of to LA with his girlfriend, she is there to work on this new big budget TV series. So things are cool right now. I just don’t want to leave for London, but I will have too so I can land in LA right at the start of the shoot there. i don’t want to have to leave half way through the shoot, it is to big a movie to do something like that.

bring on Croatia!!!!!!!!!

Australia 3!!!!!!!!!

My god! That game was incredible. I was at an Aussie bar with Steve, Jack, Luke etc... (Aussie guys) but i wished so much I could have been in oz for that game, with Marcus, Aiden etc... It was incredible, i couldn't even cry i was so happy insane!!!!!!! I cant find the words to describe it...

We finished shooting yesterday and we had a big wrap party which was fun. It has been a long time since I have posted so allow me to think for a second... It has been the craziest week, I say this every time but each week tops the others. Lots of crazy stories to tell but this isn’t the right place for some of them. The free apartment is fantastic!! Although the dream will end soon when i have to leave it. We have had some cool locations, namely the three story penthouse near times square, we had a fun party there after, crazy.

We shot on Coney island "warriors, come out and play!" and this huge club in Chelsea. I know i am going to miss the crew, everyone on the shoot rocked!! Every single person i liked a lot! And hopefully i will get to work with them again at some point. It is almost really emotional.(whatever that means -editor thomasr)

Australia vs Japan, the crew, NY, music, people I have met, things i have done, places i have been, it is just insane how alive I feel (I am sorry, a little drunk from watching the Germany vs Poland game so that is why i am writing in this whatever..) I miss chilling out with my amazing friends, i miss my family too. Little Louis, the coolest cat around. I tell lots of people about my little bro. I am glad to hear dads shoulder is getting better, you're a tough guy and i know you can deal with it so i am not so worried, like i was with the first shoulder surgery.

I have finished the shoot now and i am thinking about how i should keep my self busy, for the next few days at least i will occupy my time with world cup!!! Drinking, gym and Roosevelt Island.

I don’t want to leave NY for London, but; the show must move I guess :( then after that, to Hollywood I’m going to make a movie staring Selma Blair, Mathew Perry, Robert Downey jnr, and maybe Rob Lowe. That will be another crazy adventure I’m am sure. And since the movie is much more unionised and regulated I will have to try and curb my "crazy side" and play it a little quieter... And discrete.

Steve got back from Hawaii with Sarah so I have seen him recently. My bike got stolen about a week ago but such is the way of the city. Now I am freer, I will try and keep this blog more up to date. It was funny today, I was waling home from the game and i saw Josh, the sound guy from the shoot, he was talking to this Greenpeace chick- which was very fitting- then out of know where I saw Nate, one of the g&e guys from the film, he was in the middle of shooting a documentary of coffee in NY so me and josh got interviewed and i was quite drunk from the bar so I don’t remember if I said stupid stuff or not but it was a cool coincidence for us to meet at this spot. We shot this one scene at this huge club and it was funny as I had to block (walk the actors through the sequencing) the actors through this scene, where they come in sit down rack up lines and fake snort them, I had to show them how to breath out so the line disappeared but yet looked like they had snorted it (sweet n' low) and the sequencing of movement and who pulls out the credit card etc.. It was kind of funny, but cool as this is usuallythe role of the director or 1st AD.

ANYHOO:
3-1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ooowoooooooooooooooowowowdjasijfhasdfgaskdf asdhfashfiadhgsfasdfo

Jake.