Another Day In Paradise

Yesterday was quite rad! I started the day with another drive, with Skippy, to the store; I'm starting to get the hang of right-hand-drive and driving on the opposite side of the road. After the boys and I had breakfast we threw on some sun-block, strapped a few surfboards on to the car (affectionately known as Carlos) and headed toward the beach. The waves weren't very good but the scene was beautiful. The day was full of jokes and laughter and it really was a fantastic time. After a few hours at the beach, we went out for a bite to eat and cruised through another part of town called Noosa-Junction. We split from there toward another family's house, out in the bush a little ways, to check out a car that Mike and Seton Might be buying. They were super-gracious hosts; just really great people. We stayed well into the early evening chatting, looking at surfboards, talking of great adventures and cane-frog clubbing; I guess it's a means of pest control but I took no part because the guilt would've killed me! The night ended early, in a quite mellow way, which was great.

As Fate Would Have It....

So what do you know? The very day after I eat kangaroo, I am hanging at the condo, after a day at the beach, and the landlord comes and asks us if we want to see a couple of Kangaroos; we were all way into it and so we ran outside and his mother-in-law was holding two joeys. She asked us if we wanted to hold them and we all took turns passing them around. When it was my turn to hold one my heart melted, it was so soft and docile and it kept kissing me; I felt so guilty about the previous nights meat-sampling.

Later in the evening Seton, Mike and I went to barbeque on the river, hosted by a close family friend of Mike. it was fantastic; they were an awesome family and the occasion was full of laughter. During the barbeque a friend of Mike and Seton, Skippy, showed up; he had just gotten in from Brisbane and is staying with the guys for the weekend. We all hung out for a bit and then all four of us spilt to go to another barbeque, hosted by a friend Nick. That was a lot of fun and ended with us all splitting off to go to a couple of bars in town. I was the designated driver and had my first experience driving a right-hand-drive car, on the left side of the rode. It was really counter-intuative but I managed just fine; I'm glad to have done it because it's another cool story to tell.

All-in-all, I'm having a great time. I'm meeting great people and having fun adventures.


P.S. I'm probably never going to eat Kangaroo again!

Kangaroo?

Yesterday was rad. The day was somewhat uneventful, or at least that's how it felt; I'm still struggling with jet-lag. I ran some errands during the day today, I rode one of the guys bikes to a few shops and stores to get myself set up with a cooling system for the loft; it's awfully hot and I'm not the biggest fan of waking up in a sweat. In the early evening Mike, Seton and I went out to a new friends going away barbeque. Her name was Nikki and she was a most gracious host. All-in-all there were about 8 of us at the barbeque. Although I'm pretty serious about being on a wheat-free/gluten-free raw pescatarian diet, I went out on a limb and tried a few bites of Kangaroo tonight. I scoffed at the idea when the boys and I went out to purchase the food for the barbeque, earlier in the day, but when it was on the barbeque I decided I should try it; I think it had the appeal of making for an interesting and shocking story. Toward the end of the evening I went out a bar with a few friends and caught a cab home in the pouring rain. I love that it'll be a glorious sunny beautiful day and then, out of nowhere, crazy storms will roll in; the contrast is awesome.

Down Under

I just made it to my final destination (for now) in Noosaville, QLD. I got in to Brisbane airport around 8:15 (Aussie time), caught the 9am shuttle to Noosaville, and got in to Noosa around 11ish. I'm extremely stoked but the jet-lag is holding me back a little. I am happy to be with good friends and happy to have finally arrived.

Life is good!!

And now we wait...

I'm sitting a plane, on the Tarmac at LAX. This is reality, I'm leaving the country for two months...

I struck up a conversation in the terminal, with a young man by the name of Jay, and came to the realization that I don't really have any plans; I love it! There's no guarantees about anything that will happen excpet the guarantee of change; no matter what happens I will change and I will grow. I am so happy and hopeful!

The Countdown Begins!

This time tomorrow I will be on a plane heading toward Australia. I cannot express what a whirlwind the past week has been, in terms of tying up loose ends and nailing down the logistics of my departure; the busyness has kept me a little out of touch with the reality that I was really leaving my current situation, in a huge way. I am so happy that I am going to be able to spend an extra 12 days in Australia, I know that it is going to be an amazing experience and I cannot wait to step off of my plane and jump on the bus for Noosa. I am so grateful to be going to a place where it is summer; I cannot wait to swim in the ocean!!!

Change of Plans!!

STOKED ON LIFE!!!!

So I have been going through a bit of a rough spot recently and, in reality, have just been sitting around waiting for my trip to start. A couple of hours ago I came to this realization and decided to look into changing my dates; it worked out in my favor! I was able to secure the last seat in a flight that is leaving on the 23rd of February. The big changes to my trip are, first I'm obviously leaving earlier (9 days earlier, to be exact), second I'm not cruising through Auckland, New Zealand anymore (I'm just stopping there for an hour instead of for 3 days) this is kind of a bummer but I'm anticipating being in a considerably better mood once I set out on my adventure and it's a tradeoff that is totally worth it to me.

I am ecstatic!!!

And Another...

I'm pleased to announce my latest video production. This piece was produced, filmed, and edited by me, for my final personal project in my video production class. The footage was all shot at the Santa Fe lofts, in Downtown Los Angeles.

Music: "ALWAYS WAS A WORD YOU USED IN PROMISES. IT IS VALUELESS" by I GOT SHOT IN THE FACE

Shot on a Canon 5D Mark II

TILT from Jesse Carmody on Vimeo.

I'm leaving on a jet plane....

So it is official, I am embarking on an epic adventure to the other side of the world!!!

It has been a distant dream of mine, since this time last year, to go to Japan in April to see the cherry blossoms in bloom and to experience the culture and beauty that Japan has to offer. The dream's tangibility has risen and fallen as time has passed and I became somewhat disenfranchised with it, to the point of excepting that it might not happen at all. During the later part of 2008 a friend of mine proposed a short trip to Cabo San Lucas, that never panned out, but still I got the travel bug. That very same friend just recently made the decision to move to Noosa, Australia for an indefinite time and after hearing this I created the plan of visiting him and also realizing my dream of visiting Japan. I figured that because I am still a student am in school, and I have a lack of certain obligations that will soon follow graduation, now would be the best time to take this journey; the ease of picking up and leaving might become a little more difficult the further into a career I get.

The next step was figuring how to take this trip and fit it in with my year-round school schedule. I made the decision to present a request for an independent study, at school, that would allow me to travel for the entirety of the session (7 weeks) and receive credit for a class. I submitted a proposal that loosely estimated by departure and arrival dates with a rough outline of what each week might entail. The first submission was a little rough, but after a meeting with faculty and a thought out revision I submitted a proposal that had a little more clarity and as a result I received approval, from school, to receive class-credit for this independent study.

So I decided to split my seven weeks between Australia and Japan and book the trip. It's done. it's happening!!

I am going to be leaving Los Angeles on March 3rd and flying to Auckland, New Zealand, where I'll be staying, at the Base Central Hostel, from Friday through Monday morning. Next, I fly to Brisbane, Australia, on March 9th and from there I will take the train to Noosa, where I'll be staying with my long time friends Mike and Seton. My flight to Tokyo, Japan leaves from Melbourne on March 24th so I will be making my way down there to visit my friend Lex for a few days before I go. I arive in Tokyo on March 25th and I will most likely stay there for a day or two, before making my way to Osaka. I will be staying there with my good friend Luke. I am really looking forward to my stay in Japan, and this whole adventure in general. I fly from Osaka back home to Los Angeles on April 23rd.

So there you have it.... Those are my plans and I am truly thrilled to have them. I am STOKED ON LIFE!

Hooray!

So I have made mention of my recent involvement in video-production; I'm currently enrolled in a video-production class at school and I recently purchased a new DSLR that shoots HD video. Needless to say, this is the beginning of something new... I am super excited about this new path and am eager to see where it takes me! I just finished creating a Vimeo account and uploaded my first video ever; it is an interview with my long time friend, Julian Zeff, filmed on-location at his tattoo shop.

Enjoy!

PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST: JULIAN ZEFF from Jesse Carmody on Vimeo.

Life is Good!

Stoked on my new camera. Stoked on Tilt-Shift lenses. Stoked on my upcoming trip to Australia and Japan (more to come....) Stoked on life!!!

Play on...

Change is on the horizon; I'm getting into film-making and I'm stoked on it! I went out and played with my camera for the first time this year. These photos were made in downtown LA last night.

Videos coming soon....