When will people realise climate change is a real thing?
Over the last 3-4 years, Australia has seen several natural disasters, one being the Black Saturday bush fires, with the aid of high winds and intense heat, and the recent flooding of Queensland and Victoria. Heck, even the local area has experienced some sort of flooding late last year. I find it strange that around this time a couple years ago bush fires were the main threat, today it is flooding.
What really stood out was a comment made on the afternoon news during a weather segment. They said something along the lines of Melbourne has experienced it's Summer Weather and there will be no more heat-waves for the season. This was made after a miss-prediction, where they predicted the weather to be "another scorcher" but ended up with a cool change.
At the time of writing this sentence, I am 13 minutes away from February, so there is still another month of official summer weather. However, everybody knows it takes a few weeks into March before the intense heat just goes away. With that in mind, I find it troubling that some people believe climate change is a "myth" or something along those lines.
I'm not going to throw up all these stats from websites, article quotes and all that jazz, because a) I don't want to bore you, b) they get confusing, and c) to be honest, I can't be bothered looking them up.
The last couple days have been predicted around the area to reach tops of 38 degrees, 39 degrees, and tomorrow is forecast to be 40 degrees. Then I saw a Facebook status where the person said they checked the thermometer on the veranda, and it read 44 degrees. A couple factors could affect this, such as the design of the veranda, however most verandas are cool spots and block out a lot of the heat, so to have 44 degrees in the shade, could mean the direct sunlight temperature could have been 2-3 degree hotter.
So are things heating up? Well it is usually hot around this time of year, so it isn't unusual for 40 degree days, last summer we experienced a few of them. What I find troubling is the rainfall lately, especially during the spring. We do get some summer rainfall, and again, without pulling up stats, I think we have had a lot more rainfall this summer than recent years.
As for stopping climate change, I don't have the answer. We all know about recycling, careful use of water, water your car on the lawn, water the garden after 6pm and all that jazz. Then we have tips like turning appliances off at the power point, install solar panels, drive hybrid cars and everything like that. Would these factors affect (effect? Not sure) the climate? I've been told there may be some truths to it, well truth be told, I think we better start evolving fast to adapt to the new climate. Something with wings, or maybe gills, that would be adventurous.
The point about this blog is, it's 11:57pm, and I am walking outside.......... Damn, not what I was expecting. I was expecting disgusting humid warmth, but it was actually kind of nice outside. Now with that ruined, let me back track, it was 9pm, and I was sitting right where I am now, however only earlier I was dripping with sweat, from just sitting. Today I went outside, and it was quite warm, and visited a ice-cream shop and to my dismay, it was probably hotter inside the shop! What kind of ice-cream shop is hot, it should be like a freezer! However, it didn't help with the hot girl (well actually she was more cute than hot, but hot works better in this analogy) working behind the counter heating things up. Just to summarise, it's bloody hot, and it needs to cool down! In about 6 months I will most likely be blogging about how cold it is.......
From The One They Call Anthony, This Is The Life & Times
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Where Do You See Yourself In 5 Years?
Ahh, the dreaded question, mostly asked during an interview, where you should answer with "Sitting in your chair with your a$$ out on the street!" Okay, maybe not the best answer to give, but still, if it's a job with McDonalds and they ask that, what are you meant to say? Like, what kind of answer do they expect? Surely no one wants to be working at McDonalds for longer than 5 years!! Okay, you might bull it up a bit and say be a supervisor, or assistant manager, but I'd hope you would say "Not working at McDonalds!"
This question, which I posed to myself has got me thinking, where do I see myself in 5 years? The short version is, graduated from university with my Masters Degree in Architecture, and own a house, wife, kids, two dogs and a mini-van.... Okay, I got a bit ahead of myself, the first one was true, as for the others, errr not really. In 5 years I will be, umm, 27 years old, so yes, having graduated uni is a big one. As for a house, it would be very hard to enter the property market while studying at uni, unless I somehow got a big lump of cash inserted into my bank account. If I happen to meet the girl of my dreams and we get married within the 5 years, it's not like I'd be sad, but as for kids, I'm in no rush for that. Owning a dog would be cool, could use him to find the future Mrs Richardson, since my sister-in-law doesn't like the idea of me using her newly born daughter to do so. Maybe replace the mini-van with just any sort of car, jeep wrangler would be nice.
Location wise, I'd like to be living in Melbourne or Geelong, right now my university options are either Deakin in Geelong, Melbourne University in Melbourne (Believe it or not) and RMIT, again in Melbourne. In a few weeks I could have the urge to maybe head north with my studies to Sydney or Brisbane, or head west, but if I'm down south, I'd not be complaining.
What do I hope to do within these 5 years? Well I should be composing some sort of a bucket list, but I know for sure what I am doing before I ring in 2012. For a couple years I have toyed with the idea of jumping out of a plane, well this year, I, Anthony Richardson, will jump out of a plane, with a parachute! I have wanted to experience that feeling, and by golly I'm going to.
Other ambitons...
* I would like to study abroad for a year, experience a new country, and perhaps go on a holiday to Hawaii, maybe Vegas, do the whole 'marry a stripper but don't remember it' thing.
* Learn to surf is on the list, which I will be doing if I move to Geelong.
* I also would like to swim with sharks. Ideally I would be in a shark-proof cage, but if they don't have any, I'd risk it, no biggie, I'm brave like that.... Over the internet.
* Be a cool guitarist, since I've recently started self-teaching myself the guitar, in 5 years I hope I'm decent enough nobody cringes when I go near a guitar.
With life being so un-certain, trying to know where you will be in 5 years time is a bit silly. When I was 15, I didn't see myself as a 20 year old living at home and working where I was working, yet, I was. I just hope in them 5 years I just enjoy life, embrace all the challenges that decide to enter my everyday life and forge life-time friendships with great people.
From The One They Anthony, This Is The Life & Times
This question, which I posed to myself has got me thinking, where do I see myself in 5 years? The short version is, graduated from university with my Masters Degree in Architecture, and own a house, wife, kids, two dogs and a mini-van.... Okay, I got a bit ahead of myself, the first one was true, as for the others, errr not really. In 5 years I will be, umm, 27 years old, so yes, having graduated uni is a big one. As for a house, it would be very hard to enter the property market while studying at uni, unless I somehow got a big lump of cash inserted into my bank account. If I happen to meet the girl of my dreams and we get married within the 5 years, it's not like I'd be sad, but as for kids, I'm in no rush for that. Owning a dog would be cool, could use him to find the future Mrs Richardson, since my sister-in-law doesn't like the idea of me using her newly born daughter to do so. Maybe replace the mini-van with just any sort of car, jeep wrangler would be nice.
Location wise, I'd like to be living in Melbourne or Geelong, right now my university options are either Deakin in Geelong, Melbourne University in Melbourne (Believe it or not) and RMIT, again in Melbourne. In a few weeks I could have the urge to maybe head north with my studies to Sydney or Brisbane, or head west, but if I'm down south, I'd not be complaining.
What do I hope to do within these 5 years? Well I should be composing some sort of a bucket list, but I know for sure what I am doing before I ring in 2012. For a couple years I have toyed with the idea of jumping out of a plane, well this year, I, Anthony Richardson, will jump out of a plane, with a parachute! I have wanted to experience that feeling, and by golly I'm going to.
Other ambitons...
* I would like to study abroad for a year, experience a new country, and perhaps go on a holiday to Hawaii, maybe Vegas, do the whole 'marry a stripper but don't remember it' thing.
* Learn to surf is on the list, which I will be doing if I move to Geelong.
* I also would like to swim with sharks. Ideally I would be in a shark-proof cage, but if they don't have any, I'd risk it, no biggie, I'm brave like that.... Over the internet.
* Be a cool guitarist, since I've recently started self-teaching myself the guitar, in 5 years I hope I'm decent enough nobody cringes when I go near a guitar.
With life being so un-certain, trying to know where you will be in 5 years time is a bit silly. When I was 15, I didn't see myself as a 20 year old living at home and working where I was working, yet, I was. I just hope in them 5 years I just enjoy life, embrace all the challenges that decide to enter my everyday life and forge life-time friendships with great people.
From The One They Anthony, This Is The Life & Times
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Rich Inc
That is the title of my potential corporation, or maybe Richardson Inc, or maybe Poo Inc, Bear Poo Inc, there is just so many names that could fit right into the role. The other year I decided I wanted to be really rich, that way my kids would not have to face any hardships I have faced in the last couple years. I thought to myself, what's a good way to earn millions, upon millions of dollars? Then I composed a list...
1/ Win the lottery
2/ Being a stripper for celebrities
3/ Start my own big company like corporation like thingy
4/ Invent something
5/ Design a really big building that would give me heaps of commission
I proceeded to sift through the list, and noticed winning the lottery wasn't exactly earning, and was based purely on luck. The stripper thing was very plausible but most likely involved working nights and weekends, and to be honest, I don't want to work Saturday nights! Inventing something could be fun, I did have some nifty products, but nah. I could design a really big building, but it would have to be monster, and would take half my life to just design, let alone document and build. So I was left with one thing, starting my own giant company......
I immediately Googled Donald Trump and got ideas on what sectors of my company I should have. So here is a list of some definite sectors....
1/ Architecture - Naturally of course, this would include designers/architects, drafters, engineers, personal builders and maybe hire a photographer or two, graphic designer and the like.
2/ Golf Course - I would own one, or maybe two golf courses, 18 holes, beautiful club rooms, with the usual suspects such as a bar, pokies, restaurant, you know that stuff.
3/ Hotels - Building a couple hotels on very popular beach fronts could bring in millions of dollars of revenue in it's first year of operation, so why not take it up?
4/ Gyms - Maybe just not gym, but have a health/fitness sector of the company. So while a chain of gyms is on the card, maybe have a personal training company, gymwear/equipment, or something along those lines.
5/ Travel - This includes owning a couple airplanes, but also offer travel guides, hotels (Of course they would be staying at my hotels) and basically make money of people wanting to travel.
6/ Music - I'd probably own a record label, discover the next Beiber, make a cool million of him and throw his arse out and find someone else to make some millions.
7/ Books - Children books mainly, but also would write and sell a couple of my own books. They would be mostly biography's, but come on, who doesn't enjoy reading about me?
8/ Mining - If I want to be richer than a Texan, I'd need a mining sector. This does include oil rigging in the ocean, but also mines in quarry's, I'm not fussed which type of mining it is exactly.
9/ Investing - My couple would be on both sides of the market, having investments in other companies, but also have people invest in my company.
10 / Bars/Nightclubs - I'd probably dabble in this and have the perfect bar and nightclub.
So there is 10 sectors there, even if I make $2.5 million profit a year, I'm looking at a $25 million dollar profit each year. That equates to about $480,769.07 a week, which is a little bit more than I'm earning right now.
I am aiming to have this up-and-running by 2017, which gives me 6 years, so it could be a realistic goal. If anyone reading my blog would like to apply for a future job, let me know. Just state what job you are after, and I'd see if I would be offering it. If for some chance I can't offer you a job right away, give me a day and I'd invent a company that could allow you to undertake your job.
The first thing I'm going to buy with my first million dollars is going to be a puppy, so he can be my friend and mascot of the company. Then I might share some of my millions around the family, maybe buy Dad a new car, ute and send him on a holiday. Probably pay off my brother's mortgages, and maybe do the same for my younger brother if he has a mortgage. Of course I'd donate some of my money, maybe $5 million a year, definitely to a cancer charity, then maybe spread out $2 million between a few other charities.
Of course I'd own a huge house with butlers who are British and talk in a real high-posh voice. Own a couple cool cars, and maybe a personal jet, but will be owning my own boat. I'm not sure where base-camp would be set up, but I will have holiday houses all over the universe!! Screw being a millionaire, or even a billionaire, life is going to be sweet when I'm a trillionaire!
From The One They Anthony, This Is The Life & Times
1/ Win the lottery
2/ Being a stripper for celebrities
3/ Start my own big company like corporation like thingy
4/ Invent something
5/ Design a really big building that would give me heaps of commission
I proceeded to sift through the list, and noticed winning the lottery wasn't exactly earning, and was based purely on luck. The stripper thing was very plausible but most likely involved working nights and weekends, and to be honest, I don't want to work Saturday nights! Inventing something could be fun, I did have some nifty products, but nah. I could design a really big building, but it would have to be monster, and would take half my life to just design, let alone document and build. So I was left with one thing, starting my own giant company......
I immediately Googled Donald Trump and got ideas on what sectors of my company I should have. So here is a list of some definite sectors....
1/ Architecture - Naturally of course, this would include designers/architects, drafters, engineers, personal builders and maybe hire a photographer or two, graphic designer and the like.
2/ Golf Course - I would own one, or maybe two golf courses, 18 holes, beautiful club rooms, with the usual suspects such as a bar, pokies, restaurant, you know that stuff.
3/ Hotels - Building a couple hotels on very popular beach fronts could bring in millions of dollars of revenue in it's first year of operation, so why not take it up?
4/ Gyms - Maybe just not gym, but have a health/fitness sector of the company. So while a chain of gyms is on the card, maybe have a personal training company, gymwear/equipment, or something along those lines.
5/ Travel - This includes owning a couple airplanes, but also offer travel guides, hotels (Of course they would be staying at my hotels) and basically make money of people wanting to travel.
6/ Music - I'd probably own a record label, discover the next Beiber, make a cool million of him and throw his arse out and find someone else to make some millions.
7/ Books - Children books mainly, but also would write and sell a couple of my own books. They would be mostly biography's, but come on, who doesn't enjoy reading about me?
8/ Mining - If I want to be richer than a Texan, I'd need a mining sector. This does include oil rigging in the ocean, but also mines in quarry's, I'm not fussed which type of mining it is exactly.
9/ Investing - My couple would be on both sides of the market, having investments in other companies, but also have people invest in my company.
10 / Bars/Nightclubs - I'd probably dabble in this and have the perfect bar and nightclub.
So there is 10 sectors there, even if I make $2.5 million profit a year, I'm looking at a $25 million dollar profit each year. That equates to about $480,769.07 a week, which is a little bit more than I'm earning right now.
I am aiming to have this up-and-running by 2017, which gives me 6 years, so it could be a realistic goal. If anyone reading my blog would like to apply for a future job, let me know. Just state what job you are after, and I'd see if I would be offering it. If for some chance I can't offer you a job right away, give me a day and I'd invent a company that could allow you to undertake your job.
The first thing I'm going to buy with my first million dollars is going to be a puppy, so he can be my friend and mascot of the company. Then I might share some of my millions around the family, maybe buy Dad a new car, ute and send him on a holiday. Probably pay off my brother's mortgages, and maybe do the same for my younger brother if he has a mortgage. Of course I'd donate some of my money, maybe $5 million a year, definitely to a cancer charity, then maybe spread out $2 million between a few other charities.
Of course I'd own a huge house with butlers who are British and talk in a real high-posh voice. Own a couple cool cars, and maybe a personal jet, but will be owning my own boat. I'm not sure where base-camp would be set up, but I will have holiday houses all over the universe!! Screw being a millionaire, or even a billionaire, life is going to be sweet when I'm a trillionaire!
From The One They Anthony, This Is The Life & Times
21/12/2012, A.K.A 2012, A.K.A When we are screwed
Since the dawn of man, only man because women weren't invented for another 245 years, he has gazed up at the sky, that is of course when he wasn't being chased by T-Rex. The very moment he looked up and saw the stars, he started thinking about when all the beauty around him was going to end. His first prediction came after hiding in a small cave for 32 days to avoid the Dinosaurs eating him, he knew that the end was near. Then 246 years later the world was going to come to a end when women were introduced and basically used up all of the world's resources for shoes, make-up and Justin Timberlake cds.
Throughout time there has been so much prediction of the world ending, in fact, by my calculations the world should have died at least 4,572,756,932 times, true story. But lately there has been some buzz around town about a new prediction, apparently this prediction uses "science" and "calculations" and a "calender" to know when everything is going to be dead. I am of course talking about the 2012 prediction.
If I have done my maths correct, the world would be ending next year!
So how is the world going to end next year? Floods? Fires? Pfft, Australia has suffered two of these in the last 3 years, and we are still alive, so how is it going to kill off the entire world! Maybe a volcano? That would be cool, except a few places around the world don't have any active volcano's. Tornado's? Many places don't have the right atmospheric pressure to create these. Hurricanes? Possibly, but much like the last couple, not everywhere suffers from them, plus everyone would just move in-land, problem solved.
Is a natural disaster going to end us? Based on my research, countless hours in a lab (I can only count up to 4) doing tests, my prediction is that, no, they won't.
"Wait, excuse me The One, but if natural disaster won't kill us, what will?" Good question random-person-I-pretended-to-be-apart-of-my-blog-to-give-a-nice-discussion-feel, and I will tell you in one word, and that word is..... Aliens!
Think about it guys, and gals, there has been very proven sightings of UFO's, in fact I swear I read in a scientific journal that Einstein sold his knowledge of the aliens.
Aliens are going to come swoop in, mine our Earth of all it's resources, steal a couple cars, eat some chocolate then leave, and as they are leaving, they blow us up. Jerks!
Good news, I do have some theories on how to stop the invasion, and thus saving the world. The aliens know they can't invade until the Mayan calender runs out, which occurs on the 21st of December, 2012. If they invade us before then, they are breaking the rules and then they are disqualified and therefore can't blow us up. So with that in mind, we need to lure them here to invade before 21/12/2012 (wow, just noticed that there is a lot of 1s and 2s, which is just pee's and poo's) and then we will be saved. One way is to maybe put pieces of candy in outer space, leading from Earth to where they camping out, then they will follow the trail of candy.
Another idea is to simply buy a new Mayan calender! It's so simple, I even thought of it! The aliens are due to invade when the current calender runs out? Well, invent a new calender which runs off the current one, and then it doesn't run out, problem solved, I get rewarded a medal and a supermodel.
Now that I have saved us from destruction, there is a fairly serious point that relates to this topic. We all know the 2012 theory is just hokum, and there is no merit to support the ending of the world. I was correct in saying above that the world has been predicted to end since man had a grasp on the surrounding environment. However, I do think the world will end one day, but not by natural disaster, global warming or aliens. There is a much serious threat to our existence, and sadly not much can be done about it, I am talking of course about ourselves.
We live in a fairly technological war, we have advanced so much since our cave-and-club days, and even in the last 100 years the advancements made in all aspects of life is nothing short of amazing. With that point in mind, all it will take is one group of people to do a repeat of September 11, and then World War III could start up again. There was a serious threat a few months back involving North and South Korea, and it seems they do not like each other. China is allied with North Korea, USA and Australia with South Korea, so if North and South kept up their bickering, it could have triggered a serious event.
Nuclear ware fare was used in WWII on the Japanese, and I have seen footage of the bombs being dropped, and the after effects placed on the sites. I am not 100% about it but I think there is some law about using nuclear weapons? Well when all the chips are down and all you got left is 4 big nuclear bombs, I think that law would be thrown out the window. There is also technology used for missiles, where very powerful missiles can be launched from Russia and blow up something in America, if you ask me, that is pretty damn scary.
So how can avoid killing each other off? As much as I hate smelly hippys, they seem to be on the money this time, world peace! We need to find a way to find peace between all races, religion and beliefs. If it was up to me, I'd abolish religion, but that is a whole new blog, but in short, religion seems to be the main driving force for the hatred in the world......
From The One They Call Anthony, This Is The Life & Times
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Wax On, Wax Off.....
Paint the fence, Daniel-son! Up, down, breathe in, breathe out.........
Classic Mr Miyagi right there, and a totally awesome movie. Can't say I enjoyed the sequels, and I haven't watched the new Karate Kid either. I'm happy sticking with tried-and-true, and that is the real Karate Kid movie.
There is more to this blog than just saying how awesome Karate Kid is, (BONZAI!) this blog is actually about my first experience learning karate, at around 14 or 15, can't remember exactly. It's been over 7 years alright, give me a break guys....
Not sure how everything started, but one would assume a flyer was around town, and being a wimpy small kid, (now I'm a wimpy small adult) I figured learning some karate would be very useful. Naturally Mum was worried about me hurting myself, but I don't know why, I mean I'd get kicked, punched and thrown in class, but could defend myself in public. Anywho, boring part of the story, let's skip forward.
I started in kids class, which was quite full. After a week or two, the Sensei asked me if I wanted to advance to the adult class, which I jumped at. I arrived the next week a little later to start my first adult class, and to my surprise, the class consisted of a couple other kids my age. However, it was cooler because we were learning cooler moves and Ki's (I'm not sure if that's right, basically they were patterns of movement)
According to my sensei, I was a naturally, and after a couple weeks it wasn't long until I trying to get my yellow tips. Then after that, the coolest thing happened, weapon class was introduced and the coolest thing about weapons class is that you practiced weapons! Our first weapon was the Bo, basically a long broom handle, then some other wooden thing, but no nun-chucks which was upsetting. Another cool thing about weapons class was the Gi, while the traditional karate had a white gi, weapons had a black gi. My dear sweet mum bought me both, so I'd train in weapons in my black gi, then change quickly for regular karate.
Not long after, I was invited to go to Howlong to attend an seminar and hopefully achieve my yellow belt. This was on AFL Grand Final day, and by the end of the day I was going home with a cool new belt. Then, a couple weeks later, the unthinkable happened, the Sensei was closing down the Oaklands Dojo due to lack of support. The only other option was to attend Urana or Howlong, and Mum was paying enough in membership and class, petrol was the last thing she wanted.
Good news was, a couple of us from Oakie managed a car pool, and we went over to Urana, and we pretty much carved it up. Then, same thing happened in Urana, it was closed down, and my dream of being a kick-arse black belt died.
Then a couple years ago I got a message from a old fellow karate person, in which she asked if the man in the news paper article was our old Sensei. I checked the picture out before reading, and to my amazement, it was him. First thing that popped in my mind was that he must of won a championship or something like that, then I read the title that said something like "Con Man Captured"
It turns out, our old "Sensei" was a notorious con-man. Without digging up the articles, it seemed he conned his way into a exclusive party, and claimed to be the agent of Johnny Depp, was owner of several high profile nightclubs and some other things.
I actually recieved a message on facebook from a Joshua Hitchcock, which turned out to be our Sensei, Sensei Brenton Jarrett. It seems Mr Jarrett changed his name, hmm I wonder why? So I am left wondering, did we really learn karate, or was it a big scam? If you want, just plug Brenton Jarrett into a Google search and you will get plenty on him....
From The One They Call Anthony, This Is The Life & Times
Classic Mr Miyagi right there, and a totally awesome movie. Can't say I enjoyed the sequels, and I haven't watched the new Karate Kid either. I'm happy sticking with tried-and-true, and that is the real Karate Kid movie.
There is more to this blog than just saying how awesome Karate Kid is, (BONZAI!) this blog is actually about my first experience learning karate, at around 14 or 15, can't remember exactly. It's been over 7 years alright, give me a break guys....
Not sure how everything started, but one would assume a flyer was around town, and being a wimpy small kid, (now I'm a wimpy small adult) I figured learning some karate would be very useful. Naturally Mum was worried about me hurting myself, but I don't know why, I mean I'd get kicked, punched and thrown in class, but could defend myself in public. Anywho, boring part of the story, let's skip forward.
I started in kids class, which was quite full. After a week or two, the Sensei asked me if I wanted to advance to the adult class, which I jumped at. I arrived the next week a little later to start my first adult class, and to my surprise, the class consisted of a couple other kids my age. However, it was cooler because we were learning cooler moves and Ki's (I'm not sure if that's right, basically they were patterns of movement)
According to my sensei, I was a naturally, and after a couple weeks it wasn't long until I trying to get my yellow tips. Then after that, the coolest thing happened, weapon class was introduced and the coolest thing about weapons class is that you practiced weapons! Our first weapon was the Bo, basically a long broom handle, then some other wooden thing, but no nun-chucks which was upsetting. Another cool thing about weapons class was the Gi, while the traditional karate had a white gi, weapons had a black gi. My dear sweet mum bought me both, so I'd train in weapons in my black gi, then change quickly for regular karate.
Not long after, I was invited to go to Howlong to attend an seminar and hopefully achieve my yellow belt. This was on AFL Grand Final day, and by the end of the day I was going home with a cool new belt. Then, a couple weeks later, the unthinkable happened, the Sensei was closing down the Oaklands Dojo due to lack of support. The only other option was to attend Urana or Howlong, and Mum was paying enough in membership and class, petrol was the last thing she wanted.
Good news was, a couple of us from Oakie managed a car pool, and we went over to Urana, and we pretty much carved it up. Then, same thing happened in Urana, it was closed down, and my dream of being a kick-arse black belt died.
Then a couple years ago I got a message from a old fellow karate person, in which she asked if the man in the news paper article was our old Sensei. I checked the picture out before reading, and to my amazement, it was him. First thing that popped in my mind was that he must of won a championship or something like that, then I read the title that said something like "Con Man Captured"
It turns out, our old "Sensei" was a notorious con-man. Without digging up the articles, it seemed he conned his way into a exclusive party, and claimed to be the agent of Johnny Depp, was owner of several high profile nightclubs and some other things.
I actually recieved a message on facebook from a Joshua Hitchcock, which turned out to be our Sensei, Sensei Brenton Jarrett. It seems Mr Jarrett changed his name, hmm I wonder why? So I am left wondering, did we really learn karate, or was it a big scam? If you want, just plug Brenton Jarrett into a Google search and you will get plenty on him....
From The One They Call Anthony, This Is The Life & Times
Sunday, January 23, 2011
A Night I Will Never Remember
This night has become infamous in one of my group of friends, and for a very good reason, it was the drunkest I have ever been in my life, and will be a hard effort to top. We rewind to 08/01/2010, and the lease to the house was to run out on the 10th. We had the house all packed up, all my possessions in the boot, backseat and front seat of my car, and since I was leaving Melbourne, there was only thing to do, go out with bang! And oh boy did I do that....
The day was fairly easy going, just doing some packing, cleaning and listening to music, then 5pm rolled around and I was bored, so what does a normal person do when they are bored? They drive to a bottle'o and buy some booze to drink. After purchasing a four pack of Smirnoff, I parked my butt on the bench, and drank away, listened to music and naturally facebooked. Finally a couple guests arrived and it was as sad drinking while having some company, and we walked to the bus stop, 'cos we were cool kids who took the bus.
After waiting at the bus stop for some time, we finally boarded and made our way into the city. By this time I was happy-tipsy, and couldn't wait to get my party on. First stop was the very talked-about club, CQ....
I felt so VIP when we hopped in an important line, and my friend said we had a list, and got let right in. Things at this stage was good, and I proceeded to have a couple drinks with my friends. Noticing a cool promotion, I decided to jump at it and try and win myself a hat, in which after 3 failed attempts, I asked the bartender if I could just have the hat, he said come back later and if there is any left I can have it. This made my night, because I ended up walking out with the hat, and yet, somehow still have the hat even though a few hours later everything would go wrong....
With the club being loud and crowded, I just wanted to chill and chat with my mate, so we headed to a different section of the club, which it was just us, and a female bartender, and at this stage of the night, I was drunk. My mate pretty much dared me to hit on her, but truth be told, I didn't need daring. Naturally I failed, but not without talking crap about a pony to her, then left with my tail between my legs.
After meeting back up with the group, we headed upstairs to get our dance on. Now I was digging a bit of Justin Timberlake at the time, and proceeded to try and scream to my friend to go request it, but I still don't think she heard me. When you are unable to communicate verbally in a club, texting is the next best option. I whipped out my phone, and tried typing what I was trying to say, but I think it looked something like this... "jshft tisjgkalek fjsia gjdje" So I gave up and accepted the fact I would not hear some JT at the club, which left me heartbroken. A friend suggested Crown, and at this stage I jumped at the idea... Although, a better idea at the time would have been to just.... go.... home........
Paying for the taxi ride there, we jumped out and jumped into the big world of Crown Casino. This is where everything started to go, I remember sitting at a table drinking a big glass of something, then next thing I remember is hearing voicemail on my phone with my friends being quite upset. Turns out I went missing for about 2-3 hours, and it was about 4am when we caught a taxi out of the city.
By this stage I was gone, and the taxi was kind enough to pull over so I could spew, which didn't improve my condition. Next thing I know I'm being let into my old housies new house, and crashing on her couch.
This is important this piece of information, my housie had work at 9am Saturday morning, so we planned before I went out that she would drive me back to the old house at 9am because I needed to hand the keys into the real estate, and we are back into the story....
So 9am rolls around, and I roll off the couch and into the car. She drives me back to the house I was leaving, and at this time of the morning, after the night I had, there was no doubt in my mind, I was still drunk. After stumbling back into the place, I thought I'd have a quick nap upstairs on the carpet, but only made it half way and passed out on the staircase.
The real estate was in Carlton, and closed at midday, so what came next was a miracle. My other house mate texted me, which prompted me to spring out of sleep, hungover as all heck, and check the message at 11am, asking if I've handed the keys in. Not a good thing to read when you are probably still a bit drunk on a staircase, and all I have to say is thank you to the hand-rail makers for saving me.
I made the drive out to Carlton, took care of everything, and then there was only 1 more thing to take care of, the apologies....
I texted one mate, as he wasn't working that day, and he seemed to accept it easy enough. The second person, I visited her at work, where I bought some redbull, orange juice and water, which is exactly what I needed. We talked for about 10mins, and she accepted my apology, which I found to be odd. We hugged, I cried on the inside and kept a manly face on the exterior, and then went to apologise to the third and final victim.
I went to see her at home, but she wasn't there, and I actually had a 'cya later' gift for her, which I left on her doorstep. I then accepted it, and made the drive back to Oaklands, a good three and-a-half hour drive ahead of me in the state I was in was not something to be enjoyed. I got about 20-30km out of Melbourne, then realised I couldn't leave my friend in the way we were, so I turned back around and went to see her at work. I tried apologising, but sadly, she wasn't as accepting as the others, and to be honest, I didn't blame her. I then said another farewell to the second friend, then made the trip back home.
The next few days were spent apologising and getting her to accept it, in which she eventually did. That night has become a strong-point in jokes with the friends, and we have now come to laugh about it. It was clearly the drunkest I have ever been, and what is scary is that I don't remember a solid 3hours of the night. Well I will leave you with one memory I will never forget about that night, it's that it will be a night I will never fully remember....
From The One They Call Anthony, This Is The Life & Times
The day was fairly easy going, just doing some packing, cleaning and listening to music, then 5pm rolled around and I was bored, so what does a normal person do when they are bored? They drive to a bottle'o and buy some booze to drink. After purchasing a four pack of Smirnoff, I parked my butt on the bench, and drank away, listened to music and naturally facebooked. Finally a couple guests arrived and it was as sad drinking while having some company, and we walked to the bus stop, 'cos we were cool kids who took the bus.
After waiting at the bus stop for some time, we finally boarded and made our way into the city. By this time I was happy-tipsy, and couldn't wait to get my party on. First stop was the very talked-about club, CQ....
I felt so VIP when we hopped in an important line, and my friend said we had a list, and got let right in. Things at this stage was good, and I proceeded to have a couple drinks with my friends. Noticing a cool promotion, I decided to jump at it and try and win myself a hat, in which after 3 failed attempts, I asked the bartender if I could just have the hat, he said come back later and if there is any left I can have it. This made my night, because I ended up walking out with the hat, and yet, somehow still have the hat even though a few hours later everything would go wrong....
With the club being loud and crowded, I just wanted to chill and chat with my mate, so we headed to a different section of the club, which it was just us, and a female bartender, and at this stage of the night, I was drunk. My mate pretty much dared me to hit on her, but truth be told, I didn't need daring. Naturally I failed, but not without talking crap about a pony to her, then left with my tail between my legs.
After meeting back up with the group, we headed upstairs to get our dance on. Now I was digging a bit of Justin Timberlake at the time, and proceeded to try and scream to my friend to go request it, but I still don't think she heard me. When you are unable to communicate verbally in a club, texting is the next best option. I whipped out my phone, and tried typing what I was trying to say, but I think it looked something like this... "jshft tisjgkalek fjsia gjdje" So I gave up and accepted the fact I would not hear some JT at the club, which left me heartbroken. A friend suggested Crown, and at this stage I jumped at the idea... Although, a better idea at the time would have been to just.... go.... home........
Paying for the taxi ride there, we jumped out and jumped into the big world of Crown Casino. This is where everything started to go, I remember sitting at a table drinking a big glass of something, then next thing I remember is hearing voicemail on my phone with my friends being quite upset. Turns out I went missing for about 2-3 hours, and it was about 4am when we caught a taxi out of the city.
By this stage I was gone, and the taxi was kind enough to pull over so I could spew, which didn't improve my condition. Next thing I know I'm being let into my old housies new house, and crashing on her couch.
This is important this piece of information, my housie had work at 9am Saturday morning, so we planned before I went out that she would drive me back to the old house at 9am because I needed to hand the keys into the real estate, and we are back into the story....
So 9am rolls around, and I roll off the couch and into the car. She drives me back to the house I was leaving, and at this time of the morning, after the night I had, there was no doubt in my mind, I was still drunk. After stumbling back into the place, I thought I'd have a quick nap upstairs on the carpet, but only made it half way and passed out on the staircase.
The real estate was in Carlton, and closed at midday, so what came next was a miracle. My other house mate texted me, which prompted me to spring out of sleep, hungover as all heck, and check the message at 11am, asking if I've handed the keys in. Not a good thing to read when you are probably still a bit drunk on a staircase, and all I have to say is thank you to the hand-rail makers for saving me.
I made the drive out to Carlton, took care of everything, and then there was only 1 more thing to take care of, the apologies....
I texted one mate, as he wasn't working that day, and he seemed to accept it easy enough. The second person, I visited her at work, where I bought some redbull, orange juice and water, which is exactly what I needed. We talked for about 10mins, and she accepted my apology, which I found to be odd. We hugged, I cried on the inside and kept a manly face on the exterior, and then went to apologise to the third and final victim.
I went to see her at home, but she wasn't there, and I actually had a 'cya later' gift for her, which I left on her doorstep. I then accepted it, and made the drive back to Oaklands, a good three and-a-half hour drive ahead of me in the state I was in was not something to be enjoyed. I got about 20-30km out of Melbourne, then realised I couldn't leave my friend in the way we were, so I turned back around and went to see her at work. I tried apologising, but sadly, she wasn't as accepting as the others, and to be honest, I didn't blame her. I then said another farewell to the second friend, then made the trip back home.
The next few days were spent apologising and getting her to accept it, in which she eventually did. That night has become a strong-point in jokes with the friends, and we have now come to laugh about it. It was clearly the drunkest I have ever been, and what is scary is that I don't remember a solid 3hours of the night. Well I will leave you with one memory I will never forget about that night, it's that it will be a night I will never fully remember....
From The One They Call Anthony, This Is The Life & Times
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Eagle Bar
As I lay here at 2:11am, praying my brain would switch off and allow me to sleep, I decided to reboot the compute (Yes I did just rhyme that on purpose) and blog about my favourite watering hole, The Eagle Bar.
The Eagle Bar is located at LaTrobe University in Bundoora, and in 2009 (was about to say last year, but nope, stupid 2011) was where I got my groove on, and enjoyed some good nights, with much help from best mate. First week I lived in Melbourne, that Thursday I attended my first Eagle Bar, which happened to be O-Week. I don't think many stories came from that night, except sitting on the door drinking with my mate, for free.
Stories started to unfold a little later, like the time a mate and I talked up some girls, only to have them find me months later, or when a group of mates from Oaklands came up, we watched the Richmond vs Carlton game and went to Eagle Bar later, which turned out to be a good night. After Eagle Bar closing, a mate (Everyone is called "mate" as I try not to disclose names, for privacy reasons) took us around campus, when me and a (yep you guessed it) mate decided to get some food and head home. I tried stealing a bin lid from campus, don't ask me why, only to have my mate tell campus security, but they were cool about it because I gave it to them and had a chat.
While nights are memorable, not many are blog worthy, except maybe the night of the Air Guitar competition. Games like lip syncing, rock-paper-scissors (or paper-scissors-rock, or however you say it), air guitar and the like were legit competitions held at the bar. These had serious prizes such as trips to Queensland for the national championship, and I wanted a bar of this. Losing in the Semi-Finals of Rock-Paper-Scissors, I decided to try the next week at Air Guitar. And this is where our story begins....
Uni Night was held on a Thursday night, and I think, not 100% sure, but the previous Saturday may have been the day where I cracked my elbow in while playing Football, and was in a sling and ice for 4 days, until I had some small movement. This made me quite sad, because large crazy movements could not be performed, and that is what I was about. Now thinking about it, it may have been a week or so after, anywho, not importantish.
Always tagging along with my mate on the door, I developed a first-name basis with the bouncers, and with a couple other people who work there and know my mate. So arriving early, we learnt of a professional who had a costume and everything, so we decided I needed a 'thing'
The three of us on the door were developing a strategy, and we came up with a plan. I was to get the crowd involved with clapping, then take my t-shirt off and guitar away topless. I did this to my song of choice, 'Joker and the Thief' Wolf Mother, and got a magnificent response. This was just Round 1, and it was a 2 Round comp, so we needed to step it up if I was to go to Queensland...
There was only one thing we could think off to 'up it' from first round, and that was to strip down to my underwear. When it was my turn , I told the announcer I be back in a jiffy, keep the song playing, which was 'Sweet Home Alabama' and I ducked behind the boards, and proceeded to undress. It was rather difficult as my elbow limited movement, and took me longer than suspected, which I think got the announcer angry, but the crowd excited. Now for my first round, there was a fairly low crowd, due to the time of the night, however, Round 2 was performed later in the night in which the crowd grew larger. Finally down to my socks and jocks, I stepped out in front of a bar full of judgemental uni students, to a large roar and cheers and proceeded to air guitar, and even mooning the crowd at a point.
After everything was done, and the awards were given, I was heart broken to find out I did not place in the Top 3, and did not even win a hat. Distraught and upset, I decided to drink my problems away, for free, which helped. However, my antics were not over, with my mates talking to the bouncers to see if it was okay for me to walk around the bar pants down without getting in trouble. At the edge of the stage, ready for pants to come down, waiting for the green light, in the end it wouldn't be allowed in case the owner viewed the tapes and saw it. The bouncers were all for it, and was keen for it to happen, but did not want to risk their jobs. Throughout the night I had handshakes, high-fives and comments and being asked if I was the naked guitarist,
Those who follow this blog via my facebook, the video is on my profile for viewing, check it out if you dare. Anyone who follows and don't know me, I might upload the video later in the future when I can get my hands on the footage.
Eagle Bar has been good to me, and I good to it. It has saw me be a pleb and get slapped in the face, seated, repeated, and saw me decked out in a full green costume. I styled it up at the Sensation party and handled the glow sticks (which I later got in trouble for my performance), and also snagging a free 6-pack of UDL's just for staying back and helped clean up. I longed for LaTrobe Uni in Wodonga to have a Eagle Bar, but all they can produce is The Hanger, and they don't even have a weekly uni night! Oh Eagle Bar, you have set the 'bar' high for the rest of uni bars, and I think I will never find a place just like you, oh how I miss thee.
From The One They Call Anthony, This Is The Life & Times
The Eagle Bar is located at LaTrobe University in Bundoora, and in 2009 (was about to say last year, but nope, stupid 2011) was where I got my groove on, and enjoyed some good nights, with much help from best mate. First week I lived in Melbourne, that Thursday I attended my first Eagle Bar, which happened to be O-Week. I don't think many stories came from that night, except sitting on the door drinking with my mate, for free.
Stories started to unfold a little later, like the time a mate and I talked up some girls, only to have them find me months later, or when a group of mates from Oaklands came up, we watched the Richmond vs Carlton game and went to Eagle Bar later, which turned out to be a good night. After Eagle Bar closing, a mate (Everyone is called "mate" as I try not to disclose names, for privacy reasons) took us around campus, when me and a (yep you guessed it) mate decided to get some food and head home. I tried stealing a bin lid from campus, don't ask me why, only to have my mate tell campus security, but they were cool about it because I gave it to them and had a chat.
While nights are memorable, not many are blog worthy, except maybe the night of the Air Guitar competition. Games like lip syncing, rock-paper-scissors (or paper-scissors-rock, or however you say it), air guitar and the like were legit competitions held at the bar. These had serious prizes such as trips to Queensland for the national championship, and I wanted a bar of this. Losing in the Semi-Finals of Rock-Paper-Scissors, I decided to try the next week at Air Guitar. And this is where our story begins....
Uni Night was held on a Thursday night, and I think, not 100% sure, but the previous Saturday may have been the day where I cracked my elbow in while playing Football, and was in a sling and ice for 4 days, until I had some small movement. This made me quite sad, because large crazy movements could not be performed, and that is what I was about. Now thinking about it, it may have been a week or so after, anywho, not importantish.
Always tagging along with my mate on the door, I developed a first-name basis with the bouncers, and with a couple other people who work there and know my mate. So arriving early, we learnt of a professional who had a costume and everything, so we decided I needed a 'thing'
The three of us on the door were developing a strategy, and we came up with a plan. I was to get the crowd involved with clapping, then take my t-shirt off and guitar away topless. I did this to my song of choice, 'Joker and the Thief' Wolf Mother, and got a magnificent response. This was just Round 1, and it was a 2 Round comp, so we needed to step it up if I was to go to Queensland...
There was only one thing we could think off to 'up it' from first round, and that was to strip down to my underwear. When it was my turn , I told the announcer I be back in a jiffy, keep the song playing, which was 'Sweet Home Alabama' and I ducked behind the boards, and proceeded to undress. It was rather difficult as my elbow limited movement, and took me longer than suspected, which I think got the announcer angry, but the crowd excited. Now for my first round, there was a fairly low crowd, due to the time of the night, however, Round 2 was performed later in the night in which the crowd grew larger. Finally down to my socks and jocks, I stepped out in front of a bar full of judgemental uni students, to a large roar and cheers and proceeded to air guitar, and even mooning the crowd at a point.
After everything was done, and the awards were given, I was heart broken to find out I did not place in the Top 3, and did not even win a hat. Distraught and upset, I decided to drink my problems away, for free, which helped. However, my antics were not over, with my mates talking to the bouncers to see if it was okay for me to walk around the bar pants down without getting in trouble. At the edge of the stage, ready for pants to come down, waiting for the green light, in the end it wouldn't be allowed in case the owner viewed the tapes and saw it. The bouncers were all for it, and was keen for it to happen, but did not want to risk their jobs. Throughout the night I had handshakes, high-fives and comments and being asked if I was the naked guitarist,
Those who follow this blog via my facebook, the video is on my profile for viewing, check it out if you dare. Anyone who follows and don't know me, I might upload the video later in the future when I can get my hands on the footage.
Eagle Bar has been good to me, and I good to it. It has saw me be a pleb and get slapped in the face, seated, repeated, and saw me decked out in a full green costume. I styled it up at the Sensation party and handled the glow sticks (which I later got in trouble for my performance), and also snagging a free 6-pack of UDL's just for staying back and helped clean up. I longed for LaTrobe Uni in Wodonga to have a Eagle Bar, but all they can produce is The Hanger, and they don't even have a weekly uni night! Oh Eagle Bar, you have set the 'bar' high for the rest of uni bars, and I think I will never find a place just like you, oh how I miss thee.
From The One They Call Anthony, This Is The Life & Times
Monday, January 3, 2011
Traditional VS Modern : The Show Down
A typical Modern house. 
An Art-Deco house
A Late-Victorian house sketch
Last blog we just learnt a little bit about the three styles, Late-Victorian, Art-Deco and Modern. Now this blog we find out which style I would choose to do a unit development in, and why. However, there is much more than just personal preference, in fact, taste in a certain should be the last thing that crosses your mind when deciding upon a style. Items such as streetscape, clients, your market and such play a much bigger factor than what you like.
Clients - If someone came to you asking for you to design them 3 units, well what they want is very important. They could be a fan of a certain style, or maybe they want to create a certain atmosphere of the development. However, if it your development, you have all the say, but there is still a couple more things to consider.
Market - This is big, as your target market will differ from different demographics. If you wanted to create a somewhat "retiree" development, where the older market will settle, then Art-Deco or Late-Victorian may be the choice. Let's be honest, old people have a lot of old, uhh i mean antique, stuff which would suit the style of Late-Victorian or Art-Deco. Maybe you're appealing to mid-age families, in which Modern may be the way to go as it will allow larger, more open living spaces, and the families could be looking to upgrade. First-time buyers may not be able to afford a brand new Modern home, so they may want an Art-Deco. Do your research, decide what market you want to appeal to, then move on to the next item of business.
Streetscape - Streetscape I believe should be the biggest influence on deciding a style, as it can affect your overall appearance of the development. This should be a no-brainer but if you bought a block of land and around you are beautiful Victorian homes, some looked-after bungalows, and just the older styles, it would be stupid to do a Modern development, or even Art-Deco. Reason being, you are taking away the charm of the street by slapping these buildings in. One may argue it is about progress and the future, but you should be complimenting the area by building Late-Victorian homes. Flip it around and if you are in a new estate where all modern houses are being built, for the same reason as before you wouldn't build a Late-Victorian or Art-Deco, as you should be helping the streetscape. So what if the street is filled with old, worn, horrible homes in which no particular style is evident? This is where you, as the designer, step in and make your mark on the future of the street. You want to pave the way for future development, so where the street is full of worn houses, the overall community may be old-timing so you might want to say 'Let's restore this street, so let's build Late-Victorians and let others follow' Or the community could be a mixture, in that case, do as you please. You may want the street to have some history, character and a look of modern, so you decide upon Art-Deco. Perhaps you just want a very modern street in the future, so you design the units in the Modern style.
I believe them three key items are the main factor in choosing the style, and streetscape is something that is probably the most important. If a developer bought a giant block of land, subdivide the land, and he ends up with two streets with about 20 blocks of land ok. He then goes out and builds a mixture of styles, so one block he has Mid-Victorian, then a couple Modern houses, some Late-Victorians with a bunglow in the middle, a couple Moderns, a few Art-Deco and so on, the streets would have no appeal, no character and just look like Frankenstein. Towards the end of the last term of TAFE, I finally realised how important streetscape is. At times I have driven around the areas, then I see an empty block of land and I look around the street and have a think about what would fit in the area.
Now I better give an actual answer to the question, what style would I do the development in? If there was no evidence of a particular style, and I did not factor in the market, and basically I had free control over the whole design, I would choose......... Drum roll please........... [insert drum roll noise here] Modern! If I had a blank canvas, I wouldn't be going back into the past, I would be thinking about the future. I would be wanting to make my mark in architecture, and very rarely you can do that by designing a house in a style that was popular over a hundred years ago.
From The One They Call Anthony, This Is The Life & Times
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Traditional VS Modern
For as long as I can remember, I have always been a fan of modern houses, with the skillion roof designs, large windows and different materials. Only until I did an assessment on the history of architecture in Australia that I have warmed the idea of Late-Victorian, or Art Deco. Would I buy one of these houses? Better yet, would I design one of the traditional styling to live in? Short answer is, no. Would I design a late-Victorian home if a client requested? Of course I would, don't be dumb.
But here is something that I ponder, if I bought a block of land, 1,000m2 and local council approved of a unit development of three units, what would I design? This is what this blog is all about....
Features of this era of architecture was very ornamental, from the brickwork colouring around the window frames and doors, to the actual doors, the lattice on the verandas, tall parapets with moulded ornaments and the symmetrical appearance are some of the features that can be seen when walking up to the property.
Once inside you are usually met with ornaments, extravagant wall-paper and strong colour schemes. The character of the era is usually achieved by furniture and decoration in the interior.
So overall, the late-Victorian era is not a bad example of architecture, but what if we go a little in the future to art deco architecture? Would this be better suited for a unit development?
If late-Victorian is the start, and modern is the finish, art deco would be the middle. Having spent a term on actually designing a unit development in this style, I have come to love this style of architecture. Strong features of the era (which was around 1914-1940) was curves, a lot of buildings had curves which some were subtle and small, while others were grand. The main colour scheme of the exterior was a whiteish, creamish look, with rendered brick being the popular material. Parapet walls hide the roof, giving it a "box-y" appearance, while decoration on the exterior was big with wall sweeps, and moulds being popular. This architecture was a very modernist movement, which proud architects did not approve and often disregarded the design.
In my own opinion, art-deco architecture can re-invent a street scape or community with it's curves, boxes, material usage and the character it represented.
At the end of the spectrum, "modern" architecture has always fascinated me. With the box appearance, the roof designs with sometimes having parapets which I'm fast becoming a fan of, the use of 2 or more different materials, large glass and the landscape. For our third project we had to design a new home in a modern style, looking back on it, I could have done a much better job. So I thought I'd ask a couple friends to act as clients so I can design a couple houses, turns out they wanted a Victorian beach house, and a home which draws several style influences but not having that "modern" appearance. When I drive around Wodonga, especially going down Lawerence St, there are some amazing examples of this type of style, which showcase a three-storey home and several other two-storey places. The cost of building a house in this style can be expensive, and some people feel that this style will be outdated and won't have that 'timeless' appearance, to which I disagree.
Next blog we find out what style I choose to design the unit development. Stay tuned
(Sadly I am unable to upload photos at this time for some reason, but next blog there will be hopefully pictures)
From The One They Call Anthony, This Is The Life & Times
But here is something that I ponder, if I bought a block of land, 1,000m2 and local council approved of a unit development of three units, what would I design? This is what this blog is all about....
Features of this era of architecture was very ornamental, from the brickwork colouring around the window frames and doors, to the actual doors, the lattice on the verandas, tall parapets with moulded ornaments and the symmetrical appearance are some of the features that can be seen when walking up to the property.
Once inside you are usually met with ornaments, extravagant wall-paper and strong colour schemes. The character of the era is usually achieved by furniture and decoration in the interior.
So overall, the late-Victorian era is not a bad example of architecture, but what if we go a little in the future to art deco architecture? Would this be better suited for a unit development?
If late-Victorian is the start, and modern is the finish, art deco would be the middle. Having spent a term on actually designing a unit development in this style, I have come to love this style of architecture. Strong features of the era (which was around 1914-1940) was curves, a lot of buildings had curves which some were subtle and small, while others were grand. The main colour scheme of the exterior was a whiteish, creamish look, with rendered brick being the popular material. Parapet walls hide the roof, giving it a "box-y" appearance, while decoration on the exterior was big with wall sweeps, and moulds being popular. This architecture was a very modernist movement, which proud architects did not approve and often disregarded the design.
In my own opinion, art-deco architecture can re-invent a street scape or community with it's curves, boxes, material usage and the character it represented.
At the end of the spectrum, "modern" architecture has always fascinated me. With the box appearance, the roof designs with sometimes having parapets which I'm fast becoming a fan of, the use of 2 or more different materials, large glass and the landscape. For our third project we had to design a new home in a modern style, looking back on it, I could have done a much better job. So I thought I'd ask a couple friends to act as clients so I can design a couple houses, turns out they wanted a Victorian beach house, and a home which draws several style influences but not having that "modern" appearance. When I drive around Wodonga, especially going down Lawerence St, there are some amazing examples of this type of style, which showcase a three-storey home and several other two-storey places. The cost of building a house in this style can be expensive, and some people feel that this style will be outdated and won't have that 'timeless' appearance, to which I disagree.
Next blog we find out what style I choose to design the unit development. Stay tuned
(Sadly I am unable to upload photos at this time for some reason, but next blog there will be hopefully pictures)
From The One They Call Anthony, This Is The Life & Times
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