Brisbane and Our Journey North

Hello all, and welcome to my long delayed blog post.
On Friday 18th January 2008, Leanne and I finished packing our shit, and headed north to our new city of residence, Brisbane.
As is our style, we understimated just how long t would take to pack, and we didn't leave until after midday. It didn't really matter though, as we were going to stop off at my Uncle Bruce's place in Fernleigh (in between Byron Bay and Ballina) and spend the next day there.
The drive was good. Neither of us grew too weary, and the driver reviver stops helped us on our way. We had dinner at Coffs Harbour. A delicious fish burger each. Holy cow, it was *exactly* what I wanted. In fact, I want one now. Damn. So tasty.
We arrived at Bruces around 10pm, and talked for a little while before going to bed.
The next day we heard that the Mullumbimby makets were on, and thought it would be a great place to go. Unfortuntely, after driving out there we saw a sign informing us that they had been cancelled due to all the recent rain. Shame.
Well, not so much, because Leanne and I went for a beautiful drive through to Main Arm. Wow, so pretty. I'd love to live there for a few years. We followed the winding roads across fords and up into the mountains, and eventually turned around when it became a national park. We then took a different path back to the Pacific Hwy, but not before stopping off at a pie shop for some pies, peas, mash and gravy. Once again, yum yum.
We had a BBQ for dinner that night, and afterwards went down to Lennox Head pub as a band that Kate (Bruce's girlfriend) wanted to see were playing. A whole heap of Kate's friends and their families were down there, too.
So we went along. Not a bad band, but a cover band so they held no real interest for me.
Funnily enough though Casey Rickets (from primary and high school) was working there. Strange world. What's even a little stranger is that he has married a girl from Louisville, Kentucky. What's strange about that is that that's where Megan went to College. Funny how two boys from Turramurra end up going with two girls from Louisville.
The night went well. Leanne and I spent most of the time talking with Bruce, who's rather entertaining.
Strangely, during the night a man walking past reached out and stroked my sideburns, smiling. He then left, silently. Strange man.
After the pub we went back to Bruce's and lit a spliff. He had some hash, so we had some of that, and Kate rolled two fat joints. Holy cow. I went to another planet.
It was great talking with them through the night, but Leanne and I had to be up the next morning to meet Alex before he went to Gold Coast Big Day Out (which is about an hour and a half from Bruce's place).
Leanne and I woke up around 9am. We promised Alex we'd meet him by about 10am, which wasn't terrible when you consider the fact that Qld doesn't observe daylight savings. So we weren't doing too badly.
Of course, this "not doing too badly" quickly turned into "late" because we had a lazy breakfast, a lazy packing session, and then had to wait for Dad to stop by.
On top of this, the traffic was terrible so Alex ended up missing some of the bands he wanted to see. Of course, I was doing him a favour (playing mule), so he couldn't be too upset. Also, in the heat and the traffic, the car started to over heat.
We ended up getting into Brisbane some time around lunch, and to save the $$$ we ate pasta that we cooked that morning. The night's activities began to take their toll, so we bought some V, which helped us get by and made us excited about moving to Brisbane.
Rather than heading straight to Leanne's cousin's house, we thought we'd take a tour of the city.
It's small.
Very small.
Like about as big as Parramatta or maybe Chatswood. A teeny, tiny CBD. And then it's Central Coast-esque suburbia. And maybe 90% of the houses look the same. I unerstand now why they call them "Queenslanders." Every fucking house in Queensland is a fucking Queenslander. It's strange. If it's a nice house, it's a renovated Queenslander, if it's a shit house, it's a run down Queenslander. Rent varies dramatically between the run down and the renovated, but they're all fucking Queenslanders!
Of course, I'm exaggerating a little.
So Leanne and I are staying with her cousin, her husband and their two kids. They're all nice, so at least it's not terrible staying with them, but I'm keen for my own space - as is Leanne.
But the search for housing isn't going as well as it could. We viewed 5 or 6 houses yesterday, and only one of them was what we wanted, and one other was worth considering. So that sucks. Today we didn't see any good houses. Tomorrow is a big day though. 9-5 drivng around Brisbane kinda day. It's gonna be tiring. But, hopefully, we will come out with some houses having been applied for - and maybe even a house to call our own - although I'm feeling that could be a somewhat optimistic viewpoint at this juncture.
Either way, wish us luck.

Thoughts on Brisbane:
Hot & muggy.
Small but quaint.
More obviously bohemian.
A strange older brother of the Central Coast.
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Colori #1

Colori #1
Originally uploaded by franzliv

We are at Mickey's and I am looking at pictures like this.
Drugs are good man.

We Jammin'

Last Sunday Ben invited Me, Leanne, Mickey and Ross down to his place in Kurnell for a jam.
Ross brought his bass, and his harmonica (and Mickey's MicroKorg), and Mickey brought his Trombone. All I could bring along was a mouth harp. Leanne and I spent some time trying to find the mouthpiece for a trumpet of hers, but alas, we could not. Oh well.
It was great fun!
I like the MicroKorg. I like it a lot. I want one.
Leanne took a few photos of the jam. You can see them here.
Because of Leanne and my limited musical experience, we spent some time outside reading The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe. It's fucking awesome. During said times, there were some pretty cool sounds coming from the band room, and they accompanied the writings very well.
Ben's Mum provided us with plenty of food, and after dinner we finished it off with a bit of a smoke. Oh, and a trombone solo:

Great fun all 'round.

Smokin', Swimmin', Spewin' and exSplodin'

As the weather last week was pretty fucking awesome, Simon and I decided to take Mickey and some weed to Nth Avoca beach. Mickey didn't taste very good so we sat in front of a sand dune and smoked the weed instead, and spent the next hour laughing at a variety of incredible things.

We laughed at ourselves:


We laughed at the ocean:


We laughed at a tennis ball:


We laughed at the faces and reclining lady that can be found in this cliff:


And we laughed at this toupee crawling through the sand:


We went for a swim and were bashed about by waves that took no pity on us poor stoned folk. It was awesome: the physical sensation of the water crashing against us, the coolness on our scalps as we dived beneath it, the roughness of the sand at our toes, the sun shining on our faces, the colours exploding in our eyes and dripping off our auras... It was awesome, and even when I threw up from swallowing too much ocean the colours in my spew were so captivating that I happily watched their luminescent parts pool below me and ride an incoming wave directly into Mickey's ankles (as my eyes slid up to his incredulous face).
BEST VOMIT EVER!

We spent more some time sunning on the beach, and then Simon and I went for a second swim before heading to The Green Dolphin in Wamberal for a HUGE lunch/dinner of Caesar Salad Burgers and too many chips. VERY, very tasty but my gods, don't get the $7 chips unless you're eating with a family of 10 starving bears and a wolf cub...

Mickey was desperate to pee at this point, having needed to pee in the car on the way up and at the beach (though it had run away at the first touch of cold water), so we drove to Avoca beach to use the amenities, sit for a while, and eat Cold Rock caramel fudge ice-cream with picnic bars and nerds mixed in - which is by far the best combination I've had.

Also at Avoca beach Simon saw this cute little dog and has fallen in love with it. It was such a happy prancing little dog, and had every cute girl chatting to the guy who was walking it. Well done!

So, with the day coming to an end we starting driving back down the freeway to home... only to take THE BEST DETOUR to the Hunter Valley for the night! YAY! We rocked out to Tenacious D in the car then settled into the house with another joint, some enlightening conversation about a "marinara trench", and then created the following videos:


This firework was MEANT to spin around on the ground then shoot into the sky for a loud explosion. As you can tell, it didn't quite make it. Our ribs were hit with the shockwave and we could feel it for an hour afterwards!


This firework was old and broken and had no fuse, so we stabilised it (ingeniously) by sticking it in a plastic bottle inside a watering can, and lighting it with a sparkler.

FUCKING AWESOME NIGHT!

(followed up by this Peat's Ridge breakfast the next morning)


Simon and I are currently listening to Mint Royale - See You In The Morning
Simon and I are currently co-reading The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (by Tom Wolfe) and Otherland (by Tad Williams)

Infected Mushroom at The Metro

Holy shitballs.
What a fucking kickass concert. No, seriously, it was fucking amazing.
Infected Mushroom are a fucking god-like band. Such an amazing sound. The guitar goes so well with the dance music, and the live drummer is a kickass addition. Of course, the live vocals really impress, and the fact that you have an MC just amps the crowd up as it is. And what would it be without the keyboardist? So yeah, a fucking great band.
I've published a photo set on flickr for your perusal (I'm still not sure of the best way to distribute links to flickr... I think if you're a member (Yahoo! members use their Yahoo! ID) you don't need the guest pass(es) that I have been publishing... anyway):
*EDIT* Turns out you don't need the guest passes to view publURL:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jademonkee/sets/72157600078883036/
Check it out, it will compliment my post.
So. The night started early for me, as I just met Leanne after work at about 5:30pm. We went and bought Linden's present... hold on, before I can go any further I have to start listening to Infected Mushroom... that's better.
So we went over to JB to find one of the CDs that I had in mind for Lil. Ended up getting her a Lee "Scratch" Perry album (I wanted to get her one that was related to The Great Escape). I recognised two songs on the album that he played at the concert, so I figured it was a good album to get.
After that Lilly and I went to that cheap little sushi place on Pitt St and bought dinner (a sushi box, gyoza and a bento box). Tasty. We then sat around for a bit as we were both a bit tired (although I was simultaneously - and almost contradictorily - pumped for the concert). At about 7:45pm we headed over to Retro to meet Linden etc.
The "etc" were Tristan, Boggle, Drew + a work friend of his (see first photo), two of Linden's friends from Scotland... I think that was all who were there when we arrived...? Time saw the arrival of Ross, Monique, Jess, and several other people I don't really know.
Time flew.
I drank.
Boggle wasn't going to, but we insisted that he did (and just sleep in his car).
About 10pm maybe I received the call from the two Mike's saying that they were nearby. They wanted to know the details of the parking that Boggle had found for only $9 (only thing was that you had to be out by 6am). But midway through the call, MKP said he'd call me back.
A little while later, I received a call from Mickey saying that he'd gotten himself bogged... how one manages to do this in the city was beyond me, but they were only around the corner from me, so I went to go see them.
-interlude-
Infected Mushroom are awesome... listening to Ratio Shmatio. Awesome.
-end interlude-
In my infinite wisdom, on the trip over I saw a packing pallet, and grabbed it to help 'un-bog' them.
But how did he manage to bog the car in the city? Well, there were several cars parked on a nature strip under the Anzac Bridge, so he decided to join them. Only thing was that where he drove up was very deep, very soft mud. So he stuck fast. Front wheels over the gutter, car hanging into the street. Luckily enough it was a v quiet lane way, so he wasn't disrupting traffic. As I arrived there, a big Islander was walking by, so we asked his help to push the car up fully onto the nature strip (it was only the part near the gutter that was muddy). It was no trouble to get it up and over the mud. We decided to leave it there to a) deal with later, and b) take the chance that the mud would have dried a bit by the time we returned.
So. Problem solved. Or at least put off until later.
So MKP, Mickey and I walked back up to Retro (after storing the packing pallet near the car as we would be needing it later). Unfortunately for the two Michaels, they'd arrived late enough for them to be subject to the $10 cover charge, and as I (and the rest) wanted to stay a little longer, they came in and had a few drinks with us. There was a woman there giving out "buy one, get one free" drink cards, so that was alright (but the two Mike's didn't sign up for them... fools). Stayed there for some unknown amount of time (I was a little drunk), and eventually moved to the dance floor. But time had gotten the better of us, and it was getting time to leave (after all, we had a concert to go to). And the music on the floor was only shitty RnB anyway (it turns out that it was the other levels that were playing retro...). So, we were on our way to Infected Mushroom! Yay!
We were due to meet Alex, Ally and Alex's new girl Hannah there, but first things first, Mickey had to sell Renata's ticket. Renata was supposed to come with us, and because they were playing at the Metro it was assumed that they would be finished by midnight... but on Thursday we found out that Infected Mushroom wouldn't even be playing until 1:30am, and as Renata had to teach (was it teach? that doesn't seem right) the next morning, she had to bail... shame. She rules. So Mike had to sell her ticket. He just waited around the entry booth for about half an hour (while MKP was waiting outside for his girl... I thought he was going to bring her in, but no, he was just saying hi. If I'd realised this I would have gone out to meet her). Just after Mick had sold his ticket I received a call from Alex saying that he was outside havin' a smoke. So I waited a wee bit near the stairs to meet up with him. He was his usual over-indulged self - as was expected for an event like this - but it was cool to see him... and he brought his camera (as did I), so we got some group photos... nice (he also took some video footage of the concert, which I'm keen to see). Ally was with him, and so was Hannah. It was nice to meet Hannah, and she seems very sweet (I was touched that she gave me a hug upon being introduced). I'd like to have dinner with her and the family sometime soon.
So we each bought a Red Bull and a bottle of water and headed into The Metro concert area to see what it was like and to wait for Infected Mushroom to start. The setup was surprisingly good! No lasers though.... and lasers still rule. It was packed, but still not terrible, and probably just as packed as Home was when I saw them there. Mick had brought the gear (only one each tonight... I'm a little scared of excess these days), and we decided to drop around 12:45am, to be ready for the 1:30am start. Mike wasn't doing any, as he's unable to these days... which was a shame coz he'd been up since 4am that morning doing army training... so he was buggered. The visualisations were crappy 3d animations, but seemed to suit the psychedelic atmosphere (harking to that period of 3d psychedelic art from the early 90s). So we waited. And waited. And I went to meet Boardman with Alex, couldn't find him, and waited again. A few minutes before the show (the band had already walked onto stage and were setting up) the DJ played a remix of Born Slippy Nuxx, so I (and Mike, and Mick, and Leanne, and no doubt Alex) were fucken stoked. What a fucken great psych up. It was then that I sent that photo post below. It was only a few minutes after that that the band started - and blew me away. Fucking holy fucking shit. Fucking awesome. Fuck yeah. And in contrast to the last time I saw them (uuurgh....), the drugs were very slight, and only enhanced the experience a little - which is what I was looking for.
But yes. Fucking amazing. They played a better setlist than last time too! I think they played every song that I wanted to hear - like Muse Breaks RMX, Cities of the Future, Meduzz, IM The Supervisor, Converting Vegetarians, I Wish, Now is the Time... that's all I can be sure of... But yes. A fucking perfect set - and Amit Duvdevani has some serious stage presence. Oh my God, I can't forget Erez Netz, the guitarist... wow. He can psych and audience up alright. Just look at the photos. Amazing.
So yes. A flawless set.
Afterward, MKP went straight home coz he was buggered (he was up at 4am that morning, remember), Alex did too, as he felt a bit sick, so Mike, Lilly and I walked to the car... we passed Town Hall just as we saw the bus carrying MKP drive off... sorry Mike... hope you got home ok/slept well.
So we walked back to the car to tackle the near insurmountable task of un-bogging the car.
The plan was to break two slats off of the packing crate, put them (nail down) under the wheels to form a bridge over the mud and gutter, and then just drive right over.
The execution of this plan, most surprisingly, was flawless. Removing the slats from the packing crate was easy as pie (or is it π... I never know.); just a matter of kicking them out. We lined them up with the rear tires first time, and backed over them without any adjustments. We then lined them up for the front tires and backed over them without any adjustments. We even lowered the car from the gutter without scraping or banging. Fucking flawless. First time. We left the car just sitting where it was for about 10 minutes, revelling in our victory. The security guard came over and we had a chat to her about the whole (non) ordeal, and about homeless people in the area, for about 5 minutes. Then we drove off to Meadowbank station to pick up Leanne's car. We had a party on the way thanks to MKP's house CD. Fuck yeah. It was awesome. We went off (which was surprising, coz we were feeling a little tired before then - which is why we were heading home rather than going out afterward). It was awesome. Fucken awesome. You are a fun motherfucker, Mickey.
We got to Meadowbank station, and Leanne hopped in her car, and Mike and I drove back to his house seperate from Leanne. We stopped for cigarettes, Tally-Ho's and fuel (we had bud to smoke), but still got back before Leanne (so she wasn't waiting for us awkwardly). She was also having a party in her car (to Underworld). Fucken awesome. You're the coolest chick I know, Lilly.
-interlude 2-
Man. I've been writing for some time! IM The Supervisor just ended, so I've stuck on Converting Vegetarians, Disc 2 to follow it.
-end interlude 2-
So Mike and I had a smoke, and Lilly a passive one, and we just fucked around listening to music until about 6am maybe. We then went to bed.
What a fucking wonderful evening.
Fuck yes. Infected Mushroom fucking rule. As a testament my thoughts on this matter, I just ordered the limited edition version of their new album. Only like AU$22 delivered! Thank you US Dollar!! Actually, if you are interested, you can pick up their seminal albums Converting Vegetarians (2CD) and IM The Supervisor along with the new one, Vicious Delicious and the single Becoming Insane for a mere US$50, (which is a very reasonable AU$60 because of the dollar at the moment), and the shipping for me was only US$3.xx, so it shouldn't be too much more for this pack. SO FUCKING GET IT!!
The next day, Lilly and I woke up at maybe 1pm? We were craving Christina's Gourmet Pizza, so we went upstairs and woke up The Mickster. He informed us that Christina's didn't open until 5pm... we couldn't possibly wait that long. So by about 3:30pm we were at Chargrill Charlie's in Wahroonga for some fucking awesome chicken burgers. Holy shit. So gaddamn tasty. They hit the spot. Yum yum yum. I want one now.
So we went back to Mickey's ate them, and went downstairs to watch a Warp music video DVD (Actually, check out some of the videos on that last website - some are awesome... only thing is that they are only previews). After that, we headed home. We didn't achieve much there, or the next day... so this post shall end very soon.
My PC is still broken, and this weekend I'm going up to the Hunter, so it won't be fixed until maybe next weekend. Bummer. I'm using the laptop at the moment. We created a wireless network with Leanne's Mac, so at least it's wire-free Internet, but it's also mouse free, and that's kinda annoying...
Anyway.
It was a fucking awesome weekend. Yay!

Listening to: Infected Mushroom - Converting Vegetarians, Disc 2 - The Other Side. Fuck yeah.

Best. Band. Ever.

Best. Band. Ever.
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Infected Mushroom are fucking GODS!

Man. So sweet.

Back to Dancing!

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Born Slippy

Born Slippy
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

They're playing Born Slippy for me.

Infected Mushroom haven't started yet. Soon. Soon.

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The Great Escape

Holy shit.
Big Day Out is dead to me.
The Great Escape is without a doubt, the best goddamn festival I've ever been to. The fucking best.
Why?
No lines. Anywhere. I didn't have to line up for more than 2 minutes for a fucking thing. Not food, not drink, not toilets. Fucking fantastic.
It wasn't crowded. At EVERY stage there was room to move. And that isn't because we were far away from the stage.
A view of every stage. The main stage was on a hill, so that every person could see it, no matter how far back they wanted to be. This is the best idea ever (and what makes the smaller stages at BDO so good).
Atmosphere. What a wonderful atmosphere. It was the perfect example of the festival vibe. There were people everywhere dancing, grooving, entertaining, smiling, sharing, caring. Fantastic. Everyone was my friend.
More than music. There was so much to do! Crazy art shows, cabaret, markets, workshops (of a kind), even a day spa! Fantastic.
Parking. It was no trouble to get there, no trouble to get a parking spot, no trouble to leave. Fantastic.
Perfect timetabling. Some acts played twice, and the stages were set up so that very few acts actually overlapped. So fuck you Good Vibrations, THAT is how you timetable a festival (for those of you that don't understand my reference here, Good Vibrations timetabled the 4 biggest draw cards to the event in competition with each other. I emailed them and complained, and they said that any festival has to have timetable clashes... so fuck you Good Vibrations, no they fucking don't).
3 days of pure fucking bliss.
Thank you, Great Escape.
It is here that I might add that I have created a flickr photo set to cover the events. Check it out at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jademonkee/sets/72157600058401673/
I might also add that I will be uploading a lot more photos to flickr (for the benefit of my overseas readers) as it is the easiest way to get my photos from my phone to my blog.
But onto a brief run-down of the events:
Ben and Carly met up with Leanne and I at our West Ryde abode around about midday on Friday. They were to stay with us for the duration of the event.
We were planning on getting in there around about 12:30pm/1pm, but didn't end up getting in there until later... 2pm maybe? I don't really remember. We thought we'd get in before the acts we really wanted to see started so that we can get an idea of the layout of the festival, as well as get a feel for the vibe.
The reason we arrived later was that we decided to have a bit to drink, and also decided to shave my head again... although a little less extremely than last time. Ben shaved in a question mark and the letters TGE. But because I couldn't find my pack of razor heads, and I didn't want my head shaved with a blunt razor, it was only shaved in on a "number 1," so it was actually barely visible. Possibly/probably a good thing.
Leanne drove us in, and parking was no trouble, although in my haste, I didn't pick the best way in... but that wasn't a real problem anyhow.
Once we arrived we met up with Ross, Linden, Tommy and Monique, and had a general walk around before seeing Kaki King at 3pm. She wasn't bad... but better on CD (or more to the point, better on MySpace, as that was the only place we'd heard her before). She finished at 4pm, and not being interested in Ben Kweller, Leanne, Ben, Carly and I wandered around before Rastawookie were to start at 4:40pm. During that time we visited the markets, and I bought a new beanie (as seen in the photos) and two button rings for Leanne, and Ross bought a beanie and a hemp jacket. Markets are awesome.
Rastawookie were totally cool, mang! They finished at 5:40pm, and next up was Blue King Brown at 6:20pm. They were totally cool, too! In fact, those two bands were probably the highlights of the whole festival. Yes. Totally cool.
So from Blue King Brown, it was off to Hilltop Hoods, and after them it was a short wait until Wolfmother. During that wait I grabbed some "Himalayan" food. Nice! Butter chicken, potatoes, noodles and rice for $8. Although not a large portion, it was tasty and expected value for a festival.
We left before Wolfmother finished (having heard them a few times before, and having seen almost nothing new in their show... although they did play a new song - which wasn't too bad - it still wasn't enough to hold our attention). On our way back to the car, Leanne and I caught sound of some fresh beats emanating from a shed, and had to go dance for a little while. So funky. So fresh. But we didn't stay too long (not wanting to keep Ben and Carly waiting), and headed off home shortly after. Alas, staying back to dance for those few moments meant that Wolfmother had finished their set by the time we went to leave, and most people were leaving with us. But, despite the crowd, it didn't take too long to leave, so that was nice.
Having exhausted ourselves from a day of groovin, we retired to bed shortly after getting home, ready for a full day at the festival tomorrow.
We didn't drink so much before hand the next day, but were late because we decided to watch the Tenacious D movie and pick up some green for all the dub/reggae that the festival was playing. So we rolled a few blunts, and were ready for a new day.
We arrived at about 2:30pm, which landed us in there during Bob Evans' set (the whingy motherfucker from Jebediah), so we had to do our best to ignore him. Unfortunately, arriving this late meant that we missed King Tide (who were playing at 1:20pm), so that was a shame. We used the spare time between our arrival and Coda playing at 4pm to go explore the markets, where I bought a CD, Leanne bought a DVD, and we bought some badges too. Oh! And Channel V interviewed me for a filler segment! So keep your eyes peeled on the What You Want segment for me requesting "She's my Man" by Scissor Sisters (I wanted Cemetery Gates by Pantera, but I had to choose off of a list they gave me). So that was pretty cool. They asked me what was the strangest thing I'd found at a festival, and I said I'd found my virginity... I'd say that it has probably already been played by now, so I don't know if I'll ever see that segment.
Anyway, Coda were awesome. Despite the fact that Leanne and I headed out of the tent for a bit to sit under a tree (it juts seemed more suitable), and despite the fact that it rained, and we had to go back into to the tent. If you're looking through the photo set that I linked to above, you will see the "robotic" elephant that appeared during their set, as well as the porcelain doll woman that was doing the rounds. She wasn't just dressed like one, she was walking and acting like one. It was awesome. You will also see the children playing with bubbles that I thought were so wonderful. It was reasons like that that really set that festival apart from all the others I'd been to. It was just such a great fucking festival. And Coda were fucking great. Their album is definitely on my "to get" list.
A brief wait and then onto Ziggy Marley.
He was cool, and played a few of his Dad's tunes (which was nice), but Leanne and I left to go to the toilet, and didn't realise it was so late, because by the time we were done, it was just about time for Lee "Scratch" Perry to start (and Ziggy to finish). Lee was awesome. Funny old bastard. He wore the craziest get up of the festival (so many necklaces, rings and badges), and has such a funny bubble voice. Rubadudadub! At the end of the show he invited some people up onto stage, and about 50 people ended up joining him on stage. You can get a good idea of how many people there were in the photos on the flickr page I linked above.
Leanne and I totally didn't want to see Missy Higgins, so we grabbed a bite to eat at the Hare Krishna stall. Fucking goddamn it was tasty. $10 for the Krishna feast, and it was a fricken feast. I also bought an incense burner from them, and Leanne bought a bag. But yes, the Krishna food was awesome. $10 bought you rice, a vege curry, 3 kofta balls with chutney and Halava (It looked most like the one down the bottom). Man. So tasty. In fact, it was so tasty and consuming and relaxing, that rather than walking to the other side of the festival to see The Bird, Leanne and I just sat and revelled in our dinner. I kinda regret that. The Bird were meant to be awesome. But man. Such tasty food. Suffice to say that I went there for dinner the next night too.
So we sat and continued to revel in our food until John Butler started, then we met up with Ben and Carly again, and watched the Trio play. Having exhausted ourselves from smoking and dancing, Ben, Carly, Leanne and I headed home after 10pm. When we got home, Ben entertained us with some tunes on his guitar, and we chilled for a bit before heading to bed... ready for the 3rd day of bliss.
Lou Rhodes was the first act on that we cared about, so we planned on getting there at about 1pm, but even after our Easter Egg hunt in the back yard, and taking it easy in the morning, we still arrived Early enough for some Ryan Shaw and a slow amble via the markets over to the Riverside for Lou Rhodes. On the way I bought a totally hot fork ring from the same guy I bought my spoon rings from at Big Day Out. $10 goddamn dollars and it's a work of fucking art. Jangling Jack rules.
This is the ring:


Lou Rhodes had a strange atmosphere; everyone was sitting down (with the exception of one couple up against the barrier standing, and 3 people dancing - including one space cadet... I'm not entirely sure he knew what he was dancing too, or even that he was at a music festival). But it was a wonderful show, and I look forward to seeing her play again tomorrow night at The Forum. She's a cool gal. And she played Gabriel! I love that song! You can see her in the photos.
There was a fair bit of time before anyone we knew were to play, so we decided to go see White Buffalo or The Fumes (with Ross, Linden, Tommy and Monique), but ended up gettign Turkish Coffee instead. Deeelicious.
The next group to play were the Lemonheads at 3pm, but they weren't very good, and the guy was a tool. So we left that to go see Fat Freddy's Drop. Now THEY kicked ass. That Trombonist... Godlike. You can see his funky shit in the photos I linked to above. And of course, we smoked a bit for them. After Fat Freddy's there was a bit of a wait before Gomez, so Ross, Leanne and I headed over to the Riverside again to go see Floggin Molly. I had a smoke here too. They were really cool, but three days of concert going meant that I couldn't be fucked heading up front, or even standing. So I just drank a beer and had a smoke and enjoyed listening. Because of my level of relaxation, and enjoyment for Flogging Molly, I wasn't bothered to catch the entire Gomez set. But I did catch them, and they were good. But because of the time of night and the distance to the stage, the pictures didn't turn out very well.
Coming up after Gomez were a fucking kickass cool band called Gogol Bordello - a kind of Gypsy punk rock band. I was really excited to see them (having heard their "Start Wearing Purple" on MySpace. So we headed down there, to hear the funk of Booker T and the MGs... not the Gypsy punk I was expecting... this was a cover band. They then started playing some Blue Brothers tracks, and while not bad, they weren't Gypsy Punk Rock. Turns out Gogol Bordello cancelled their Australian tour. Could I get any more disappointed. Well, I didn't, so I suppose that's a good thing. So instead of listening to covers, Ben, Carly, Leanne and I headed off to see Waiting for Guinness. Ross had already done so a few minutes beforehand, but we couldn't see him when we got there. They were cool. They got a lot cooler when they started playing jewish-like dance music. Ben and Carly went off to have dinner, and Leanne and I stayed for a few more minutes until a toilet break called us away. We then grabbed dinner. And couldn't find Ben and Carly anywhere. Ben's phone was off, and I don't have Carly's number, so things weren't looking good.
Luckily Leanne and I ran into Linden, Tommy and Monique, so we hung with them for a bit. That "bit" took us down to the Riverside to see Fishbone. We met Ben and Carly down there after Carly called me. Man, what an intro. The guy was preaching about white people, stereotypes, rock music, racism, blah blah blah... he lost most of the audience, and when it started into some strange jazz number, Linden, Tommy, and Monique left. Just after they left
it became more interesting (good drummer), and more rock-like (which made more sense with his opening speech). But it began to rain, and Ben and Carly had to go down south to visit Ben's parents, so we left. We stopped off at the Tin Shed before leaving and caught two songs by a band called The Temper Trap (who were totally cool), and because of the time, decided to see what The Roots were like. Not very good. So we left.
Our festival had come to an end.
And it was truly wonderful. Best festival of my life. So goddamn good. Full fucking points, guys. I can't wait until next year.
Big Day Out used to be the best day of the year, but due to increasing price, increasing demand, and increasing crowds, it just isn't as good as it used to be. So from now on, it is the Great Escape that shall be the highlight of my year. It truly is what festivals are meant to be.
I loved it!

Coffee, the weekend and a stupid haircut.

You know. It ain't so bad.
Been drinking a fair bit of it lately. I see what people have been going on about all these years. My fear of becoming dependent still looms above me, but I really enjoy it now.
It started as strong short blacks with one sugar, but this morning it was a large strong long black with 3 sugars. I'll be buzzing in a moment. A good thing, coz I was falling asleep on the train.
The weekend was good. Went 'round to Mike's place on Friday night, but didn't get there until late. Bought a bottle of vodka, but didn't drink that much of it. Had two shots of 151, and I guess that was enough. Well, not quite enough, as I still had two mixers, but you know... the 151 was largely enough.
Woah. I feel that coffee kicking in about now.
Anyway. We drank a bit, and then decided to do that lightning-bolt Mohawk that I wanted a few weeks ago. Mike misunderstood my instructions of shaving a lightning-bolt into my head, as shaving a lightning bolt into my head. So it was a kind of reversed Mohawk - although of course nothing like a Mohawk. I might also add that it was shaved in - i.e. with a razor. So the only way for me to get rid of it right now is to razor the rest of my head. But for the moment I'm sticking with it...
So yeah. Really stupid hair... but I kinda like it. You can see a photo of it on my MySpace (link to the side).
After cutting my hair, we rolled up the last of my green (from a few weeks ago), and smoked a fatty. Fun.
Saturday was spent voting (well...), and Saturday night I was to meet up with Tristan, Belinda and Boggle to see Lady Sovereign. Ha. Lady Sovereign. Woah man, I nearly forgot about the double-choc-fudge-brownies that Leanne and I bought while voting! Only $3 for the whole plate! Oh man! It ain't voting day without some kind of cheap, mother-baked goods! We also bought a sausage sizzle. Man. Voting day rules. Holy cow those double-choc-fudge-brownies were tasty. Tasty, melty goodness.
So I met up with Tristan at Bel's place at around 4pm (they paid me out for my hair), hung around there for a wee bit, then went to the Longueville for dinner and a few beers, ran into Belinda's brother there (who paid me out for my hair) then caught a bus to QVB (the Bus driver paid me out for my hair), to catch a cab to The Forum (in the "Entertainment Quarter"). Called Boggle - who was in Bondi - and he said he'd call us when he got in. There was a line outside, so we went to the Fox + Lion for a few more beers. Still full from dinner. The bouncer there paid me out for my hair.
By 9pm we headed in. Security paid me out for my hair. The guy called the others over, and insisted that there was a dress code, and that I wasn't allowed in with hair like that (bastard...). But the ticket lady said that with hair like that I should go to the front of the line. Awesome.
Upon entering, we realised that Lady Sovereign wasn't on until midnight... so more expensive drinks. Silly me bought a jägerbomb and a Soco and Coke for Tristan. $22. Oops. No more jägerbombs for Simon. We stuck to the Smirnoff Blacks from then on (2.1 standard drinks for $9... we figured they were the best value). So Tristan and I got a little drunk. Unfortunately for me though was that I also got broke.
Met up with Boggle in there (ran into Alison at the bar)... thanks for calling, Boggle.
He'd been drinking since 3pm (4pm?), so I guess that's understandable.
The DJ that was on was picking pretty good tunes (some Mickey Avalon, Presets, ODB, among others), so it wasn't terrible. Just 3 hours.
I was messaging Leanne when one of the girls next to me asked to borrow my phone afterward. When I finished messaging her I put my phone away. A little while later she again said that she wanted to borrow my phone, I asked why, and she replied that she wanted to give me her number. Ha. Forward. I talked with her for a bit, and after informing her that I was taken, she informed me that she was a lesbian... ok(?). She also said that she'd recently slept with a guy... ok(?). Strange girl. She was dancing with me (too closely...), so I told her that she was the most forward lesbian I'd ever met. She also said that she thought Belinda was a bit of alright, and told her that. I was messaging awkward messages to Belinda throughout this ordeal. Strange girl. Oh, I nearly forgot! After I told her that I was committed to a girl, she said if my girl and I ever wanted to meet up with her for a drink, that she'd like to do as such. Hmmm.... awkward (?). Oh! And I nearly forgot again! At one point she turned to me (strangely enough after I told her that I was committed) and asked "Are you gay?" and I'm like, "no!" so she asks, "and you've got a girlfriend" and I'm like "yeah," so she replies "So what's with the hair?!" Hahaha. Stupid hair.
So yes. Strange "lesbian."
The concert itself was good fun. Boggle went down to the dance floor for it, but Tristan, Bel and I stayed up in the wings (wings? I don't know what else to call them). Boggle nearly came when she played Pretty Vacant by the Sex Pistols. He was wearing his Sex Pistols shirt, so when they played it, he got a lift up above the crowd (that "crowd surfing" that is so popular with the youth these days), and showed his shirt to her. She gave him recognition. Awesome.
After the show finished, we ran into Boggle and Co. at the exit, and we decided to go to Bar Broadway for the after party. We caught a cab over, and I spent the last of my money on it. Earlier on in the night I joked to Tristan and Belinda that I would get into a fight over my hair, but then we decided it would be funnier if I got into a fight with a guy wearing a Sega shirt (I was wearing my Mario shirt - along with my usual NES belt buckle). When we were sitting at Bar Browadway, a guy wearing a Sonic The Hedgehog shirt walked by. I pointed him out to Tristan and I said that I had found the guy I had to fight. The guy walked outside and sat down by the window with a mate. Tristan convinced me that I should walk out there and tell him that he was in Nintendo territory. So we both went out and I was like "Mate, what the fuck do you think your doing here? This is Nintendo territory!" I then pointed to Mario on my shirt. The guy was like "Nah, man! I own a Mario shirt too!" I told him he was a traitor. Tristan told him to go across the road with all the other Sega guys. We talked about my buckle for a bit, and whatever else, shook hands in farewell, and went back inside. Funny. I was unsure what the guys reaction was going to be, so I was happy that it was positive.
We lost Boggle at that bar (he was still with his TAFE friends), and we couldn't be bothered paying the $5 entry fee for the official after party. So we just left (I'm unsure if it was 2 or 3am by this stage... I think 2am). Wet to Maccas and then caught a cab back to Tristan/Bel's, and Leanne picked me up and took me back home. I don't want to eat Maccas any more. So seedy. Overall it was an awesome night (although I feel I owe Tristan a fair few drinks).
Sunday I slept-the-fuck-in, but decided to get up by about midday. Then remembered that daylight savings ended, so it was only 11am! Yay! Leanne and I decided to go out for brunch, and by the time we got our shit together, we thought it was good time for pizza. So we went to the nearest Italian restaurant in the Yellow Pages, which was one in East Ryde... or was it North Ryde... I don't remember. We ate an olive pizza and a tasty beef, fetta, capsicum and onion pizza. We ordered enough for leftovers, but we only left 2 pieces...
I was due to meet Nat at about 5pm, and seeing that I was still buggered from the night before, we just went home afterward (boring), so I could have a nap.
Got to Nat's at about 5:30pm (thanks for the lift, Lilly! Much appreciated), and just shot the shit there for a while, and then walked into Chatswood for Chinese. Pretty tasty actually. Not mind-blowing, but passable.
Shot the shit in Chatswood, then walked back to Nat's place and shot more shit. Leanne came around to pick me up at around 9:30pm, but we all stayed until about midnight telling stories. Fun. I like Nat. Always has a good story to tell... although he confirmed what I had suspected for some time, and that is that he doesn't let the truth get in the way of a good yarn. It's an interesting concept, and one that I've come across before. That you are taking the job of a story teller, and it's largely inconsequential if it actually happened or not. He has a blurred line between reality and imagination... he should write more. He's trying to get me to take a week off work to help him shoot this film, but seeing I don't get paid leave, I'm not so keen to lose $650 helping someone out. Actually he wants me to quit my job and go with him for the ride to the top. Yeah, sorry Nat, not so keen on the movie industry. I'd like to help out when I can though, I just can't afford it right now.
So that was my weekend. I've taken about an hour to write this at work (don't tell my manager), so that's a nice paid bludge.
I wonder what I would have thought about my future self if I could somehow have been shown this blog 7 or 8 years ago. What made me think that was that I buy mixers now, and in year 10 I was fervent that spirits were there to be shot, not mixed. A funny thought to trigger that idea, but it triggered it nonetheless. Am I how I thought I would have turned out? Would I have been happy with where my life is right now? With my actions that got me here? Questions that are probably too ponderous for a Monday morning, when I've already wasted an hour of TCard's time...
Anyhow. Off to work.

Listening to: TZU - Smiling at Strangers (I want to get the double CD version of this album... I'll be miffed if it disappears when I had all intentions of buying it last year...)

Drugs are bad, mmmkay

The weekend was tops. Super tops. Well, Friday was... and Saturday should have been... but I'll get to that in a moment.
Friday night started the usual way, with drinks at Sweeny's after work, only this time Leanne came along. It was the last day for the two Americans at work - Zach & David - so we were all expected to go out for drinks, however, I had a concert to go to with Jon, Boggle and Leanne. Jon and Boggle had plans up until about 8pm, but Leanne decided to meet me after work for a few drinks with my work mates. It was good (especially as I didn't get as drunk as I did the week before...). We left Sweeny's at about 7pm maybe, and had all intentions of going to the Belgian Beer Cafe for dinner... kangaroo to be precise. However when we arrived there, they informed us that there were no tables until 9:30pm... crikey. So we had a beer each (Leanne and I had a Hoegarden... yummy), and decided to head down to the Australian because we heard that they had kangaroo steaks there. It, too, was full.
So we headed toward Lord Nelsons on the rumour that there was a restaurant near there that served kangaroo steaks. I'm not sure if they ever found that restaurant, because on the way I ran into my year 12 Earth & Environmental Science teacher (and favourite teacher at Turramurra High), Mr (Steve) Brompton. So I talked with him for some time, and lost my workmates in the process. So when I was done talking with him, Leanne and I headed over to Lord Nelson's to find them. They'd been trying to call me, but my phone battery had died earlier... "I need a new battery, do you hear me, a new battery!" (3 points for whom can tell me the reference)
We saw them as soon as we walked in, so that was good.
BUT! Terror strikes! All was not wonderful on the Lord Nelson front! They weren't brewing Nelson's Blood! Nooooo!!! So I settled for an Old Admiral... but check this out... they now sell Old Admiral and 3 Sheets in bottles! So we can drink it at home! wupee! Boggle met us there before we'd finished our first pint, but time was getting away from us, so we couldn't linger... of course there was time for Boggle to have his first pint, but we left when he was done, and headed down to The Metro to meet Jon.
We arrived at about the same time, and headed straight in (or did we go to McDonalds... I don't remember, and it doesn't matter...). The time was about 9pm maybe... maybe 9:30pm. Point is that despite us arriving late, we still caught the opening band, Watussi. I'd never heard of them, but they sounded a little like a Cuban Rage Against The Machine... well they were more cuban funk than metal, but the lead singer did sound like Zach from RATM. And they were fucking awesome. Fucking awesome. Go check them out:
http://www.triplejunearthed.com/watussi
You can download some tracks from there... if you like what you hear, make sure you vote, and why not check them out at the Newtown RSL on Sat 2nd Dec... it'll be the very last gig plaed @Newtown Level 2, so it'll be historic too (@Newtown is moving). I have a work party that night, so I'm not sure I can make it. But, then again, the work party is in Newtown... so we'll see.
Anyways. They kicked ass. Serious mule.
The main act, The Black Seeds, was fucking cool aswell, but much lower energy than Watussi, but that is no criticism, they were tops... and reggae just makes me wanna dance. So I went off. Fucking great fun. Fucking great fun.
Didn't linger too long afterward, Jon and Boggle grabbed a beer, but I was spent. We all crashed at Jon's place (bless you and your wonderful home, Jon), and were ready for a Saturday of fun and excitement.
Saturday was The Porkers concert that I was planning to go to, but it was also the Propellerheads DJ set that I was also wanting to go to.
I checked my voicemail messages, and on them was a very enthusiastic Mike (S) telling me how pumped he was for the Propellerheads gig, and that Renata would come too. Renata! I don't think I've seen Renata since Mike's 21st! And then he said that he can get soem gear for us too. So I was suddenly more keen to go to The Propellerheads. First, I should clarify... I was a little wary as it was only one of the Propellerheads, and it was only a DJ set. But I figured the tunes would be good, and the drugs would make me want to dance anyhow.
So I arranged it for Leanne and I to go and to take drugs. Boggle and Jon were still going to go to the Porkers concert. Good; I didn't want them to miss it.
The arrangements were made to meet Mike at Town Hall at 8:30pm, and I went over to Brendan and Leanne's house for dinner and company.
We thought we were going to go to the Thai restaurant on Victoria Rd, but it was packed out, so we walked down the street a wee bit and found a Singaporian (sp?) Restaurant (or eatery, rather) that had tables free. Man, it was TAAASTYYY, and the guy there was really friendly, which is always a bonus. So I think I'll definately be going back. The guy even brought out this special chilli sauce for my chicken rice, you squeeze lime over it. It was fucking tasty (mainly due to the lime, but there was also an underlying spice in it which tasted great), and hot enough to give me my chilli fix. Ooooh I liked that stuff. I want to go back there. And it was cheap too!
But they were busy, and the food took a while to arrive, so Leanne and I didn't get to Town Hall until just after 9pm. Sorry Mike.
We were to meet Renata at the Civic before heading to EQ, but there was a big badass line out the front, so we didn't bother going in. One of the first things Renata said to me was that I had cut my hair, so it really has been a while since I saw her...
It started out a great night! We were all excited, we were all happy, we were all talking. It was great. Leanne and I started off with a Jagerbomb (fun!), then I followed with a St Arnou Cloud, and it was with that drink that we all dropped. We then headed upstairs to where the set was to be played.
Dead. Almost noone there, and certainly noone dancing, but it was early so we found a bed (they had beds to sit on!) and talked excitedly. It was really good. But loud. Too loud. We ordered more drinks (too embarrassing to list here) and sipped them and waited for the drugs to kick in. We were all happy and enthusiastic and excited, so we ordered another drink. The drugs had begun to kick in by now, so we all became happier, more enthusiastic and more excited. Leanne went to the bathroom (where it was much quieter), and upon return realised just how loud the club was, and became uncomfortable. And sick. At least that's what I think happened. She couldn't stay out of the bathroom for too long before freaking out, so she went back in and stayed there. I sent Renata in to look after her, and they had an enjoyable time talking, but she was still unable to leave.
So I tried to have a good time, but found I was too worried to dance, and found I just couldn't find my rythm. Mike and I went out to the floor eventually (when it began to fill up), but I just couldn't feel it. Probably because I was worrying.
At 1am the DJ from the Propellerheads came on, and started with "Take California" Mike and I danced, and Renata came out to join us too, but Leanne didn't. And I still couldn't really feel it. So I thought I should leave with Leanne. I mean, I wasn't enjoying it, and she wasn't, so I was messaging her, telling her we shoudl go, when Renata asked me to go see Leanne anyway. So I did, and we left.
So it has been officially decided. I now have such a good time dancing to good music, that drugs can no longer equal the fun I have when I enjoy the music and dance to it on my own accord. What's a little worse, is I dropped my second pill just before we deciced to leave the club (in a last ditch effort to make me positive about the experience). So Leanne and I left and headed to Hyde park to waste a few hours talking (I love talking when I'm high... in fact, it's one of my favourite parts of getting high). We were sitting there when my second kicked in... kinda wish I hadn't taken it.
Huh, funny thing. When I gave Mike his second pill, I gave it to him wrapped in foil, but he didn't notice that and just swallowed it when I gave it to him. I'm like "dude, that had foil on it." He froze, a shocked expression on his face and said "serious?"
Funny.
Me not wanting to be outdone by him, when I went to the bathroom to take my second one, I put it in my mouth, held my gum in place with my tongue and swallowed. Oh, wait. I was actually holding the pill with my tongue, and just swallowed my gum... woops. Man, we rule.
So yes. It was actually the drugs that ruined Saturday. so I don't think I'm going to take e again, at least not for a long while. I think it was realised mainly because Friday was so fucking awesome, I danced like a crazy person, and I didn't even take any drugs. And the Saturday was the night I planned to dance, I took the drugs, and I just couldn't dance, I was worried about Leanne, and it was generally uncomfortable. So fuck 'em. The fact that they cost $60 also pisses me off. So yes, Saturday was so much crappier than I wanted it to be. At least Renata and Mike had a good night (I told them to call me when they left; they left early too, but to go to a better club... I haven't talked to Mike since the night, but I'm keen to find out what the rest of his night was like).
So Leanne and I ended up going back to Jon's by 4:30am. Noone was home, so I figured that Jon and Boggle had stayed at his friends house (whose name I don't know how to spell). But at about 9am, I hear them come home. What the? We're the ones who took drugs, and they're the ones coming home at 9am. Damn, must have been a good night. So I get up to go to the toilet and talk to them, and they tell me all about it. It sounded like a fantastic fucking night. Yet another testatment to how drugs are so fucking unnecessary when the music is good. 9am! What a great night it must have been! And Boggle was stoked! His lucky underpants really work! He had a great weekend, and ended up mackin with his friend (whose name I can't spell). She's totally hot, too. So congrats to Boggle for all that he acheived on the weekend too...
So I'm now thinking that drugs aren't all that they promised to be. But I still want to try acid, but I'm not so sure Leanne should. So I'll probably just do it with Mike, Renata and Denise. I'll see if Alex wants to come up too. I still want to take it at the Wollombi house, so I'd best arrange it soon...
This morning I received the moshtix newsletter, and whatdoyouknow, the Porkers are playing this Friday at Manly Fishos... so maybe we should go to that...
Work is slow. We are in one of our stagnant periods, and I thought I'd waste a bit of time writing this post, and it seems that I wasted alot of time doing it (I started at 8:30am, and finished at about 10:15am). I better hassle Matt about giving me the work that I need.
Ok peeps, I think that's it.
Wait, no it isn't! I have a Lyrics Born concert tonight! I forgot to tell you that! So Alex is gonna come along to that, and so is my usualy concert bussy, Leanne. So that'll be super cool.
Ok, that's definately it (well, at least all that I can remember at this time).
Later!

Listening to: ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Source Tags and Codes (album... I bought this one in America, and am only really just now getting into it... sad).

Simple Weekend

Soooo the weekend...
I was meant to stay up at the Hunter this weekend to help clean it up. I was booked in for a hair cut on Fri, so went up with the Fam (minus Alex) on Thurs night. Was cool to have Pete (younger brother) come up.
Had my haircut on Fri - I was disappointed as it wasn't as short as I wanted, but it's grown on me since, and I think I like it now), and also got a message from Tristan hoping to do something that night. Later received one from Jon saying he was holding a BBQ/video night. Darn. I like those nights.
Turns out Peter was invited to go out that night, so would be heading down to Sydney... meaning I could get a lift. Sick. Sorry Mum, I'm off to Sydney!
So rocked up at Jon's about 7pm (apparently early), bringing that bottle of JB that Mark gave me for Christmas... don't like Bourbon that much.
Brendan, Leanne, Boggle and Tristan all arrived shortly after me, and we all started drinkin. We shortly lost interest in cooking on the BBQ, and ordered pizza instead. Then drank more.
I had brought down my car stereo (that I bought for my EH about 3 years ago and have not yet installed) for Tristan, and he installed that into his car (he lent his stereo to his girlfriend). I bought it second hand off of ebay, and hadn't yet tested if it worked, so I was stoked to find out it did. And that it looked good too.
Soooo we drank some more (I opened and stuck into my bourbon), and then Jon brought out the weed I gave him like 6 months ago. A good idea indeed.
Most everyone had left by then... it was just Boggle, Jon, Luke (Luke is Jon's brother), and I now. So we rolled a spliff and Jon and I shared it. I like getting stoned after a night on the turps. I think it's the very best time to do it. So we got the idea that heading to McDonalds would be a tip-top thing to do (see post below).
So we all clambered into Luke's car (he'd not had a thing to drink/smoke all night), and drove up to the 24hr McDonalds at Thornleigh (nearby). We arrived in bare feet (except Jon, who was wearing Ugg Boots), me also borrowing Jon's badged-up, stoner army jacket. We must have looked exceptional. We were also carrying beers. Or at least I was, I don't really remember...
So we ordered our food, and due to the new frsh-menu thingy, there was a wait. We all talked rather loudly while waiting for the food, and Luke pointed out my fucked up feet. I bent over to show him the scars around my nails, and forgot I was holding a beer and poured it all over the floor. It took me a moment to realise what was happening. We all burst into laughter (Jon and I especially). These people sitting at a table behind us (who had apparently been taking interest in us for some time) asked us rather loudly if we were stoned. I think Jon said "what?" and looked at them, and they went quiet. Then we all burst into laughter again. Hysterically. Our food arrived and we laughed as we ate it. Boggle threw his McChicken box at Jon, and left a nasty Mayonnaise stain on the seat. Of course we laughed at that too. We also took a photo. As we walked outside, the people that asked us our state of mind we in their car and saw us walking out. They asked us if they could buy some grass off of us (as a joke I think... I don't think it's a very clever one), and I told them that they had a cup on their roof (they did!) the driver sped off in order to knock it off. So I walked up and put my cup on their roof, and they drove off. This was hilarious I assure you.
We went back to Jon's and I think we watched a video. I don't remember.
Next day we got up late and cooked a BBQ breakfast at about 1:30pm. The lady that served us at Woolworths (we were buying bacon) thought we were something else for having breakfast so late.
Boggle, Jon, Luke and I bummed around (we were planning on going to that Viking Exhibition, but didn't have time). Luke had to go to work (he works at Dr What videos in Bondi), so we gave him a list of videos to bring home, including Cannibal! The Musical, Debbie Class of '88 (arguably the worlds funniest porno), Sharon's Sex Party (The porno that Mr. Bungle sampled)... I think that's it.
He couldn't find Sharon's Sex Party, but found Debbie (I've been looking for that since I lost it in year 10!) and Cannibal. Sick. He also brought home Sorority Babes in the Slimeball-o-rama (or something similar) which was a horror spoof. We watched Debbie first. The version we all saw in Year 10 was the X-rated version, this one was the R-Rated version and had some very funny editing in it... The running time was stated as 83 minutes, but the after-editing run time was actually on 43 minutes. It doesn't really matter though, we hired it for the dialogue, not the porn. No, seriously. Back in year 10 we used to fast-forward the porn because the dialogue was so funny.
Anyway. After that we watched the Sorority Babes movie. It was pretty funny. Not too bad, but I'll probably never bother watching it again.
We started watching Fire in the Sky but we were all buggered and gradually all went to bed. Me last. I turned off the movie just before it turned creepy. I probably should have just finished watching it, coz I finished watching it the next day and it was over very quickly and the mood was destroyed. Anyway.
Next day we watched Cannibal! The Musical (it's been far too long since we last watched that...). Boggle left after that.
Jon and I fucked around until his driving lesson, then I watched Family guy with Luke until Mum arrived and we headed home. Peter and Mum argued as always when he's tired (and he was very tired...), and I set up the new wireless router. Learnt some new stuff about WiFi...
Anyway. That was my weekend. Good. Cheap. Very enjoyable.

Listening to: Mr Bungle - Mr Bungle (album).

Friday.

Dude. Weed + McDonalds = funnier than you'd think.

Back home.... A mammoth post ensues

God dammit!
I just spent half an hour recalling the tale of my formal night when my PC crashed for no apparent reason. I cannot receover what I wrote, and I don't feel like going into detail again.
So I'm keeping it much more brief this time...
Sooo...
Marty invited me out to the UTS end of year engineers ball on the 2nd Dec. It was a formal event, with a 3 course meal and unlimited drinks. His mate Tony (an engineer at UTS) was going and wanted us to come too.
I would have to catch the train down to make it, because I'm still a bum with no license, and Mum doesn't go down to Sydney on Fridays. We took longer than expected to get everything ready (things to do in Cessnock, including pressing my suit), so we ended up having to catch a train from Gosford rather than Morrisett (Gosford station being 1 hour away, rather than 45 minutes away). Mum dropped me at the station in time to catch my train, but unfortunately on the way home, she had a car accident. Luckily noone was hurt, but both cars were seriously fucked up. Our smash repairers are trying to get ours back before Christmas (fingers crossed). After the accident Mum had to fo down to Sydney Airport to get a hire car (the only place still open). She ended up getting a POS Magna. The insurance company won't pay for the car beyond a certain date, so bow we've had to rely on the Smash repairers courtesy car: a Daewoo Hacthback. Now we realise what a POS actually is... I don't believe it, but I miss the Magna. The Volvo moreso, but the Magna is still better than the Daewoo.
Anyway.
So I get down to Sydney, meet Marty, drop my bag off with his Mum, put on my jacket and tie, and head into the city to meet Tony. We got to UTS before him so we indulged in a pre-dinner Becks. I'm pretty keen on Becks these days, but the price usually scares me off.
Tony arrived shortly and we headed up. Neither Marty nor I knew anyone there, but we were introduced, and we made conversation easily.
After a few more pre-dinner beers, we sat down for the Entree. Tony had 4 female friends arriving later, so our table looked pretty empty. Because of this, a random guy came and sat with us. Andrew was his name, and he was leaving for Japan at the end of the year, so I told him some tales from my trip to Japan in April.
Tony's friends arrived shortly after Entree (we ate some of their portions... oops), so there was no longer any room at the table for Andrew. Luckily enough there was room at the table next to us, so we continued talking.
Talking, drinking, eating and more talking ensued for the next few hours. Tony's lady friends were very interesting, and conversation never waned. Nor did the wine actually...
After dessert, we headed out to the dance floor (via the bar). The band were pretty cool, and played a few original tracks in amongst their covers.
Unfortunately, the bar closed at 11:30pm, regardless of what was left on the tab (it started at $7000, and we didn't finish it). So after the band finished up, we headed out to the nearest pub for more beer. Someone mentioned coming from the Foo Fighters concert, and that made me call Boggle to see if he wanted to meet up with us (having himself just been to the concert). Of course I didn't think that the concert actually ended 2 or 3 hours before my calling him. I woke him up, but he was sleepy enough, and I was drunk enough for neither of us to make any sense. Needless to say we didn't meet up.
So headed back inside, and we left that pub shortly after to head over to the Slip Inn (where Tony's girls said they'd be heading). The Slip Inn is on the other side of the city, and all the people walk too slowly, so Andrew and I stopped off for a Kebab half way. Mmmmm Kebab... Strangely Andrew and I beat Marty and teh rest to Slip Inn, and becase my phone battery had died, I had to borrow a phone off of a stranger to make the call. Lucky I know Marty's number by heart. Turns out they'd stopped at another club, so we just waited outside Slip Inn until they arrived. There was a $10 cover charge that Andrew and I managed to "slip" (haha) by when we first got there, but there was no way the 8 of us would get away without paying it. So we though "Fuck that," and headed down to cargo bar.
I don't know how long we stayed there, but we had at least one beer, and then decided to head home. After all, I had to go to Homebake the next morning.
We walked back to George Street, and Marty and Tony decided they wanted a Kebab. Having already had one, I decided to get KFC. BIG MISTAKE. The Twister I ordered must have been sitting there for > 30 minutes, and was one of the very worst meals I have ever eaten. Fucken pile o' crap.
After Marty finished his second Kebab (in that sitting), we headed to the buses. It was a long wait for the bus home, but there were a few idiot homies at the bus stop that managed to keep us amused by being generally stupid. We ran into someone from Uni (whose name we've never caught, but who we've seen in the bar many a time before), and he too was entertaining. We all fell asleep on the bus, but managed to wake up at the right moment, and were back at Marty's by dawn.
Damn, and I had to go to Homebake...

I was awoken by a phone call from Alex a short 3 hours later at 9:30am, informing me that he was already heading in and that he'd meet me in the city. So I got up, went to the toilet, nearly fell aslepp there. Went back to my couch, and went back to sleep. I woke myself up half an hour later and called Alex and told him I'd meet him later, and for him to go to Homebake without me for the time being.
So I slept a little longer (until Marty awoke). We talked about honours, about the ladies last night, about his lady in Antarctica (seriously, she's in Antarctica!!), about what has happend since we last met and generally shot the breeze.
Marty's Mum (Sue) arrived a little later with Bacon and Egg Rolls. Despite how tasty they were, it tookme sometime to eat mine.
I bummed around Marty's place for a few more hours, until Steve and his girl Nat (?) took Marty away for a BBQ. I then got a lift to the station from Sue, and I headed into Homebake (leaving my suit and bag at Marty's place).
Unfortunately I missed The Herd (I was too late), but I caught everyone else I gave a shit about. Because I was so buggered, Alex gave me a bit of this wonderful stuff I put in my water that gave me the energy I needed. Thanks Alex, I couldn't have done it without you!
The first decent (well, awesome actually) act were Wolfmother. So god-damn rockin it was amazing. Oh my God, his 'fro is massive! It must be a metre across. Totally awesome. So yeah, they rocked.
After they finished we headed over to the smaller stage to catch The Beautiful Girls. Luke and I (hold on, I'll fill you in on who was there. Alex, Ally, Jason (from Safe Installations), Paul (His mate), and Luke (one of Alex's mates)), were thirsty, and our water empty, so we went on a quest for free water.
On the way there, a pretty face flagged me down. I recognised this face, and the face of one of here two friends, but I didn't know from where. I assumed Uni, but I don't know who introduced us. And both were very familiar faces. So we talked for a while, danced a little while, but unfortunately Luke and I were still thirsty, so we headed off for that water. The queue for the bubbler was huge, and teh bubble low pressured, but we eventually got our water, and I headed back to this mysterious girl. We talked a little longer, and she recommended me seeing Wolf & Cub, who were playing next at the even smaller stage. Alex soon called me and told me that my beerwas getting warm, so I said goodbye and headed over to meet him.
I told him that I had had Wolf & Cub recommended to me, and that we should go see them. So when The Beautiful Girls finished up, we did just that. The teeny stage where Wolf & Cub were playing was near empty, so it was no surprise when that same pretty face flagged me down. So I stood with her and her friends for the show. Alex and Co. headed off to see Pnau, but Wolf & Cub were too damn good, the company too damn enjoyable, and the face too damn pretty for me to want to leave so soon. So I stayed for a while longer. My assumption that she was somehow tied to Uni proved correct; she was doing the same degree as me, only one year behind, and was actually about to go on the same NZ field trip that I went on in 2003 (and that I'll actually be in NZ when she is - only on the North Island rather than the South). She said we should catch up so I could give her some pointers on the assignment (being that I got a Distinction++). So I got her number. Not wanting to embarrass her or myself and admit to me not knowing her name, I sneakily handed over my phone with no name written in the name field. So she typed in her name and number, and I headed off to Pnau (after staying for longer than intended). Her name was Agata. That added some confusion. How do I pronounce that? or did she mis-type her name in my phone... shit... I knew whe would be at The Cat Empire, so I hoped we'd see each other again there.
Pnau were cool as feck (as was expected), but I didn't see Alex and Co. there. So I called them afterward, and we met up again. There was nothing to see until The Cat Empire, so we all bummed around doing nothing much, but having a fantastic time doing it.
I ran into Mark Terei at The Cat Empire, and we talked for a bit, but it was absolutely packed at The Cat, and he wanted room to dance, so he headed off shortly. Alex was having bongs in the mosh with an off-duty Cop standing next to him, and sharing the bongs with her (the cop's) friends. Funny. Unfortunately I didn't see Agata there.
So when The Cat finished up (no encore... grrr), we headed over to the Dirty Three because they were the only band playing other than the Finn Brothers (and they suck). The Dirty Three had a novel sound (drummer, bassist, violinist), and it was powerful to listen to, but the songs melded into one, and the novelty wore off. Why they were one of the last bands was beyond me. The Herd should have played then, not The Dirty Three. We all lost interest, and waited outside the tent where they were playing. And wiated. And waited. And waited for Luke to arrive. In the mean time Mark Terei called me and we talked for a bit before he headed home. We resumed wiating. We eventually called Luke and gave up waiting for him. We then made the long walk to Pitt St McDonalds for some munchables (having not eaten since the Bacon and Egg roll at Marty's).
Alex was getting the irrits, and wanted to go home, and so Did Ally and I. Jason headed off shortly after Maccas, but Paul and the rest of us went for a beer. Paul convinced us we were up for a game of pool and a Jagermeister, and we eventually obliged. We leftshortly after that though (much to Paul's disappointment). We headed back to Alex's,a nd I realised that the magic powder I'd added to my water had worked a little stronger than I realised because I kept talking. We eventually went to sleep and woke up at not too bad an hour (10ish maybe?).
Boggle called and wanted to go out that night, and I was keen for the idea. So I decided that this was a perfect oppurtunity to call Agata. So I did. Seeing that I never introduced myself, she was alittle confused when I introduced myself as "Simon." So a breif recall of the previous day was needed. Much to my dismay she was unable to go out that night (she stayed out much later than I did after Homebake, and also had to go home to Blacktown that day - she was staying at her brothers place in Surry Hills). Despite this dismissal, we talke for a good 15-20minutes, and agreed that we needed to catch up again before I left for NZ. Yay! I called Marty, but he couldn't make it out either. So I called Boggle back and we decided to meet at Mac Centre and buy some cheap (<$5) DVDs, then head back to his for beer and pizza. Tops. So I swung by Marty's to grab my stuff, and met Boggle and Mac Centre. Met up with Boggle, and we found some pearler DVDs @ an average of $2 each. Tops. Went back to his house, Brendan and Leanne came over (and there was also a brief visit from Monique), and we started watching The Howling III. NOt a movie that makes a great deal of sense, but it certainly served it's purpose and payed itself off. We also watched an OJ Simpson movie called Codename: Alexa. It was even worse. Overall A top night. The next night Brendan held a DVD night of the same nature, only this time with fried food rather than Salad. It too was a top night. I had to meet up with Alex the following afternoon to do a job in Cessnock, and decided to stay home that night (rather than go back down to Sydney with Alex). It turns out that I was meant to work the next day, and then Mum was actually driving to Newcastle with Peter the next day to pick up his car. This meant that there was actually no way for me to get to work. Another reason why I need my damn license. So the jobs had to be fucked around to accomodate this. Newcastle sucked arse. It was hot and boring, and it took hours for the fucking finance idiots to do what they said they'd done the day before. After 4 or 5 hours of waiting around, the finance guy informed us that the finance couldn't actually go ofrth today (despite them telling us that it was ready at 3pm the day before). Luckily the guy with Peter's car trusted us and let us take the car anyway and would just wit for us to send the payment. It took them another 4 or 5 days for it to go through after this. To say that they were fucking useless would be kind of me. So that day sucked more than most could. Peter's new car is sexxxy though. That was Wednesday. Thursday was Atomic Live at Fox Studios (which was, in essence, a geek convention... http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/atomiclive-blog.asp ). Boggle, Michael S, and I had been planning this for months. And Alex was going for his Motorbike training course that day, and Safe Installations wanted me to work in his place. I had to decline, and told them that I had told Mum the week before that Alex's license would clash with that convention. Despite this, Mum blamed me for not telling Simon (my Boss, her Brother, the man she works with EVERY day), and Grandad (the boss too) was pissed off at me for saying I couldn't work. Despite this I was still keen to go. So I stayed at Boggle's place the night before and we watched more Pete and Pete (I absolutely LOOVE Pete and Pete). The Geek Convention was very enjoyable, but the highlight was my photo with teh Orc and the Asus mug I got (a good mug too). We met a guy on the bus on the way who was a cool kid (only 16). Actually, the coolest thing was the WMD case Mod ( http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/atomiclive-gallery.asp?i=21 you can see the guy we met on the bus... he's the guy with the pony-tail at the bottom left of the pic). I'm kinda in one picture: http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/atomiclive-gallery.asp?i=55 I'm obscured by the guy in beige. You can see Boggle's head to the right of the guy-in-all-black's shoulder. Wow. We're totaly famous. Michael had to leave the convention by about 1:30pm for a job interview (which he subsequently got!), and Boggle and I gre bored of the convention by about 3pm (depsite door prizes being drawn at 5pm, we just couldn't see it all again for another 2 hours). So we went to teh nearest pub, which incidentally had free pool. Tops. Although we woudl have been pissed off if they charged us for the pool; the tables were ~1 foot lower than usual, the balls were bigger, and the tables were thinner and shorter too. There were also no marks on the table for the balls to sit on. Yeah crap. but Free! I had to go back to Grandad's that night becasue I was starting work at 7am the next day. Peter gave me a lift back to Grandad's but he didn't stay there (social responsibilities). So I checked my email, listened to music, played my DS, and eventually decided to call Agata. After priming myself for 50 or 10 minutes, I dialled her number. Her phone was switched off. I laughed at that. So I carefully worded an SMS showing my desire to meet up, and went back to my music. Grandad arrived shortly aftre, and I went to bed. Work wasn't too bad. All the jobs went off with near no troubles, and despite being called back or overtime, it wasn't a bad day. We had promised Jon that we would help him move back to Sydney that weekend. But because Mum had crashed her car, we cuold no longer tow our trailer (rental cars don't come with tow bars). Because we had promised him, and because he was relying on us, we headed down to Canberra anyway. We headed down late because we had things to do and didn't get down to Canberra until 10pm or something. Most of the Hotels were full, and the place we stayed at was shit, despite being expensive ($20 less than the intercontinental... we really should have stayed there). So Sunday involved us packing up Jon's stuff,a nd driving back home. Well kinda. I had to work Monday, so I once again stayed at Grandad's and headed in to work the next day. Jason called in sick, so we had to postpone one job,and couldn't do the job that we had postponed on Friday. Not well done Jason... But Agata messaged me that day saying that she was in Tasmania and would like to catch up :) I also worked Tuesday and Wednesday, but don't really remember anything much. Excpet that we did the jobs that were postponed. It was also Alex's 23rd birthday on Wednesday, and my Mate Michael S's 22nd on Thursday. Agata messaged me on Wednesday, and we agreed to meet up on Firday for dinner and a movie. That's a date isn't it? It was actually my first ever "first date." A little nerve racking... We had Alex's birthday dinner on Thursday, so I didn't get to Michael's party until a little later than most others. Michael's Party rocked my fucking socks off. Actually it rocked them off so hard that I sprained my ankle pretty bad. I was actually dancing, and not wanting to tread on anyone's toes (I'm such a good dancer), I took my shoes off. Only a minute or so after, I landed badly on my foot (the side of my foot) and fucken my ankle up. So I would have to go to my date with a fucked ankle. Neil was good enough to bandage it up for me. Beside that, the party was awesome, and wound down at about 4am. I slept on a chair. Linden woke me up at 9am or so, and wanted to take me back to her place so she could help with my ankle and give me some needed rest. She's good to me that girl. So I washed my clothes, had a shower and a rest, and hung out with Linden until it was time for my date (and for her to go off to Chatswood to see Harry Potter). I had an appifany that day that maybe I'd met Agata at Tree Of Life in Macquarie Centre. Jen's boyfriend drove me, and Agata was waiting for me on a bench outside the movies. we saw The Brothers Grimm. It was alright. Pretty average, but not terrible. I probably won't ever bother seeing it again, but it was better than, say, Legally Blonde or Final Fantasy. After the movie we talked for a few hours (no real silence), and it was confirmed that she used to work at Tree of Life at Macquarie. Agata ran into one of her friends, which I also recognised very well. Dammit. Where the hell DID I meet her?!?! She left and we kept talking, but 9pm came around and Agata had to catch her bus (her, like me, doesn't have a license), so we said our farewells. She said it was likely that we wouldn't see each other until I'm back from NZ, but expressed interest in seeing me then. I'm going to see if I can catch her on her lunch break tomorrow while I'm doing some Christmas shopping near her work. Anyway... So I stayed the night at Linden's place. Monique was over, and her friend Hannah (the barrel of energy) was coming over despite us all being tired. She brought with her a bottle of Champagne. A few hours later Monique left, and we eventually went to sleep. I kept my sore ankle elevated, and it felt a little better the next morning. It was what was planned for Saturday that pissed me off most when I sprained my ankle. Michael S, Michael KP, Alex, Denise and I were meant to be heading out to Gatecrasher at Home Nightclub for a night of drugs and dancing till dawn (and a little later). So me having a fucked ankle was was not a good thing - especially as we planned it months ago. Despite all this I was determined to make a go of it. I headed into the city witH Hannah and Boggle (Boggle coincidently had a birthday do on at Circular Quay that night, and Hannah lives in Newtown) for a few pre-night beers and a delicious hamburger. Hannah had a concert (where she sould be meeting Monique and Linden later), so when the time came closer for her to get there, we all headed off to our various destinations, a little pissed. Boggle left us when we got to the pub in order to make it to the birthday do on time, but Hannah and I enjoyed a few more drinks at the Three Wise Monkeys. I then met up with Ross and his Friend James, and Hannah left shortly after to get to her concert. Ross and James didn't stay long, as they had a party to go to, and only 1 hour of parking in the city. Shortly after I met up with Denise. Gods this post is long. And we headed toward Home (the club, that is). Alex wouldn't be getting there until after his concert finished, so we went to a pub for some drinks, and waited for the two Michaels to meet up with us. They were about an hour or more, but the time passed well as Denise is great company. When they got there it was only half an hour until Alex got there, and then we headed into Gatecrasher. Alex had the drugs, Michael the tickets, and the club the music. It was all we could do to dance. And dance we did. What a tremendous night it was. Met a few great people, bonded with those I knew,and dance my fucken arse off. Couldn't even feel my ankle for most of the night. The night ended at about 6:30am in the club, and we caught a train back to Michael KP's car at Gordon (sans Alex, who went home). We then headed back to Michael S's and just chilled there for a few hours before Michael KP and Denise left. I slep until about 3pm, and then we headed out to Hornsby for lunch (breakfast) and CD shopping. I eventually went over to Linden's to pick up my stuff, and was about to head off to the station to catch a train home when Monique called (Linden's house actually) and asked if she could drive me home. She was keen to come up. I'm not going to turn that offer down. So she drove me up, and spent the night here. We were meant to be organising as much as possible the next day, but all we ended up doing was buying her ipoo. Mum accidently left her paperwork at home, so we had to drive it down to her. We didn't get down to Sydney until late (my place has a habit of sucking time), so we didn't even get any of the things we wanted to get done in Sydney done. With the exception of buying a cheap FM transmitter of NZ - on the off chance that the rental cars didn't have tape players (we wanted to hook up our mp3 players). Monique got a bit surly (as she does after long drives), but we lived. I then met up with Mum, and I headed home again. What an adventure. So, I'm keen to see Agata tomorrow, but haven't yet called her to arrange it. I should do that after this. I also have to get Christmas presents for Mum and Peter tomorrow. So I'm hoping to kill two birds with one stone. Since my last post, Alex has since got his KTM 640 Lc4 2005 Supermotard Bike, and as impressive as it's name is, the bike itself is moreso. Very cool. What else? I think that's actually more than enough for this time around. I promise not to write this much ever again. I'm sure none of you read it. Until next update!

Listening to: Underworld - Everything, Everything (Album)