Success

Family Name: Carpenter
Given Names: Geoffrey
Date of Birth: 26/07/1988

Dear Geoffrey Carpenter

RE: Application for Subclass 462 - Work and Holiday (Temporary) (Class US) visa

This is to advise that Geoffrey Carpenter has been granted an Electronic Work and Holiday subclass 462 visa on 09 July 2010.

This letter contains important information about this visa.

VISA INFORMATION
This visa allows Geoffrey Carpenter to make the initial entry into Australia no later than 12 months from the date that the visa was granted. The initial entry into Australia must not be after 09 July 2011.

Once in Australia, this visa permits Geoffrey Carpenter to stay in Australia for 12 months from the date that they first enter Australia. It provides for multiple travel to Australia, which means that Geoffrey Carpenter can leave Australia and re-enter Australia as many times as they wish during their 12 month stay. However, if Geoffrey Carpenter departs Australia during their 12 month stay, they are not able to recover the period of time spent outside Australia.

my favorite

There is a particularly thriving cinema scene here in the Netherlands. The town I live in has a cozy but slightly expensive bar/lounge/cafe/movie theater which shows primarily select release movies, and had a really interesting John Cassavetes retrospective. The odd thing is that it seems to cater to an older audience and I don't speak any Dutch so I can't converse with people about the films. They also had a french film festival and a film club which showed primarily french films. It was interesting to see The 400 blows in french with Dutch subtitles. I'd seen The 400 blows three times previously with english subtitles. I knew the plot already and was able to disassociate myself from the dialogue and focus on the images. I enjoy the feelings that Truffaut evokes in me in his films from his perspective as a film maker. Kafka on the Shores mentions francios truffaut, "...you've hit the nail on the head. you find the same spirit animating Truffaut. a persistent, inward-moving spirit that's filled with a pliant, youthful sort of curiosity." I walked home whistling the theme, which was used for The Dreamers soundtrack and footage for some of the film's clips.

I hope that you all are well. Just wanted to talk about the film scene as a kind of reminder.

Herow!

New posts like old jokes something something something.

So I lurked my families blogs.
So I lurked the Hoffman's blogs (sorry about the slogging).
And I don't know if y'arel (you are all) lurking mine.

I'm in the Netherlands for a few brief days until Annie's arrival!
I'm interested to use the interaction as a seeming benchmark between me pre and me post my experiences in Europe. It has been snowing for the past five days and, "It doesn't show signs of stopping." (Am I quoting a song or dialogue from a movie?) It usually doesn't snow often here from what I hear and I've witnessed some warm country dwellers experience snow for the first time.



I like to watch the way that the Dutch do things. For instance everyone here bikes and no one wears a helmet. This becomes especially dangerous when people pile themselves and sometimes up to three children on their bicycles. While it has been snowing here they have set up rope tows in the major markets. I watched a woman and her child as they were pulled across the market on a tiny sled and thought about how easily something could go wrong.







Another thing that seems interesting is that in this snow storm the town is going crazy. Rumor has it that this is the largest snow storm for the past five years. It is obvious that the town is totally unprepared, but funny to see people inches away from passing trucks on streets covered in snow 30cm thick.

I'm just going to post some videos and photos for now with a quick update.
More to come.

This is pro skater Ali Boulala born January 28, 1979.

Growing up and skateboarding I was first introduced to Ali Boulala in an article which had the journalist posed as a fake private eye attempting to follow Ali Boulala around Europe and photograph him. Ali Boulala lived in the United States until being deported for underage drinking. After that he set up permanent residences in Barcelona and Lyon, France. While having permanent apartments would exclude him from the moniker "gypsy" his lifestyle more than feel in line with the somewhat pejorative term. His personality was that of someone who didn't appear to care about tomorrow at any point in time. This is not to be misconstrued as having a deathwish, rather he was too busy living and doing it in high fashion.


Warning some subjectively objectionable content

I really looked up to Ali Boulala when I was younger. Not specifically as a life role model, but for his style, passion for living, and his overall reckless existence. He was part of a group of Skateboards known as the Piss Drunx This includes primarily skateboards from the Baker skateboarding team. The piss drunx seem to have morphed into Shake Junt in the recent years as the original members are either committed to lives of sobriety or are no longer able to skateboard. Of the original members.

Erik Ellington
Dustin Dollin
Ali Boulala (incarcerated)
Jim Greco (recovering Alcoholic, Heroin addict)
Andrew Reynolds (recovering alcoholic)

The baker team were one of the "bad boys" of skateboarding. They had a very specific style which primarily was that of partying, living for the day, and having little if no regard for the future. Their recklessness is informed by styles of punk, and gypsy, while their mode of fashion was heavily influenced by glam. This mixture of styles was spawned in Southern Californian culture. Of the Piss Drunx Ali Boulala and Jim Greco are and were considered pioneers in skateboarding fashion. While I never had the courage to attempt some of their more outlandish clothing choices I was still influenced and inspired by their creativity in dress.

On March 6th 2007 Ali Boulala and Shane Cross were involved in a motorcycle accident while neither was wearing helmets. According to wikipedia (I was unable to find a photo) Ali Boulala released a deck four years prior in 2003 to promote his part in the film really sorry. The deck depicts Ali Boulala drinking a beer on top of his motorcycle, which has now come to have a chillingly prophetic meaning. Very similar to Alfonso Ponce de Leon's self portrait. In the self portrait he depicts himself in a car crash which he died in a few years after painting it. Both Ali Boulala and Shane Cross were intoxicated at the time.

When the skateboarding community originally found out about the accident there was a rush of support for Ali who was in a coma for weeks. Shane Cross died before making it to the hospital. This is an example of the many reports which came out directly after the accident. all of them bore these words "Shane Cross's parents have also decided to not press charges, they just want Ali to live life normally."

Then after he began to recover reports such as this began to surface. To quote another famous blogger, "a little bird told me," that after the accident Ali Boulala was alive but devastated by the loss of his friend. He was extremely depressed and morose without much will to do anything...

This is where I left the saga of Ali Boulala until yesterday when I googled his name to find out what had become of him. I found that he had been sentenced to four years in jail with a two year mandatory non-parole period. I was interested to find out more about this. If Shane Cross's parents had agreed not to press charges, and Ali was living a life of guilt which might potentially lead to a more positive impact/cautionary tale for younger generations of skateboards, then why was he being sentenced to jail. All other sources cite this article by Australian news source, The Daily Reporter. It makes sense that Ali Boulala would be tried in Australia as Shane Cross is a native and the event took place there. What doesn't make sense to me is the following excerpt of the Judges remarks to him.

"The pro-skater suffered a severe brain injury in the accident and has not been able to return to skateboarding or motorbike riding.

Judge Pullen said the crash was a tragedy.

Before the crash, Cross was overheard twice telling Boulala he wanted to go for a ride on the motorbike. Boulala wouldn't let Cross go because he didn't have a helmet, Judge Pullen said.

"You were therefore aware of the potential ramifications," Judge Pullen said.

"You threw caution to the wind at a later stage on this evening."

Judge Pullen said Cross had his whole life to look forward to and his family had suffered enormously as a result of Boulala's conduct.

Cross was regarded as one of Australia's most talented skateboarders. It is understood he had signed to star in a video game.

Judge Pullen said Boulala's injuries would provide ongoing punishment for him.

Boulala spent more than three months in hospital and suffered post-traumatic amnesia for 65 days. By the time he was discharged from hospital he was able to walk 200m without a walking aid.

He was likely to be permanent [shame on them for misusing an adjective] affected by the injuries he sustained, Judge Pullen said. There was a question mark over whether he would ever be able to get on a skateboard again, she said.

Judge Pullen said Boulala had a reduced range of movement, strength and co-ordination and suffered spasticity in his lower right leg. He still has trouble putting on his shoes and getting out of the shower.

Boulala, 29, has been living in Richmond with his Australian girlfriend since he was released from hospital."

The rest is bungled attempts to give context to Ali Boulala and misuse of skateboard terminology.

This was the part that made me wonder. Who pressed charges? and where if any would the responsibility of Shane Cross come into consideration? The second question is especially relevant considering the article seems to suggest that it was at Shane's suggestion they ride the motorcycle in the first place.

I was also taken aback by the seemingly harsh nature of the judges oration. Shane Cross was a similar skateboarder to Ali Boulala and while he was a "rising star," an arguable "role model," etc. It should not be over looked that he was just as involved in the mentality of recklessness which Ali Boulala was also a part of.

This has lead me to some serious thought about the nature and consequences of this kind of lifestyle. I've always been interested in "rebel" outsider personalities, but it seems that some of my most interesting role models growing up are meeting sad ends. Hunter S. Thompson is another example.

Most of the skaters I've mentioned in this post have a tragic story with similar themes of substance abuse. One of the sader cases to me is Knox Godoy, a fellow Baker team member.


Warning may contain subjectively objectionable material

In this video part from Baker 2g released in 2000 he must be somewhere around 8, but that is only a guess. Since this video he was kicked off the Baker team and seems to have lost any potential he did have of making money while skateboarding. In a real "where are they know" moment, I found this little gem


Warning probably contains subjectively objectionable material

It's sad to me to see that these people with so much potential, creativity, and passion for life can't seem to keep it together long enough to enjoy what they have. Conversely maybe it is the enjoying what they have too much which perpetuates the cycle they are in.

The most recent Baker video was titled "Baker Has a Death Wish." The more these events unfold the more the title seems to fit.


Warning some subjectively objectionable content.

We're From Barcelona

Groningen, Netherlands.


I hear this jam at a minimum of five times when I go out to the clubs and bars in Groningen. I was thinking that maybe if you played the song then looked at the pictures you'd get an idea of Groningen.



This girls was at the club with a broken arm and I found inspiration in that.