Ruminations of the Ox

I broke Google

2011-06-10T13:55:00.000+10:00

La Rayuela Sónica: theHEAD, Trojan Jazz Festival (2010)

2011-04-29T20:35:00.000+10:00

La Rayuela Sónica: theHEAD, Trojan Jazz Festival (2010): "Last year, Kondor (Ben Turley) returned from London for a short while. An impromptu improv session at Troy Horse Studio in Sydney was rec..."

Música Inclasificable: theHEAD - Trojan Jazz Festival [2010]

2011-04-18T10:19:00.000+10:00

Música Inclasificable: theHEAD - Trojan Jazz Festival [2010]: "@ Descarga oficial Mr. Bungle fue una de las bandas más influyentes de todos los tiempos, además, fue un semillero de talentos. Los más con..."

ernj

2011-02-19T11:43:00.000+11:00

Dumpii Vs the Bottle

2011-01-10T20:24:00.000+11:00

Under the Molonglo

2010-12-09T14:00:00.000+11:00

More Down the Molonglo

2010-12-09T13:58:00.000+11:00

Down the Molonglo

2010-12-09T13:56:00.000+11:00

ABC The Drum Unleashed - Minority government gridlock good for the ALP

2010-09-08T12:09:00.000+10:00

ABC The Drum Unleashed - Minority government gridlock good for the ALP

What IS this internet thing anyway?

2010-08-17T15:36:00.000+10:00

The Internet For Dummies - Google Books

PostgreSQL: Documentation: Manuals: PostgreSQL 8.4: pg_dump

2010-08-12T12:10:00.000+10:00

PostgreSQL: Documentation: Manuals: PostgreSQL 8.4: pg_dump

So I'm learning PostgreSQL, in order that I may destroy it.

Please Explain?

2009-03-25T20:56:00.000+11:00

Dumpii the Monk

2009-01-15T18:28:00.001+11:00

Youtube stuff

2009-01-03T19:30:00.000+11:00

A little bit of night music

2008-11-26T21:42:00.002+11:00

rest of the gig here

Oktoberfest

2008-10-06T17:39:00.001+11:00

Okterberfest

We went to the Concordia Club's Oktoberfest yesterday; all the usual attractions of awesome cheap beer and good food were there with the added bonus of a proper Oktoberfest tent and an awesome oompah band brought out from Germany for the occasion. Click on the pic for more.

Cats!

2008-10-06T16:08:00.000+11:00

Found this awesome fellow in the Woolworths at Cooleman Court shopping centre in Weston Creek, ACT. Driven by a fit of hangover and Strawberry-Lemon-Lime Gatorade, I was forced to play a rendition of SPOD's "Cats" to bemused shoppers.

South Head, the Gap, Watsons Bay

2008-09-21T19:31:00.002+10:00

Went for a bit of a wander around the land of the rich and pale; Watson's Bay. 20 minutes to drive there, an hour to find a parking spot! I exaggerate, but it feels like that when you can SEE the kebab shop but you can't get to it. A beautiful day, 25ish degrees and not burningly sunny but nice and blue. Photos up at our Picasa site.

Apparently there's an average of 50 suicides a year at this spot (according to someone with a Wikipedia account). Hard to believe.

YouTube - First images after proton beam passes through LHC

2008-09-11T13:47:00.001+10:00

It's fairly frustrating that every news outlet is heralding the fact that we're not dead yet, despite the "big-bang" experiment being carried out yesterday. Completely ignoring the fact that all the LHC is doing is calibrating, and they won't actually fire head-on collisions at full strength for ages yet. We'll see who's sucked into a black hole yet!

YouTube - SekaiCameraDemoVideo of TechCrunch50

2008-09-10T19:49:00.002+10:00

Remind you of Wall-e's arkship inhabitants much?

Amazing still, and interesting the idea that being on the web isn't restricted to sitting behind a PC.

YouTube - ELBOW - THE BONES OF YOU - LIVE ON ABBEY ROAD

2008-09-07T09:30:00.001+10:00

Amazing band...

SPOD

2008-09-02T22:54:00.002+10:00

So yes I'm playing a SPOD gig this Sunday at.,... Bondi. Should be completely stupid and pretty much a defining point of everyone in attendance's loifes.

Stephen Baxter

2008-09-02T21:55:00.003+10:00

Just finished reading this book by Stephen Baxter, having previously read his previous novel Evolution. I've passed Evolution on to friends to great reviews. This is realistic, hard science fiction to rival my other favourite writer, Kim Stanley Robinson.

Now I'm waiting for the other books in the series to turn up from Amazon, my newest affliction.

Official Google Blog: A fresh take on the browser

2008-09-02T14:22:00.005+10:00

So Google are releasing their own browser. Poor ie8!

Nocturnal TV - Black Level Embassy - 60 seconds in Sydney

2008-09-01T18:07:00.002+10:00

This was a couple years back, in a tiny room next to Saray Turkish Pide on Enmore road. So loud, so brutal. It's hard to readjust to life after walking out of a performance like that, sort of a post-traumatic-syndrome thing.

Monster Gale

2008-09-01T17:46:00.003+10:00

The Hammer is back! Pauly's first gig with new band Monster Gale at the home of Metal: The Lewisham Hotel about a week back. Hadn't acutally been there before; I hope they keep gigs going, it's a very comfy spot and a good room. Don't judge the band by the terrible 1mm Nokia speaker, judge them by more arbitrary things, like height, and estimated gross earnings.

Remission some more!

2008-08-28T11:24:00.000+10:00

And a year down the track, kudos to the awesomeness of science for making sure that Meils is still in remission with platelet counts smack bang in the range of perfection.

Remission

2007-07-25T12:58:00.000+10:00

My fiance Meils is in remission after 2.5 years of Chemo. This is the best news I have ever heard. Check out photos of the joy here!

SURPRISE! more gardenz

2006-12-18T12:11:00.000+11:00

These fellas are new. 2 types of cucumber and rocket.

Meils spent ages tying up the tomatoes, they were attempting to take over the world.

These sad looking fellows are zucchini and pumpkin which were weeded out and replanted. You plant 'em in clusters, see, and get rid of the weaker looking ones after they've grown up some. We're giving these weaklings a second chance at life.

Can't claim responsibility for this, but it's in our yard, and I like it.

Pictures pwn words

2006-12-14T15:33:00.000+11:00

Weekend of Creation

2006-12-11T10:30:00.000+11:00

We made tree. That involved me with a circular saw sharpening the trunk down to a diameter that would fit into a wildly insufficient metal base for an hour in the sun. Then Meils hung the decorations. Then Dumpi made a nest at the base.

We made Scallops Mornay (thank you Doyles for the recipe), Cajun Flathead, Tiger Prawns, Cocktail Sauce (Meils' first triumphant attempt) and Bavarian Homebrew.

We made Beans Roganjosh, Palak Paneer and Chicken Jalfreezi.

Today was the

2006-12-05T12:17:00.001+11:00

It's UNSTOPPABLE!

2006-12-04T13:28:00.000+11:00

Veggie Garden

2006-11-27T09:30:00.000+11:00

It grows....

mixtape

2006-11-10T13:13:00.000+11:00

Yesterday

2006-08-07T13:50:00.000+10:00

WE GOT ENGAGED AT MRS MACQUARIE'S CHAIR!!!!!!!

June 17, Christchurch.

2006-07-02T14:12:00.000+10:00

Christchurch has TRUNDLERS.

and CHEAP BANANAS.

And bizarre sex shops and PARTY PILLS! We're moving to Christchurch.

Grumpy Mole?

June 18, Christchurch to Timaru

2006-07-02T13:32:00.000+10:00

My snow!

'ere, don't be lookin' at my snow!

RIGHT YOU WANT SNOW?

mmmm Face Snow.

So in NZ they drink Speights. This is the beginning of a long discovery of NZ's ridiculously cheap beer supply.

The Speights Ale House in Timaru is pretty much the best thing about Timaru.

Apart from beer, NZ has much lamb and cod.

June 19, Timaru to Invercargill

2006-07-02T13:02:00.000+10:00

Searching for treasure on a frozen beach between Timaru and Dunedin.

Getting more south than any other human has ever been. Except the guy who put that sign there.

Sun's starting to get low at around 4pm. Waikawa or thereabouts.

Curio Bay's petrified forest.

Some of those rocks are the stumps of trees that dinosaurs scratched their backs on.

Giant algal forests cling to the rocks and squirm like alien octopi when the waves come in.

Nothing but Antarctica out there.

On the way to Invercargill.

Invercargill also has blind signwriters.

We headed to the HMS King's for some local seafood. Here, I compose a sea shanty.

What will we do with a drunken sailor? We were hoping for Bluff oysters, but they only had them crumbed or battered.. So we went for the chowder scallops and fried camembert and cod; the chowder ended up being to most delicious thing in the whole country.

June 20, Invercargill to Te Anau

2006-07-02T12:31:00.000+10:00

Mighty good coffee and wireless internets in the Zookeepers Cafe in Inverz. Also, very good service and our introduction to the phrase "swut uz". Rough translation: "Sweet As".

Riverton is just a bit out of Inverz.

Waggy the Goat is the sole resident of Riverton, having eaten all the humans, possibly.

The wind is strong in these parts.

There are many things about the name Monkey Island that are inherently funny.

We had the luck to find Monkey Island at low tide.

Bit of a climb over to stairs which lead up the island.

Tad windy and bloody freezing.

At the top of NZ's smallest mountain.

View from the top looking east.

A place to rest your behind.

Number 4,081 of NZ's 24,758 rolling green hills.

Always black sand/pepples on the beaches.

Finally started getting closer to the mountains.

A picture postcard around every corner.

An abundance of uncooked lamb shanks as well.

It was extremely peaceful on the shores of the lake at Manapouri.

It's about as cold as it looks. Super fresh air.

One way to stay warm.

June 21, Te Anau to Milford Sound to Mossburn

2006-07-02T11:17:00.000+10:00

Left the beautiful little town of Te Anau early to get up to Milford Sound for a cruise. I'll always remember Te Anau for hearing the word "Ket Ket" (Kit Kat).

Lots of eerie mists, no hobbits so far though.

The landscape has changed again, brownish grasses (dying since the recent snow dumps?)

An unexpected delay in the mountains.. All of a sudden we've an hour to kill while the road is ploughed and covered in grit for traction.

Which is fantastic because we've found ourselves in a beautiful spot.

Down a 3m slippery frozen slope we find the coldest, freshest little river.

That's some hardcore moss; it's hard to believe plants grow when it's so cold.

An odd blue-greenish colour to the water.

Such pre-historic looking plants.

Once the road opened, a little way down the road it was time to put on the snow chains. Tricky the first time, but we soon got the hang of it.

Once we got about 80% of the way to Milford Sound the ice and snow cleared up enough to take the chains off. This little fellow (a Kea) decided to attempt to eat the car.

Our boat had left over an hour ago by the time we got there, but thankfully we were fine to get on the next one.

Seeing as the average yearly rainfall at Milford Sound is 5m, we were incredibly lucky to get a blue sky.

Considering the incredible strength of the wind, you'd probably end up pretty soaked if you stayed on the deck of the boat if it were raining.

Out where it became ocean, we could feel the full effect of the roaring 40s. Never felt wind like that before.

As one can see here..

Waterfalls galore.

Hang on I thought we weren't going to get wet..

Everyone else on the boat had the sense to get under cover at this point in time.

No beaches, just vertical rock plunging into the water. Apparently a layer of a few meters of fresh water over up to 300m of the ocean salt.

Finally my beanie was an appropriate fashion statement.

The first seal of our holiday (the relatively tiny thing on top of the rock).

Juxtaposing the green of the trees, the white snows, the grey rocks and the blue water.

Well worth the $50 ticket and crazy drive.

On the drive out it started snowing on us. The first time we'd seen snow fall from the sky.

Thing is, it was kinda falling horizontally and hard.

Like a black and white valley.

Dave Chappelle's Block Party

2006-05-18T09:52:00.000+10:00

Saw it last night. It's a bit odd that it takes 18 months to release a documentary of a gig; by now musical tastes have inevitably moved on. The big blast of the movie is supposed to be the Fugees, and yet Kanye West gets just a little attention in the beginning of the lineup.

Dave drops some hilarity in between average-to-good musical performances. The best bits are Dave just plain interacting with the real, colourful people he runs across while organising the party and inviting guests.

It was orright I spose. Yanks loved it, then again they are loving that S11 Flight seventy whatever as well.

Merle Interview on 2SER

2006-05-16T09:56:00.000+10:00

Last week there was some Merle on the community airwaves. Watch out for MP3 ghosts and click here!

We play "If Danny Was A" and "Yippee!" at the end of the interview, so fast forward if you're getting bored by our vagueness.

I am the Lord of Databases

2006-05-03T11:12:00.000+10:00

This morning I passed the Implementing Databases with Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition exam! 770 out of 1,000. Pass mark is 700. Thanks the lord that's over.

Anniversary; Holiday Part II

2006-04-04T23:22:00.000+10:00

It was our two year mooseiversary on Sunday night. We went back to where we had our first date: Mrs Macquarie's Chair on Sydney Harbour. We drank wine and ate various antipasto things and watched fireworks go off. We also chased Dumpi as he in turn chased opossi. Beautiful night.

Long overdue: here's part two of our Southern NSW Holiday photos..........

Tilba has an awesome lolly shop: the Tilba Sweet Spot. This photo belongs in the last lot of photos; Tilba is on the way to Bega. Oops.

You know you're in the country when you get stuck behind a tractor. On the Highway. Carrying a bale of hay. It was probably a good thing I spent so much time practising driving on mountain roads on the PS2, because this kind of thing was very reminiscent of the long drives in GTA San Andreas.

We were headed for them thar hills with bugger all idea of what we might find.

Bemboka is only a little way into the hills, and has a mighty pie shop.

Good for bellies!

Try and find a better retreat! We defy you! 160 acres at $384,000.

This cheeky little bugger must have been a left over from a plague. Seemed almost tame.

This is the most impressive public toilet in a shop in the entire world. Note the pot plants in the shower, and the window with translucent curtains, which allow the cows and locals in the paddocks to watch you pee.

It's so hot in Bemboka that the wool requires refrigeration.

Part III coming soon.

Old Man Merle in Melb

2006-04-04T17:03:00.000+10:00

Last Friday night we played at the Rob Roy with the very Pink Floyd like "Light Says Solo" and the Elbow-like "Pitching Woo". There were 197 payers. That made me glad. Proper barbeque lamb souvlakia at 3am is one of the things that makes Melbourne rule. Falling over on my butt in the rain; that's a different story.

Rehearsal Tracks

2006-03-27T10:46:00.000+11:00

For a limited time only, for special people like you, here's a few tracks from yesterday's Merle Morris rehearsal.

Frost Freeze
Wax On
If Danny Was A

The sampler tracks are a bit quiet, such is recording through one vocal mic with guess-technology mic placement. Trust me, the samples were LOUD in the room.

shhh don't tell the old men.

(UPDATE - this limited time is over. If you want to hear these tracks, email me.)

Blogger Blogs

2006-03-15T12:41:00.000+11:00

I don't think this blog is obtuse enough, I'm showing my age. Mental Note: more pointless simile, poor poetry.

Merle Morris

2006-03-14T10:35:00.000+11:00

Merle Morris are medium rotation on JJJ this week. That means something like "2 plays in the 3 'standard' shows (Morning, Lunch, Afternoon), 1 during super request if yr lucky, and 1 overnight" (thanks Andrew Weaver for the info).

Also, Merle are on the RRR soundscape thingo:

Add Merle to your friends, if you haven't already.

New Old theHEAD Tracks

2006-03-02T15:46:00.000+11:00

There's some new mp3 downloads of live theHEAD stuff at

www.mp3.com.au/track.asp?id=124134
and
www.mp3.com.au/track.asp?id=124137

Let it be known

Hutch and Ox on Holiday

2006-02-28T09:40:00.000+11:00

On Monday the 20th of February, Hutch and Ox headed south. Lots of stuff happened in between these photos, and Hutch has written much more text which I'm sure she's going to release on a blog somewhere soon. I'm a simple man, so here's a bunch of photos and sometimes witty remarks. Unfortunately we didn't get much photoage of the beaches around Jervis Bay, we were too busy swimming and feeling like we were in heaven.

Gerringong is the first place we stopped to catch our breaths. Very nice breaths too, out in the country air. You wonder what that smell is, and you realise it's the way things are supposed to be. Then you realise you're very, very hungry.

Some places just won't feed ya. Doesn't matter how hungry you are.

Albion Park is a desolate wasteland of boganhood. That's bad.

Albion Park will however feed you! That's good.

The food will make you happy for approximately 15 minutes, and then you'll realise it's utter shite. That's bad.

Nowra is very bossy. I have issues with authority.

They seem to be very strict in Nowra. Lucky noone caught me.

Hutch plays me a song, mocking my sookery.

Actually, we've stumbled upon where she used to perform violin at Eisteddfods and take ballet lessons.

We got to Shoalhaven late in the day. I have two thongs!

Much like my woman, who has two shoes. Who says opposites attract?

It is fortunate that she is not a skank (nor am I), or we would've had to turn around and go home.

Such is the satisfaction of being ON HOLIDAY!

Still, it was kinda grey

And windy, so off to Grandma's house we go (stopping off at the shop & pub first of course).

Grandmas and Norms are good things. They try to fatten you up. Even more.

We didn't even get hassled for great-grandchildren or nothin'!

Hutch's old family home in Jervis Bay Village.

Happy Hutch! Don't eat me!

Now you see her!

Now you don't!

Now you see her!

Now you don't!

Now you.. Happy Hutch makes for Happy Ox.

Time to go bush. Very bumpy unsealed roads. Glad we didn't take the pnlvn by now, very much thank you Mum for the Commodore. This is heading down to Hole in the Wall in the Booderee National Park. A good map for all the places you're about to see is HERE.

There are Bunyips in them forests.

Governer's Head. These cliffs are high and cause much butterflies in one's guttiwuts.

You can almost make out those butterflies.

Hutch decided the best way to deal with the butterflies was to wander around the cliff edge with her eyes closed.

A good remedy for foot odour is hanging said feet over the cliffs. The navy was practising blowing things up fairly close by: you could feel a dull thump in the air every time an explosion went off.

Cape St George lighthouse and the surrounds were inhabited by unfortunate people who were thrown into a pointless situation due to beauracracy. These days it's home to an incredible lookout.

It was destroyed, and then declared heritage. Hilarious.

Right next to the lighthouse the lookout extends out OVER 90m cliffs. Absolutely terrifying and exhilirating.

Looking north east from the lookout.

And to the south west. Blogger has decided that this picture wants to be left justified, and who am I to argue?

The cliff upon which the lookout and lighthouse stand, viewed from the south west.

Ahh the mysteries of Blogger formatting. And the tricolour beauty of the burnt land vs the sea and sky. Looking south east from the road leading from the lighthouse back to civilisation.

Stony creek. We stopped here for a snorkel.

Moments after this shot was taken, RAAF F18s started buzzing us. A few hundred meters above, and fast and loud as you can imagine. The tides were pretty hairy, so we didn't stay too long, but we saw some incredible loifes.

A good zillion miles south of Jervis Bay is Tathra. To get to Tahra, you must go through Bega. Our advice is do not stop at Bega. Do not wind your windows down or even look out the window.

Between Bega and Tathra, things begin to get strange. This thing looks about 10m tall, and is rusty. I think Salad Fingers may be from the far south coast of NSW.

Tathra has an inlet.

And an incredibly huge beach.

Odd that all our beach photos were taken at gloomy times of the day.

I'm composing a poem about the sea in this shot.

The "historic" giant wooden wharf, from which this shot was taken, was under our feet.

Lotsa rock bits that look like they'd be fun to snorkel around if it weren't getting so dark and cool.

More rust, more evidence of Salad Fingers' work.

Now, this blogette is getting pretty huge, and Blogger's starting to panic, so look forward to part two of the Holiday photoage soon!

Hobo Atlas

2006-02-17T17:03:00.000+11:00

theHEAD's track Hobo Atlas, featuring Eytan Messiah on MC duties, looks like appearing on the CD which accompanies the annual literary magazine Going Down Swinging. It gets released in April, and gets sold in specialist book stores like Gleebooks.

Next Week

2006-02-17T13:14:00.000+11:00

We're off on 'oliday.

Jervis Bay and Tathra/Bega here we come! The panno is hopefully gonna get us there and back, and if not, then that's what I've got NRMA premium cover for.

Dumpi will be staying with a carer, and hopefully getting some exposure to other dogs. Social problems, he has. Should be $140 well spent if he comes back a little less retarded.

How to Play a Korg Delta

2006-02-15T17:55:00.000+11:00

Follow these instructions carefully, and you will be making the sweetest sounds in synth history.

1) Get a Korg Delta

2) Make it like unto these pictures

3) etc.

I am shit at cook

2006-02-15T09:10:00.000+11:00

Last night I tried to grill scotch fillets, mash potato, create a mushroom & onion sauce and cook crêpes Suzettes.

What a disaster. Even the mashed potato was inedible. How do you ruin mashed potato?

I'm good at cook

2006-02-14T15:11:00.000+11:00

Friday night it was crêpes . Here be a caramelised onion and tasmanian feta crêpe:

Here be the preparation space. It is good to know that one day I will be able to be the chef on a submarine.

Saturday night I roasted 1.5 kg of beef. Both George and Dumpi took a massive liking to this.

Sunday night I rested. We had sushi with hairs and bugs.

Last night I cooked veggie pasta. Not that exciting, just saying.

I have another new toy

2006-02-14T09:45:00.000+11:00

192 KHz, 32-bit sample engine with 64 fold multi-timbrality and unlimited voices
Sample library with more than 15 GB
Brand-new, intuitive user-interface offering dozens of innovative features
Advanced surround sound features allowing up to 16 channel mix-downs
KONTAKT Script Processor for profound engine and feature customization
Convolution effect adds real-life reverb characteristics or special effects to the sound
6 different sample modes: Classic, DFD, Tone, Time I and II as well as Beat Machine
Detailed browser functionality affording a concise overview of essential information
Universal Import ensures compatibility with virtually every sample and library format
Vast selection of effects, filters and modulators. Convenient Group, Mapping and Loop editors for easy use of zones and slicing loops

More Visualitee

2006-02-13T00:26:00.000+11:00

a tattoo of Unicron from the 1984 Transformers film is just too rad for words.

Pho and Viet coffees

spice girls cds get no respect in Fitzroy

That'a a lot of junk. Could use a bin like that in MY street.

They don't call it the Old Bar for nothing.

The first chilli from our garden! HOTTT

Some bands have no respect for the Rob Roy's wall decorations.

Seafaring in Martin Place

Merle Morris has respect for the Rob Roy's walls.

Simple things.

I have new toys

2006-02-08T09:53:00.000+11:00

Random Memories of the Past Week

2006-02-06T12:40:00.000+11:00

Merle Morris played a backyard party. Then we got drunk and stuff.

Like totally stuff and junk!

I know there's an indigenous community around Carlton, but naming a store "Aboh Shoes" is pushing it a bit far.

That's Bar in the green jacket. Danny hides in the peach tree.

This photo isn't even from Melbourne! What's it doing here?

Almond Praline and Cointreau crepe flambe. Incredible.

Pants!

Melborg This Friday

2006-01-30T17:15:00.000+11:00

Lotsa Rain lately

2006-01-22T17:15:00.000+11:00

is good for making thai basil double in size in the space of a week. Most of the plants are recovering after the New Years Day sunshine insanity. Ate the first jalapeno yesterday, nice n spicy n sharp.

Cleaning the house. Bits of stuffed cow toy everywhere thanks to Dumpi's libido. Fruit flies infesting the lounge room. Laundry. My girl's Mum coming to stay in a couple of days time. It's a beautiful day outside. Iwant more weekend! *cries*

Day auf Muzak

2006-01-15T00:05:00.000+11:00

Been rearranging the house! Every lounge room needs a multi synth and sampler setup. I wonder how many people have run an Akai S2000 through a Marshall preamp before. Ruminations indeed.

Click to hear the latest progress on "Absynthetix", a song which has been sitting around since 2004 waiting for its own messiah. Featuring bass from across the oceans courtesy of Kondor, synths by Jean Facade, and labouriously glitched drums ripped from a Black Level Embassy song, "Leave the Vultures Nothing". It's all still demo stage and unmixed/mastered, etc., comments welcome!

It's My Gosh Darned Birthday

2006-01-11T10:05:00.000+11:00

and therefore you should come to this gig and buy me a bevner.

Tattoo

2006-01-03T13:00:00.000+11:00

I'm thinking of getting a tattoo which both honours my recently deceased Nan, and fits in with my long time idea of getting something botanical inked on my arm.

Nan's favourite plant was the Wattle. Getting some Acacia done sounds to me like a pretty unique tatt idea.

Gotta keep up with the Joneses too!

NYE

2006-01-02T15:03:00.001+11:00

New Years Eve, we were standing under the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Quite like being in a warzone.

We went to a chatty gathering just near the bridge. Lotsa nice friendly chatter, very comfy, and the perfect place to see the fireworks from without having to camp from 9am. Lots of Melbourne kids.

The walks to and from the party however were an education in human desperation; why do so many people feel that having a good time means standing in a massive crowd that reeks of vomit, or queueing outside a nightclub that won't let them in? Starting fights, trying to sex anything that moves, getting suckered to pay a heap of cash for things that'll lay them out sick. By the time we got home I felt like I'd turned into a Mormon. Kids, eh?

Nothing like a good bottle of wine, good food, good company and comfy surrounds. Keep it simple, stupids.

Christmas was one of the best ever. Spent it with my girl and my family out at the family mansion, and at the holiday trailer park at Colo River. Heaps of swimming, eating, relaxing. We only just finished the turkey that we roasted on Xmas Eve, well Dumpy the Dog finished the last of it for us. Spoilt dog.

I'm a spoilt man, thanks to the espresso machine my girl bought me. Making coffee is easy. Steaming and frothing milk is a bitch. I think I'm getting heart palpitations.

Been to Bronte a few times for swims 'n' barbecues. Big, clean surf, scary and uber fun. Pity we can't take Dumpo on the beach. We can however take JBR, he's much better behaved, only barks at bogans.

It was incredibly hot yesterday, the hottest Sydney day in something like 60 years. Our garden is looking very weary, lots of dead foliage. Can't complain too much though, our garden shold survive thanks to the rain last night and today. Unlike the poor Central Coast families who've got no homes at all today.

Roasted beef last night. Too bloody. oops. Made for good leftovers today though.

Fans of My GF

2005-12-19T12:36:00.000+11:00

I'm a fan of my GF. I think she's quite rad.

Today was an important milestone in her treatment.

I am very happy. Statistically it was unexpected, but "feelings" were all good today. And they were warranted.

I like this festive season.

Weekend of Power!

2005-12-19T10:03:00.000+11:00

Jimmy Eat World at the Metro on Friday night. Flat. My favourite song of theirs gets played second while the mix is still atrocious. Played slow, and in a lower key for lazy voices. Ugh. About 5 great songs, and a lot of mid tempo energyless filler. So samey. We left at encore. Thankfully the rest of the weekend became a musical antidote.

Bronte for chat bbq on Saturday, excellent swimming.

Balkan grill for dinner, massive steaks, cabbage and potato salad, friendly establishment. 750g of rib eye steak cooked well is a beautiful thing.

Further rocked Spectrum; they've become a prime band. Tucker Bs were bizzarre and awesome, and later we got to drunkenly and perhaps regrettably verbally assault many people.

Turkey dogs and beer yesterday at the Abercrombie, My Disco! were incredible, so tight & brutal. Nice guys too.
The SPOD gig was awesome, everyone had heaps of fun, it was the best Xmas party imaginable. Further sounded huge, and playing my Korg MS2000 through an Ampeg 8x10 right behind me was pleasurable in many ways. One of the best gigs I've ever played. Wish we'd had an encore planned! Ah well, that's what happens when you have a whole 3 rehearsals.

Then dinner at the Clove in Darlo: spastically good indian fude. And then I woke up at 8:04 this morning needing to be in a meeting at 8:30. Got in at 8:35. Now that's a powerful weekend!

Just feeling sorry for my girl; when she gets home from hospital today she's got jackhammering across the road to deal with. If there was a law, it'd be against it.

Tis the Season to Be Busy As

2005-12-16T10:47:00.000+11:00

After a good year or so off, I'm playing keyboards for SPOD again. Looking forward to this heaps, especially since Further are both my childhood homies and one of my favourite bands anywhere in the world.
Bit sad that I can't do the Melbourne show, but on the bright side we're going to the Metro to see Jimmy Eat World's sideshow tonight. And then there's the Tucker Bs and Further at Spectrum on Saturday night.
Eytan, who has MCed for theHEAD on occasion came around last night to pick up an instrumental version of "HoboAtlas" that he'll be rapping over on Saturday night at the Metro. Wish I could make that too, be interesting to see something I recorded being performed solo from the crowd. There's also a Xmas drinks that Merle Morris have been invited to that I'd love to do some hobnobbing at. Note to self: Clone self.

Early Christmas

2005-12-12T10:39:00.000+11:00

This year, Christmas is on. Tooooooooootally on. Here's the weekend rundown.

On Friday eve, I rushed home to take my Wooza's Mum to the airport. Raced home to meet my olds, who brought us a real conifer, some wooden benches for our plants and an outdoor 6 piece set for our balcony. Construction thereof, and Gin and Tonics thereafter. MTV awards with the Gorillaz getting holographic and Borat making awesome potty humour while we feasted on some awesome pizza from just around the corner.
Saturday was the Sass & Bide sale at Mascot, then race out to Parramatta to Target to pick up our dining set that the Wooza's Mum bought us. Which involved 45 minutes of being witness to the most awesome lack of coordination that a retail giant can muster. Race back to the city, only an hour late for FurthOD/SPOther rehearsal. All songs sound mighty, including a new one learnt and perfected in an hour. Tacos for dinner. Think I still prefer beans to mince.
Sunday morning; sleep in. Beautiful frittata for lunch. Thence out to the retail hell that is the Christmas Cave at Alexandria. We've got a tree, it has to be done right. At least we found a stocking that has "Merry Christ-Moose" on it. Outta there, off to Bunnings at Mascot, where we pick up lots more pots, potting mix, and a Golden Cane Palm, a Hibiscus, Marjoram, Thai Basil, some unidentified awesome yellow sprouting thing & Geraniums. Back home, put a bunch of pasta sauce on to cook for the next 3.5 hours, and pot them bastards. The back patio is beginning to look awesome and comfy.
Finally, at 21:00, we've got our first dinner on our new dining set that the Wooza has constructed while I cook, as shown above.
22:00, it's time to decorate the tree. Why don't the bloody glass baubles come with loops that allow them to be hung? An hour of tedious threading later... The tree is the whore of Darlinghurst.
Very much looking forward to time off over Xmas to New Year!

Announcement of Bloodthirst

2005-12-05T18:05:00.000+11:00

For many reasons, after four years of abstinence, I have stopped not eating lamb, deer, chickens and cattle.

Swine are safe for now.

Thank you for your time.

Good food in Casa Del Ox

2005-12-05T08:59:00.000+11:00

Saturday night sushi! Bugger going outside the house...

Over

2005-12-02T09:25:00.000+11:00

All throughout the pleas for clemency for VN I was angered by the expectation that another country should bow to the will of Australia. For we would not do the same for them, nor should we.

Now, as VN has most probably been violently and needlessly killed, I'm just very sad.

Is this thing on?

2005-12-01T11:21:00.000+11:00

Download those songs

It's Tom/Schmidt auf derHEAD in his new Jean Facade guise.

Uber catchy synth pop with gigantic harmonies and awesome hooks.