Words to Lyrics Ben Ho's observations from the cloud

7 September 2014

What happened last night?

Filed under: I Wonder — Tags: , — Ben @ 9:01 am

Two nights ago, I went to a party. And then after that party, I followed some people from that party to go have another drink somewhere else. It was getting late, the first time I remember checking my watch after the party, it was 1am. I wanted to leave, but something compelled me to stay. It was during that time that I learned a few more things about myself, and those who love their tipple too much.

1. I am still terrible at staying up late
I have never been able to stay up later than 12:30am. Never. I will fall like a stone on the bed, no questions asked. Obviously this means that ‘all-nighters’ are ineffective, and also late, late nights at the pub with mates are events where I can’t stay awake. In the rare times I do stay up very late, I don’t know how I do it, adrenaline maybe?

2. I don’t get along too well at parties with alcohol
A bit of background: I don’t drink, and haven’t done so since two months after I turned 18. So while everyone is drunk (or pissed, whichever you prefer) at the end of the night, what am I left to do? Nothing really. Just watch people try to string together sentences to mean something? Actually it’s not as bad as it sounds, but things get so boring after people have less idea of what they are doing. At 1am, you can still probably make out something, by 2am conversations go around in circles. 3am? Locked out in Sydney city.

3. I am very good at not drinking alcohol
As I said in point 2, I haven’t drunk alcohol for a long time. But even through that long night, I politely declined every time someone offered me something. Also, I think that I am fortunate to have friends who accept the fact that I don’t drink ‘just because’.

4. Never question a drunk person’s (non-violent) actions
One of my friends that night took a number of jackets when we left the bar that night. Now they have realised their mistake, and it will be fun seeing what they do with the other jackets. So why never question a drunk person’s actions? Because it will be funny watching what they do afterwards.

19 June 2011

What to do?

Filed under: Reflection — Tags: , , , — Ben @ 6:26 pm

Two Saturdays ago, a friend and I went out to see the lights as part of Vivid Sydney (they were really good, by the way). As we were walking back to the car park, we witnessed an altercation between a taxi driver and the passenger. The passenger didn’t want to pay the fare, the driver wanted the fare. A fight ensued, and a minute later the passenger ran off the driver’s cap.

My friend asked me whether we should help the driver. I said no. The reason being that I (we) didn’t want get hurt as a result. In the end I said to him, “Even though you want to help, it’s safer not to. Sad, I know, but that’s reality.”

I know I did the right thing, but would you have done the same?

Earlier that night walking along George St, I saw at least two cases of passengers running of without paying. In the more fortunate case, two girls ran out of the taxi to the cover (it was raining that night). The driver followed them and recovered the fare after some shouting.

These incidents, I believe, highlight the need for prepaid fares in the evenings on weekends. I think it’s reasonable and not difficult to hand over $10 before the trip starts. I also think it is right to pay for the services that you have used. For the drivers, it is their livelihoods. They are the same as anyone with a job, and deserve to be paid for the job they do. It is a shame to the society that young people are not taught/told of these basic life principles.

Whether drivers get paid enough is another issue; the important thing is that they get paid in the first place.

12 September 2010

Election Night

Filed under: Attended,Reflection — Tags: , , — Ben @ 10:13 pm

On 21 August, Australia went to the polls to decide who would govern for the next three years. There was no clear result, only the outcome of a hung parliament.

During election night, you will have no doubt seen the television coverage at some point from the National Tally Room in Canberra. I went to visit the tally room that night, and I was met with this:

The Queue

Yes, there was a queue outside in the cold. Dad and I waited for an hour snaking around the courtyard before we got to the front entrance. Only  a limited number of people are allowed in at one time. Luckily the ABC had a TV outside so it wasn’t all that boring. One unique feature of Australian federal elections is the atmosphere of the coverage, the excitement associated with the result if you will. (This YouTube clip of 2007 election coverage will demonstrate this point, as well as Kerry O’Brien’s famous gaffe). During the last few minutes of waiting, I noticed this placard on the fence:

Media Placard

Yes, that’s the Chaser’s Craig Reucassel with Senator Conroy in the top left corner. The AEC took the opportunity to tell everyone how good they were at administering elections and the media are an important part of the process.

(If you don’t know the rest of the media personalities on that poster, they are clockwise: David Koch, Tom Gleisner and Santo Cilauro, Kerry O’Brien, Ray Martin and Laurie Oakes, Mark Riley, and Alan Jones)

Media Tally board

Once inside at about 8pm, the tally board of all 150 House of Representatives seats spans an entire side of the hall. The numbers are manually updated throughout the night by AEC workers. On the other side are the TV media sets. Ten, Seven, Sky, Nine and ABC were there with almost every news personality sitting behind a desk. Politicians were moving between sets to do numerous interviews. Between the public area and the TV sets were representatives from political parties and other media interpreting the results.

A few electorates

Probably the other highlight of the night (besides the hung result) was the surprise visit by Greens leader Bob Brown. I was standing behind the Channel Nine interview of Warren Truss (yes, that’s the one highlighted by the Chaser) when Brown walks in to cheers and the large media pack. With me being me, I got nowhere near, but I did catch these shots:

Warren Truss with Allison Langdon Bob Brown adressing media

If I ever visit the tally room again, I’d better bring a larger camera. Dad and I left at about 11pm, and the next day I drove a long way.

9 December 2009

An Illusionary Speech Night

Filed under: I Wonder,Reflection — Tags: , , , — Ben @ 11:35 am

Apologies for the lack of posts recently.

Last night was Barker’s speech night, and my last speech night.

Speech night has become known for the exhaustive prize list, Year 12 antics during the prize giving, and of course the Headmaster’s (herein referred to as K) speech.

What we have come to love about K’s speech is the length (purported to have been 40 minutes one year, but this year’s was 21 minutes long), the content (has ranged from famous men, to Canadian mountains), and the relevance to Barker ways (interpretations can vary). The evening and the day after speech night the intertubes are abuzz about the choice of subject, the relevancy and overall, whether the speech was good or not!

(For the record, this year’s speech was 21 minutes long which focused on three influential men: Galileo Galilei, Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin and their perseverance to reach their goals. The relevance (as interpreted by some people) was questionable.)

Next on the list, Year 12 antics. This year’s Year 12 has been very supportive of each other, as was evident in the various call outs during the prize giving. Most memorable was Willo’s standing ovation, for his magnificent achievements. There were a few others, including the frenzied call out for Jono Chung’s prizes and Jono Mui’s additional handshake.

Now I’ll talk about why I’ve called this an Illusionary Speech Night (for Year 12s).

Firstly, the prize winners are selected on the performance in the school assessments which count for 50% of the final HSC mark. While these people are to be congratulated, and for some will represent what they achieved in the written Board of Studies exams, not everyone who wins on speech night will ‘win’ in their HSC results. To ‘win’ is to win in the relative sense, which means it is different for each person.

The real ‘prize’ will be one’s individual HSC results, which, at time of writing, will be released in one week. Only then will one know whether they have won or not.

Looking down the track, the real ‘prize’ will be the contribution one makes to this changing world. The real ‘prize’ will be the consequences, good or bad, of the path that one takes. The real ‘prize’ will be the satisfaction that you will have gained from making a difference, whether officially recognised or not.

It was good seeing you all again.

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