Big Day Out

Hey people!
At home right now typing this on a proper keyboard (yay!), so it may have some detail.
Sooooooo shortly after writing my last post (well, not that shortly) Agata messaged me saying that she was in the movies the day before (so couldn't answer her phone) and was at work that day (once again unable to answer her phone), and asked for me to meet her at 10:45am outside the BDO, allowing enough time to catch Wolf & Cub at 11am. Yay!
So that night I had dinner with Linden and Jess, and stayed the night at Linden's. Jess and Monique went out to the city that night with the Canadians that we met in NZ. Linden didn't want to go out (and nor I) so we stayed at home... anyway, that was a dull tangent.
So I checked all the timetables to find out when I would have to leave to get to BDO by 10:45am, but of course we didn't even make the first train. Linden and Monique were dawdling (sp?) around that morning, and even when we were leaving with enough time to just make the train, Tom (Linden's younger brother - who was coming with us) realised he had left the tickets at home. So no chance of making that train.
So we caught the next. And it stopped at North Sydney because of a train broken down on the Harbour Bridge (the train we missed?). The conductor said that there were "indefinite" delays. So we decided to walk across the bridge to Wynyard and catch the train from there... of course when we were half way across the bridge the trains started up again. 3 passed us by the time we were at the other side... yeesh. I let Agata know that I would be late, and it turned out she would be too.
So we hop on at Wynyard (after a 10-15 minute wait) to go to Lidcombe. Of course by now I've missed the entire Wolf & Cub set. Maybe I could catch some of The Presets (who started at midday).
Arriving at Lidcombe we miss the Olympic Park train by less than 1 minute (no real drama).
Upon arrival to Olympic Park, we were greeted with the longest queue I have ever seen for anything (including BDO). Holy cow. This is infuriating. I've now missed The Presets, and am about to miss Gerling (who started at 1pm). We eventually get in (I ran into James Giddins from High School in the massive queue), and I ruch over to the main stage to line up for entry into the D-Pit (the mosh section at the front), and Gerling start when I'm in that line, but when they do the line starts moving, and I get in!
So I groove over toward Gerling to finally let my Big Day Out begin. Agata appears from behind to greet me, and I get a picture message from Ross showing that he is enjoying Gerling from the D-Pit too. I greet Agata and tell her of my adventures in, and we watch Gerling. We ended up spending the next few hours together, and in that time Linden, Monique, Tom and Ross all come meet us, and later in the arvo, Agata's friends too.
So, in the D-pit I saw
Gerling
Magic Dirt
Mudvayne
Wolfmother
Hilltop Hoods
and Kings of Leon
I wasn't originally going to see Kings of Leon (Henry Rollins was doing a spoken word on another stage at that time), but after Jason, Linden, Tom and Agata all recommended them, how could I resist? They were totally cool! But, alas, I had to leave when they were done. There were other acts to see elsewhere, and I also hadn't eaten all day. So this meant goodbye to Agata, as she was staying in the d-pit for the rest of the day. I feel really bad about the goodbye though. There was only a quick goodbye because I thought she was going to walk up to the exit (of the d-pit) with me (to get some water - as the hose was right next to the exit). She grabbed my hand, and I kept walking, thinking she would follow me, I walk through the crowd, turn around, and she's gone. Ah shit. There were things I wanted to say... shit. I hate goodbyes like that. So I SMS'ed an apology and a sort-of goodbye, and left for some lunch.
I had just bought a grilled chicken burger when Alex called me, so I met up with him. We then left to catch The Herd (totally mad). Ross then messaged me to meet him, and my phone battery died. Luckily he knew I was at The Herd, so we were able to meet up.
We then headed over to Cut Copy, and Linden, Monique and Tom met us there.
Man, Cut Copy were funky as shit! Loved 'em. Gotta check more of their stuff out.
Next up were the band I'd been waiting to see since they were first announced: The Mars Volta. I'd heard alot about their live shows, and wasn't disappointed. Maybe a little too much improv, but overall they were great. Alas, my experience was marred by trying to locate Alex during the performance. Eventually we gave up and I started concentrating on the show again. Yeah, they totally rawked!
So after that, I was pretty buggered. Gave up on watching Cog, and waited to meet up with Linden and co.
I might add that in seeing The Mars Volta, I had to miss seeing Iggy & The Stooges as well as The White Stripes. Oh well, The Mars Volta, didn't disappoint.
The next day at Linden's I watched Batman Begins (I hadn't actually seen it yet), and Skeleton Key. I liked em both. I also watched a shit load of Robot Chicken. I like that show alot. So stupid, so funny.
I then went to Linden's local (The Greengate) with Linden, Monique, Jess, Mel (Linden's cousin), Dave (Mel's friend), Ross, Jon, Boggle, Brendan and Leanne. Not a bad night. I owe Boggle a beer.
I came home the next day, in order to find my NZ assignment for Agata, write a letter to Helen, and write emails to Amanda and Megan. Let's hope I get it done.
Oh, and Rockbox (for my mp3 player) now mas BMP support, so the While Playing Screen looks funk-ass! Stoked!
So yeah. There you go, my Big Day Out.
Until next time!

Listening to: Jacknife Lee - Muy Rico! (Album)

Back

Hey there!
I arrived home from NZ on Sunday. The trip was great. The only awkward moments were brought on by the differences between the girls and us boys, but toward the end of the trip everything was dandy.
I'm actually typing this from my phone in Sydney, so I'm keeping it brief. I'm in Sydney because it's the Big Day Out tomorrow so I'm staying in Sydney tonight in order to get there at a reasonable hour; I'll be staying at Linden's.
I would have liked to meet up with Agata, but she didn't answer her phone, and hasn't replied to my sms. Not sure that's a good sign... But I will be heading in with Lil and Mon, and will be meeting up with Ross. There may also be others to meet; maybe Evelyn. Who knows?
So yeah... Can't be bothered typing any more.
Blog later.

Listening to: Mum talking on the phone.

NZ!

Hey people!
I'm currently in an internet cafe in Lake Taupo, NZ. The trip is going great. The Noth Island is totally freakin different to the South that I went to 2 years ago. I think I prefer the South to tell the truth of it. New Years was about as big a disappointment as is possible. We spent it at Mt Maunganui (sp?), and it seemed when we first arrived there that it would be a massive party. Nope. Well kind of I suppose... but not a good one. We were aware of the total alcohol ban, but we weren't aware of the fact that there are only a handful of small pubs at the Mt., and that they were all full, and they weren't near the beach anyway. There was a temporary pub open near the beach called the Sand Bar, but there was a big queue to get in, and the beers were expensive. We ended up walking around the Mt. looking for a pub for 2 hours, and then just catching a taxi back to the house we were staying at at 11:30pm. The tick over to 2006 was a mediocre event, and I was in a shit mood anyway. We did let some fireworks off, and Doug (Boggle's 1st cousin - he lives at the house we were staying at) brought out his potato canon, but I went to bed at about 1:30am, a little happier than I was at midnight, but not pleased with my New Years. So yeah... disappointing.
But Taupo is pretty, and today we are planning on going out kayaking across the lake.
Yeah, that reminds me, I wanted to go skydiving coz it's cheap as chups (haha) here. But I have to weigh under 100kgs. That fucken sucks. So we'll try and make some enquiries and see if it's possible.
But anyway, I can't stay long, I have to have breakfast and we have to go adventuring.
Post later,
Simon