dotdotdot

action man...

2006-12-05T21:55:00.000+11:00

sporadic post number 2...I'm struggling with the corporate nature of the new job & all its associated 'buzz'...for example:

Me: Hey Anna, can you give me a hand with these messenger settings?
Anna: Yes, sure. Did you get the email about that?
Me: Yes....
A: So, did you action that?
Me: (internally)...what the fuck?...does she mean 'did I do that'?
(externally)...ah, no...
A: You really should action those emails immediately to keep your settings up to date...

Now I'm new to all this kinda buzzword crap, but it is very bizarre...'action' will soon be used all over the planet in its new grating, gut-jarring form...what sick person started this? Today I got an email discussing a "significant downward trend" in "individual productivity", while one of the people in the office was yabbering on all afternoon about "closing the deal"...sheesh! I'm out of my depth here...I'm a babe in arms compared to these hard-bitten hacks...I obviously need to lift my game or maybe even 'step up to the plate'....gag...

Other shit...(I'm over talking about The Job)...went up to Bris-vegas (yeah any excuse to use that name!) & saw 'Cirque du Soleil' with my Mum, J & The Kid last w/end....pretty damn impressive stuff...& you've gotta admit their marketing arm has been honed to a razor edge as well...any spin-off, from t-shirts to faux ceramic masks were up for sale at some nice inflated prices. Now I now I gripe about nearly everything, & yes they came all they way from Montreal just to entertain 'we the people'...but it really shits me at these 'events' that they take the opportunity to blatantly gouge the shit out of people (many of who are families with 2 or more kids) for this crap...I've gotta problem with paying $4.50 for a bottle of water I know they bought off the pallette for about 40 cents...yep a 1000% markup...same applied to all the other crap there too...my thrifty nature was sorely tested i can tell you!

Other: 'tHE dIVINERS' (Rick Moody) is nearly finished...what a book! I gotta read more of his stuff; scored the wonderful Life Without Buildings CD in a bargain bin for $5 yesterday...I forgot what a great album this is...a fine thing indeedy; The Kids end of year musical performance included a Misfits and AC/DC cover by one young girl...very entertaining indeedy & we even escaped before the recorders hit the stage!

Ummmmmmmmmmmm...i've run outta steam....later

public service announcement...

2006-11-03T22:24:00.000+11:00

...yup! still alive...just not blogging! This is cos at the aforementioned NEW JOB they have an internet policy that doesn't permit hours of blogging & mucking around on the net like at the old job...so it looks as tho' dotdotdot may be relegated to occasional hometime posts utilising cutting edge dial-up technology...& this horrible laptop which I can't seem to type on very well...anyhow new job is good except when i have to ask some computer-related question for the millionth time....sheesh! Went out to the tiny town of Emmaville (look it up!) near Glen Innes this week...the Tattersalls Hotel there is a bargain at $20/night...& features the saggiest 1950's type mattress I've ever sampled...yes, we are talking horeshair stuffing here I kid you not...cold showers are another delightful feature...I felt like I was in India!

Cah...feeling too lazy to type more...felt mildly inspired 5 minutes ago...a list of good shit follows:

seeing pair of beach-stone curlews on beach today...one of 20 pairs left in NSW
Mcluskyism comp triple CD...yeah this is 10 months old but so what! Why are they so great? Why did they break up? Snif...I am listening now nice & loud...furious stuff indeedy!
Darren Hanlon was good live at Byron last week, but lacked a drummer. Drummers are a good thing & their absence is felt most keenly. Yes, I was peeved...but even then he still tricked me into getting his new album, which J hates & I admit has a few insipid Ben Lee (shudder)-type moments
holiday at Woody Head campground with J & The Kid...Kid joins BMX bike gang & has never been the same
'The Diviners' by Rick Moody is a great book...probably all his stuff is...I recommend heartily...

That'll do...will try & post stuff occasionally or not at all...that's the kind of wild & feckless liberties us webmasters take! hehehehe...

BTW...beware of Lindt caramel crunch chocolate...it produces feelings of nausea & over-indulgence after a mere 4 pieces, as I have just found out...errgghhhh.........
....sleep beckons. out.

the times they are a...

2006-09-20T17:13:00.000+10:00

Let's suppose that you work for a small family company, are well paid, have a lot of licence to do what you want (more or less), have to do very little work at all & have lots of time for important things like doing a blog & downloading music...you'd have to crazy to leave a cushy job like that, no? Yep, well that's basically what I've done (& I'm starting to have doubts now after writing that!) - I'm moving onto another company which is bigger, corporate (they have a Human Resources Officer!), where I'll have to do a lot of work & will have to prove my worth all over again....perks are slightly more money & um, that's about all...& it's even further to drive to as well!

But it IS a good thing I'm sure - firstly I get to work with a team & be vaguely sociable & secondly I'm stagnating here & feeling bored as hell. Change over is in 3 weeks, so its goodbye sleepy Alstonville, hello to the bustling metropolis of Ballina - home of the big prawn! I'm not sure what company policy is gonna be on personal web-use but it's gotta be tighter than here! dot...may have to be relegated to home usage now...& as my friend Greg put it "I hope yr new job has even more powerful computers to make downloading mp3's even easier!"... so do I.

Will have to try & get a few more pics of sleepy Alstonville to post on here before I blow this village...ah shit! I'm gonna miss the 'Biggest vegetable' exhibition later this year! May have to come up here & snap a pic of a truck sized pumpkin.

Other stuff - I can only give the new Drones CD "gala mill" a so-so review...it's good but not great...where is all the wailing & anguish that I loved? Sadly, it appears to have been tamed...there's a few damn fine tracks on here...just in a more subdued form than earlier efforts...BUT they lose big points & instant dismissal from lyric writer school for using the line "where the dead wood aches" in not 1, but 2 songs! Sorry folks but that is lame, no matter how nice a line it is...

Finally - saw 3 Grey-crowned babblers today - they are the skulking fiends of the bird world and are very cool - here's why :

"The Grey-crowned Babbler is the largest of the four Australian babblers, reaching to 30 cm long. Its distinctive bill is scimitar-shaped, long and heavy...This species has a loud and often repeated ‘ya-hoo’ call which is a duet between the male and female (the female says ‘ya’ and the male answers with ‘hoo’). It is used to maintain the bond between the pair and as a territorial call. The ‘ya-hoo’ duet sequence is repeated rapidly, up to thirty times in a row." (DEC)

...sadly there was no ya-hoo-ing going on today... se la vi...

Sometimes I feel like a dork...

2006-09-11T13:59:00.000+10:00

Took some time off work & spent a few days on the lovely Coochiemudlo Island with J & The Kid. 'Coochie' as the locals know it is off Victoria Point near Stradbroke Island and appears to be in a 1970's timewarp...which is no bad thing...it's all very beach holiday shacks & sandy beaches & very charming. It also features a population of Bush stone curlews (see pic) which got me very excited...

Conversation between me & The Kid:

The Kid: Come on dad throw the frisbee (yep, another dorky admission - I love chucking a frisbee around)...
Me: (looking around) Hang on, I though I just heard a Curlew...
The Kid: hurry up Dad...
Me: (excitedly) - hey wow! It is a Curlew...look there it is...& there's another one....look right there!
The Kid: (annoyedly) Dad, it's just a boring bird...
Me: (silence...throws frisbee dejectedly to Kid while lamenting Kids lack of enthusiasm for our feathered brethren)

Anyhow, Curlews have gotta be the absolute nerds of the bird world, they even look gangly & stupid...kinda like a feathered Buddy Holly. The funniest thing about them is that they freeze stock still when they see you, then slowly sink to the ground & lie there & hope you don't see them. The Kid & I even walked over & picked one up...it just lay there placidly & tried very hard to look very dead.

Anyhow Coochie is cool & I recommend it (for the Curlews alone!)...altho skip the pizza at the corner shop...it elevated the word bland to a new meaning! Got back from the subtropical paradise of Coochie to take The Kid straight to a ten-pin bowling party in Lismore....sheesh, is there anything more lame than ten-pin bowling? I used to think it was kinda cool in an ironic way, but now I can boldly say that it really is the slobs sport & has no redeeming features whatsoever, & I challenge anyone to look vaguely interested & NOT check the clock after 2 mind-numbing games. Well, being a kids party, where all present had a concentration span of about 0.2 seconds, 2 games (with time out for eating of hot chips & sausage rolls) somehow took a hellish 3 hours! I couldn't get outta there quick enough...but The Kid seemed to think it was a winner (probably a hell of a lot better than curlew watching)...

Got home to find the new Drones CD in the mail (drool drool) & tried hard to show I was a cool Dad by blasting The Kid with The Mad's wonderful punk rock anthem 'I Hate Music', which you can listen to /download here. Needless to say she was unimpressed...I better lift my game! BTW...you can listen to a Bush stone curlew call here...

Warning! Warm & fuzzy content...

2006-09-04T10:50:00.000+10:00

Yeah, well it was Fathers' Day yesterday & as a result I am now the proud owner of a hand made shrinky dink 'Dad' keyring, knocked up by The Kid at school - cool no?

Abortive sorrow...

2006-08-25T10:41:00.000+10:00

Have just been spending some time checking a list of supposedly bad Australian band names here...some of them really were tragic, which threw me back to 1983 when I came up with my first band name. I'd just discovered the wonders of punk rock & was revelling in its general obnoxiousness & nihilism...I'd also just finished reading 'The Great Gatsby' for school...now there's a line in there somewhere where Gatsby gazes across the water at the green light and muses on the abortive sorrows of life...That was it! The perfect punk rock band name - Abortive Sorrow...brilliant! I thought I was so damn clever - the name was snotty & offensive (& very punk) but yet also had a literary reference, thus lending it some kind of artistic flair...I feverishly spent much time drawing 'Abortive Sorrow' in notebooks & searching for the perfect font...I think the favourite was (tragically) in the Old English lettering favoured by so many bad metal bands (but no umlaught over the 'o'). I was unpacking a pile of old stuff at my folks awhile back & I found an old folder with 'Abortive Sorrow' scrawled across it - I ended up chucking it out...maybe I shoulda kept it...damn! Needless to say Abortive Sorrow never quite made it into the flesh...

Rites of Spring...

2006-08-21T12:03:00.000+10:00

Spring kicks off! Top pic is flowering Red bopple nut (Hicksbeachia pinnatifolia) going hard in the backyard...bottom pic is a Small bolwarra (Eupomatia benettiana) in flower...these buggers are from an ancient plant family & are very slow growing...their flowers open for one day a year before the petals fall off - I got to this baby a few days too late. Small dot on flower is a little weevil which is sucking up the pollen and pollinating many a bolwarra along the way...

Evils of the flesh...

2006-08-14T16:23:00.000+10:00

Have been on the net looking at vego recipes (I need some inspiration) & what a hotbed of online madness it is out there in vegoland - 6 million recipes available!!! (or something like that...) Looking at it all after awhile makes me feel dispirited, jaded & extremely cynical...& makes me think that vegetarians are somewhat freakish! A brief foray down my timeline of vego life (& subsequent fall from from grace) explains it all...

The fire & brimstone days - I'm 18 years old, burning with fervour & a love of punk rock - animal rights is my catchcry, butchers are scum...I subscribe to Animal Liberation magazine, eat copious quantities of Textured Vegetable Protein (5% ash?!) & am probably very annoying. This goes on for a few years...Animal Lib subscription wanes, but I still proudly identify...
The mid-twenties years - realise that all meat eaters aren't actually scum (yeah, it took a few years!) & that people can do what they want...less TVP consumed...less scrutiny of packets & labels...start not giving a shit about 'contains animal/or vegetable' fat warning on biscuit packets...hey there's a 50% chance it could all be vegetable fat right? Have an interesting meeting with former animal rights guy who now works for a Council as a feral animal controller, who proudly tells me that the day he got his gun licence was one of the best things he's ever done! This phase lingers on for a few years...
The 'my child will never eat meat!' phase - This lasts 2 years or so...my first chance to relish the sanctimonius sweetnees of being a righteous parent, until J points out I am being a narrow-minded facist...she's right of course, so slices of leg ham soon start popping up in the fridge for little C - who of course LOVES meat & can't get enough of the stuff! Start thinking that killing feral animals is a good thing & fuck any intrinsic 'rights' they may have had...start freezing Cane toads in earnest...
The 'I'm sick of this...I wonder what fish is like?' phase (aka "the downfall") - Am diagnosed with a chronic vitamin B12 deficiency & need injections to get back on track...'but I'm vegetarian' I wail to the doctor...a few weeks later I'm feeling hungry & rebellious - I order hot chips at a milk bar at Brunswick Heads...wait a minute! make that fish & chips! The meal is ordered, I feel trepidation...maybe I'll be sick or worse?...meal is bloody delicious, I snuffle it up & have childhood memories of same - ah sweet bliss!...much fish avidly consumed over next few years...Work conversations turn to earnest discussion in regard as to who actually does produce the best tinned tuna (it's Sarina, by the way - the chilli version...avoid the one with eggplant)...
The 'processed veg food is shit' phase - Come to this conclusion after one too many 'notdogs' (you have to hate that name!) where I felt like I'd eaten a cardboard box...re-read packet & realise that this shit is all filler & not much else & probably has very few (any?) health benefits... refusal to use the term 'vegequarian' - cute, but horrible...enjoy telling lifelong vego friends that I've gone to the dark side & seeing their reactions...
The 'looking for vego recipes for inspiration while still eating fish' phase - currently occurring! Looking at all those websites with their enthusiastic raves about tofu roast and vegan haggis just makes me think that vegetarians can just be a bit weird sometimes...& I'm talking western vegos, rather than cultural vegos such as many Indian folk...Those brimming endorsements for mock duck with savoury roast nut trimmings just come across as kinda creepy & immediately make me think of tall emaciated dreadlocked guys with indian armband tattoos hugging in the sweatlodge...

...Anyhow I've nearly used up my day with that rant...is it time to go home now? Bugger the recipe searching...Roast potatoes'll do for tonight!

The gentleman's game...

2006-08-14T09:09:00.000+10:00

Played my second game of cricket in 20 years yesterday...it's not a bad game once you strip it of its stricter & more pompous elements! Anyhow, we got hammered by the Mullumbimby team & I got out for a duck...oh the shame! I obviously need to work at wielding the willow...still, it was a pleasant way to spend the day in the sunshine. My Mum was very intrigued when I talked to her last night she even asked if we wore white! I had to tell her that it was casual cricket - north coast style, i.e where the players were smoking joints throughout, the umpire was very stoned & drank many beers while in his position at the stumps, as we all did while waiting to bat...good fun!

Saw a great DVD on the w/end "Everything is illuminated" - well worth tracking down...the book is supposed to be good too...get over yr flu J, we need you back!

Inertia...

2006-08-02T17:15:00.000+10:00

Had a great waste of time today, where I travelled 1 & a half hrs to the Gold Coast for a meeting that wasn't on...the secretary placated me with bad coffee & scotch fingers while I fumed & got annoyed before leaving again...the drive home was a good time to get reacquainted with some tunes I ain't heard for years - Shellacs first LP & the first Breeders LP - both nice things indeedy...

This follows on from last nights waste of time which was watching 'Transamerica" on DVD...I hate to be so hypercritical of things, but shit, this movie didn't even fit in the 'trashy but pleasant bubblegumesque filler' category. Basically it is a below mediocre road movie with all the obvious themes that go with it - a journey, transformation, & ultimately (nauseatingly) self-fulfillment...but god it's a painfully SLOW & uninvolving journey...I shoulda been warned enough by the presence of a star from 'Desperate Housewives"...which I can now include in the dotdotdot guide to movies best avoided... presented below in all its narrow-minded glory...

Avoid ANY movie that involves:

A focus on the American President
A focus on any sport
The major debut of a soapie star on the big screen
Tom Hanks, Mel Gibson (post Mad Max) or Goldie Hawn
The dreaded black guy/white guy mismatched duo (aka Ebony & Ivory syndrome)
A musician making the 'difficult' transition to film

Any other suggestions? I'm coming up a tad short...

I'm feeling mildly elated that the horrors of 'Big Brother' are over for the year & I don't need to witness any more rampant boganism for awhile...but then on the other hand it's now 'Australian Idol' time instead!!!!...sheesh, has TV ever been so dire? (Was it ever good?) Anyhow, while I'm in list making mode I give you my 'essential things for any bogan' top 10 (in no particular order):

Bundy & Coke
Sunglasses
For him: Buff pecs; For her: boob job
The 'sportz pak' version of any car
Velcro surf wallet
For him: Boxer shorts with cute &/or suggestive cartoon characters; For her: G-string
For him: Ralph magazine; For her: appearing topless/naked & peering through blinds/smeared with grease/wearing builders toolbelt in Picture Magazine
For him: Beanie in Summer; For her: Ugh boots in Summer
Tan (Real or fake)
Subwoofer (or three!)

...yeah, I'm a cultural snob...any other suggestions?

Saturday morning round up...

2006-07-22T10:53:00.000+10:00

Small font today cos I've gotta lot of crap to spout! It's Sat. morning...have had the annual sleep in (Kid is sleeping over at a friends), the Herald is here, stereo on & all is well..& the last 24 hrs media review is under way...

Jindabyne - saw this last night with J & guest reviewer L...well, so many things to say! But I must digress...when I was a kid we went on a school camp to Jindabyne, & beforehand we were warned of the dreaded 'jindi bindies'* - a stomach bug that supposedly resulted in high octane diarrhoea...well, thinking about it now, this movie gave me the jindi bindies...just another Australian movie with sweeping landscape shots, 'difficult' characters & human drama. The big question raised seems to be 'are all men pigs?'...but, hell, I fail to see the much lauded brilliance that everyone else is talking about....some parts of this film are just plain dumb & unneccessary, & the whole deal with the film deliberately making things as convoluted as possible just shits me*...I'd rather just see a film based on a story, than a deliberately constructed plot which manipulates situations for a range of difficult outcomes...eg. the dead body in the river isn't just that of a woman, it's a woman who has been raped, murdered & also happens to be aboriginal as well! All deliberate plotting to allow for maximum drama...annoying! Go & rent 'Bliss' instead. As L pointed out, the guys in the film didn't even seem to enjoy eating their fish!!! Stood outside the cinema after & pondered what to do...Byron was crawling with uber-hip Splendour attenders, many of whom were cultivating the Wolfmother look...we got barred from getting into Woolies cos it was closed...so we came home to attempt the very difficult SMH crossword & get annoyed about 'jindabyne'...
Sat morning music line up (in chronological order)...

Neil Young - 'harvest'...J's choice not mine...sounds old & fusty & reminds me of bad FM radio...a couple of good-ish songs tho...
The Grates - 'gravity won't get you high'...J dissed this band for their American accents (via Brisbane!) & I've gotta agree.... 'to' becomes 'teu' & there's just too many filler 'oh yeahs', 'huh huhs' & girlish yelps. I've seen 'em live & they're great fun - energetic & punchy, & this CD is too, but it's nothing new...altho it is a great morning CD, & The Kid seems to give it props (she's a pushover for melodic punky pop tho')...file under poor man's Bikini Kill...
Bluebottle Kiss - 'doubt seeds' 2 xCD...ask J this question: what's worse than a new BBK CD? A new double BBK CD! Yeah, I like this band a lot...& obviously play them too much in our house...even The Kid dislikes them! But the last few offerrings by BBK have been a tad underwhelming...with the feeling that their glory days were 5 years ago when they blew my socks off at the Hopetoun while surrounded by bespectacled earnest back pack-wearing fans...not so at Byron this year...they were somewhat dull... Anyhow disc 1 sounds damn fine - this is great great stuff! Disc 2 will probably be equally great I'm sure. 2 bad points tho...self-congratulatory liner notes, & the whole thing comes in a horrible double jewel case...the most heinous invention of the modern age...ergghhhh...
Death Cab for Cutie - 'plans'...there is a linear relationship for bands who do the winsome pop thing which states that as more albums are released the level of winsomeness increases to cloying degrees while the level of pop &/or oomph that attracted you in the first place declines dramatically...(the finger is pointed at YOU Art of Fighting!)...anyhow, as this is DCFC's 4th CD, the rule applies & sadly holds true...where is the oomph? Nice stuff for a sat'dee morning...but that's just it...it's too damn nice!

OK...that's the round up...thanks to sponsers of various burnt CD's... time to read the SMH & get the low-down on yesterdays crossword, fry up some eggs, & listen to more BBK while doing the mountain of washing up that has somehow occurred...L, yr lentil soup is very nice, but it is very resource demanding! bring on the rest of the w/end..........

Happiness is a warm bike...

2006-07-17T11:25:00.000+10:00

Had one of those warm & fuzzy parenting moments yesterday which was a pleasure indeed. The Kid cast off her training wheels & entered the enthralling world of..... (distant trumpet fanfare) - The 2 wheeled bike! Yep, it's true - The Kid is now 2 wheels good, 4 wheels baaaaaadddd...the historic moment happened in a park in Tenterfield - what a moment! There were spills, crashes, squashed legs, collisions with a street sign, a near-dunking in a stormwater drain & close calls to a pile of dogshit, but by the end, The Kid rose above & could ride a 40 metre stretch of concrete unaided...very amusing & hilarious stuff...I've gotta admit to punching the air on more than one occasion, & even internally thinking "You go girl!" as well! That's 2 rites of passage in 1 week for The Kid - first wobbly tooth & the bike thing as well...sheesh! what next? Becoming the third member of Smoosh?

Anyhow, other good thing was getting the hell outta here for the w/end & getting out to Tenterfield - cold, rugged & boulder strewn - a damn fine place. Was hoping for snow, or at least sleet...but no deal...had a fine w/end consuming much food & burning much firewood...being at work today hurts....there is a whole world out there to frolic in & I'm not out in it...

thirty-bloody-eight...

2006-07-11T17:30:00.000+10:00

Yep, another year, another birthday...I'm getting dangerously close to 40 now! Spent the day at work perversely enough, but managed to stave off the inevitable offer of a birthday cake from my workmates. These are from the white trash bakery downstairs & consist of sponge cakes which are like kitchen sponges covered in whipped cream & jam & injected by an air compressor...Ungrateful? No way! Purely rational...settled for a bad latte from the white trash cafe downstairs instead...

Went down to Ballina Waste Management Centre (aka Ballina tip) to do some vegetation mapping...the sun was out, the sweet smell of rotting garbage was in the air - it wasn't a bad place to be at all! Saw a Black-necked stork too - a majestic sight indeed...ya can't ask for much more than that! Going down to Mullumbimby for pizza from the legendary Milk & Honey (maybe wearing my new B'day undies & shirt too!). I hereby throw down the gauntlet & challenge any pizza to be the equal to one of the mighty creations knocked up by Milk & Honey pizzas... anyone coming up this way can take the challenge...you will be convinced!

Public service announcement...

2006-07-03T10:18:00.000+10:00

It's School Holidays, which means The Kid will be having many of her friends over to devour all our food, make sculptures out of anything which can be lifted by 6 year old hands, ask several million questions & (in some instances) sleep over. The sleep over scene is incredibly cute, hearing their excited little whispers after lights out, & then the thump of 2 pairs of feet hitting the floor at 6 am the next day with energy amounts that are scarey...

Yesterday, The Kid walked into the bathroom, then walked over to her friend and loudly announced - "watch out, my Dad's just done a really smelly poo in the Bathroom!". I cringed with embarrassement....sheesh! God knows what The Friend will report back to her parents...for all I know, Chinese whispers rules may apply & by the time the story gets out it might have transpired that I took a dump on the floor or some such horror story...Hmmmmmmmm...

A beautiful sunny w/end complete with much socialising just finished....damn nice too! Last w/end was The Kids 6 years old 'cowboys & cowgirls' birthday party...pics to come when I get around to it...

Caught up with a friend on the w/end who told me an amusing story about a team building excercise his department was ordered to have by their superior (he works in a Govt. dept.). It was decided, seeing as the weather was nice, they'd all go surfing together. On ecstasy...
Needless to say, much team spirit was evoked, & I'm sure plans for more such exercises will be proposed. Good idea tho....maybe all corporate team building sessions should start with. "Now, we'll all just take one of these little tablets...". Think of the positive outcomes!

Gun in mouth blues...

2006-06-27T12:01:00.000+10:00

Shit! What a downer RE: the Socceroos...I am peeved, miffed AND vexed like nearly everyone else in this country...the game was looking so damn good - I had already planned how the penalty shoot out was going to go, but oh the misfotune meted out by the gods passed us up...

The action out our way was at Dorroughby Community Hall (famed for its fierce Table-tennis tournaments every Thursday night)...four of us that didn't reach out & hit the 'snooze' button gathered in front of the telly to don the beany (it was cold!) drink beers, sample Ians horticultural efforts & gesticulate wildly...but to no avail...the drive home was like I was in a dream...did that really happen... (is that pot really that strong?)...It was disappointment on toast in my kitchen at 3.15 am I can tell you...

Speaking of blues...picked up a great CD by the Beasts of Bourbon last week. 'Lowlife' is a live recording taken from 2003 when they re-formed for a few shows, & it is a damn fine thing! Raw, sweaty & full of bile & swagger - this is a great CD. Listen to a few tracks here. I was never much of a 'Beasts' fan when they were around, cos I was in my 'they're either punk, or they suck' stage of life. This CD changes my thinking! I never realised how grunty they were, & I can imagine how great they were live in their heyday (altho I have absolutely no memory of the one gig I did see!). One reviewer has said that any audience at a Beasts gig was in 2 camps - the girls all wanted to fuck Tex, while the guys all wanted to be Tex...Mike can you confirm this for me?

OK...back to work...grrrrr...maybe more coffee is needed. By the way, that will probably be the only post here which mentions sport in any form...

Sue's last ride...

2006-06-16T08:49:00.000+10:00

"This is a song about being dead in the back of a car for two weeks, and if yr dead or dying this song is all about you..." So announced Warren Ellis of the Dirty 3 last night before the band ripped into 'Sue's last ride'...

The band were bloody amazing live, & they were actually the dirty 4 tonight cos they had an extra guy playing bass which beefed out the sound a lot...I was surprised at how intense & heavy they can be...Warren Ellis is like a violinist posseessed, shredding bow strings aplenty & flailing around, while Jim White is the drummer from hell...he ain't lost anything since those Venom P Stinger days. The gig was great - a big range of songs, from the furious to the delicate, & folks just lapped it up. Surprisingly (for Byron) there were heaps of people there, & they were into it too! They finished off with a great cover of "Wake up Maggie" by (Rockin') Rod Stewart which got some pretty heavy treatment...fine stuff indeedy!

Got home at 2:47 am to a house that resembled an icebox....pretty damn cold - a 2 doona night...crawled into bed wishing I could listen to it all over again...

Celebrity band name...

2006-06-15T14:31:00.000+10:00

Few people can claim to be present when pop-cultural history is made, but I can proudly claim to be one of those few. The year is 1987, and in the busy mind of my good friend Michael Anson, the germ of an idea is forming...a game for those idle moments when you try & combine the name of any band with that of a celebrity...and thus 'Celebrity Band Name' was born. The game was unveiled on a visit to Mike's Kirribilli love shack & due to its instant success was incorporated into many a camping trip when we were all sitting around the fire wishing we'd brought more chocolate...

Some of CBN's finer moments include Bob Hawk(e)wind, Cilla Black Flag, and the Mike's crowning glory - Gerard 'Def Lepard' deu. I haven't thought about this for years, but today on Triple J (I was bored alright!) they were playing 'TV show band name' (e.g. Big Black Brother) & kind of insinuating this kind of kooky thing was a new phenomena...ha! if only they knew the truth...altho, who knows, this game could've been thought up by other bored youth living a parallel existence in Iceland...but my money rests with Mike - the rightful creator of this pop-culture gem...

Now we're in this age of pop-culture reference saturation, CBN now has a rightful place, along with such games as Nathan Barleys 'cock, muff, bumhole' (replacing scissors, rock, paper) or Steve Albini's 'draw an album cover using the very crude Microsoft Word drawing program & get people to guess what it is' (check this out, & loads of other indulgent crap on the Electrical Audio forums, incluiding the perennial favourite 'crap/not crap')...

...memories of the game in its raw infancy are good, oddly enough it always seemed funnier if the celebrity was particularly B-grade, or from a bad Australian TV series (or maybe both!) & the band was as indie &/or onscure as you could get...

...anyhow, Celebrity Band Name, here at dotdotdot yr rightful roots are proudly acknowledged, & all four (4) of you who read this thing are requested to contribute yr best offerrings - hit the comments & hit it hard!

Pray/Prey...

2006-06-15T08:59:00.000+10:00

Been busy & distracted = no posts...Lots of stuff has happened in between: a thrash trip to Sydney for my Mum's 70th Birthday bash - at the Pymble Uniting Church Hall, & what a venue it is! I immediately think of creepy battered plastic cups filled with green cordial, but these ghosts of my late 70's/early 80's churchgoing career were nowhere to be seen...thank god! Anyhow, the bash was surprisingly OK...all those weird relatives, cousins etc who I never wanted to talk to were actually kinda interesting to talk to 15 - 20 years on...shessh, maybe I am actually growing up!

Apart from that, been engaging in a big trapping survey for work. Our quarry - the ever elusive Long-nosed potoroo. These buggers are nearly impossible to catch, cos they are so wary & very (as they say in the scientific parlance) 'trap shy'. This is as opposed to the south-western Victorian population of potoroos who are apparently 'trap happy'...there's obviously some social difference going on between these populations...Anyhow, so far ain't caught one...other stuff caught includes bandicoots, possums & some of the heftiest rats I've ever seen! See pic of the very cute Long-nosed bandicoot (Perameles nasuta)...also note terrified expression on face!

Other stuff...hmmm...been watching the World Cup & enjoying muchly, & I gotta admit that even I punched the air & yelled triumphantly at 12.58am on Tuesday morn when the Socceroos nailed the Japanese...can't wait for the Brazil game.

Finally, culture comes to Byron tonight in the form of the wonderful Dirty 3 - a band I've loved for years, but have never seen live...well tonights the night, & I can't wait...review to follow if I get to it...

Spammed out & pissed off...

2006-05-26T15:19:00.000+10:00

What the fuck is this cyber-violation of my guestbook? 'Anonymous' - you are either a bored friend with time on yr hands (although some of the comments are actually funny!), or some weird spammer...altho what benefits are to gain from dumb comments on a dumb, uncreative blog? Hmmm...I'm intrigued..is this normal? Anonymous, will you come forward & reveal yrself to the world? Or can I expect a comment like "I thought the cutting edge web design & informative content on your site are really most charming"....grrrrrrrrrr...

...on a better note, it's Friday, I'm leaving work early & going camping with The Kid up to Toonumbar (Murray Scrub), out past Kyogle. It will be cold, but good...with many a Bell miner chiming away...

TV Eye...

2006-05-16T14:09:00.000+10:00

Watched 3 solid hours of TV last night - I have not done this for years! It was all ABC, & a general parade of human misery - suicide on 4 corners, greedy journalism on Mediawatch (& what is it with Monica Attard? She is exactly like my school headmistress at primary school - all primness & severity. The only cool thing about my old headmistress was that she drove a khaki coloured Valiant Charger - a beast of a car that did not quite tie in with her outer image. I can't imagine Monica driving a Charger somehow...), some levity on Denton (smarmy bastard that he is!) & then into more bleakness with death & rape in aboriginal communities in the top end...

By the end of it all I had a numb arse & felt very bleak indeed...

...speaking of bleak, have been listening to a lot of Go-Betweens after the death of Robert Mclellan last week. I am now convinced that every time we go on holidays with the lovely M & B (refer to 'batshit & beaches' post), it results in the inadvertant death of a rock musician. Last year it was Paul Hester (Crowded House drummer), this year poor old Grant Mclellan...I'm already concerned about who might be next years casualty (hopefully Shannon Noll...hehehe).

Anyhow, Go-Betweens...some nice stuff, some overly whimsical stuff, but I've gotta say I do have soft spots for 'cattle & cane' & 'streets of yr town' (along with some of the recent stuff)...even tho the latter has been cheapened by its use by Channel Nine as promo music (funny how they don't include the line about 'battered wives')...Anyhow I never saw the GBs when they played Lismore last year (was feeling too cheap, & thought they were pretty dull supporting PJ Harvey a few years back)...J went & said it was a brilliant & intimate gig...shit! now I feel peeved I didn't go, or is it that everyting looks better in hindsight anyway? From all the lauded press about the GBs I'd say this is the case...tempted to get the latest CD ('oceans apart') anyway...keepsake mentality at work yet again...

Rainforests and records...

2006-05-10T16:46:00.000+10:00

Fruit of Steelwood Sarcopteryix stipata - a sexy tree that deserves exposure, & looked too good not to be photographed.

Went to a dull meeting today in Murwillumbah...a very charming town which is still pretty much unchanged, & has not had the stainless steel & bifold doors treatment that is all the rage up here. Score of the morning was the wonderful 'Germfree adolescents' LP by X-Ray Spex for a miserly 2 bucks from the 'Buzz Bar' music shop! The cover is waterstained,but the vinyl is mint condition unplayed, so can replace my existing scratched up version. This album is mandatory listening for all players out there! The sticker up in the corner shows that this LP has migrated from Manly music shop where it must have languished on the shelves for $7.99 before somehow getting wet.... & then making the long pilgrimmage up to Murwillumbah...

Life in...

2006-05-04T09:30:00.000+10:00

The local servo near my work...no photoshop or funny stuff, just a simple case of a missing 'S'...

Not much to write about right now...loving the transition into Winter - flawlessly sunny days & crispy mornings & evenings...this really is the good time of year...bring it on!

Batshit and beaches...

2006-04-26T12:54:00.000+10:00

First day back in the saddle at work after 11 glorious days off...Been down at Bellingen at the charming bat shit reeking caravan park for a few days - we suspect we all got a mild case of lyssavirus there, & then went north to Minnie water on the coast to schmooze around there. Travel partners were the rudderless, but very charming M & B - these guys came up for a holiday & ended up sacrificing 2 days to help us paint our house - freaks! ...and what a mighty effort it was - I'm convinced that with enough coffee, beer, cheese platters, good music, zealous workers & 40 grit sandpaper anything is achievable. If I was house proud I'd post a pic of freshly painted house...but I'm not that house proud...yet.

So after 2 days of manic brush-wielding we jumped in cars & motored south. Bellingen is not unlike Bangalow, ie - recreating itself as nick-nack central with fine foods thrown in (yes, it does have a touch of le wanque about it). There is a nearby bakery in Repton that does the wildest gutsy organic olive bread I've ever tasted - it makes all the Byron & northcoast breads of similar style look like the fluff they are. I would happily move to Bello & eat bread for a week...

Highs: bread, wine, Dorrigo visit, cute caravan, amazing waterholes at The Promised Land (this is what it really is called!) near Glennifer...
Lows: Lyssavirus, batshit stink

Headed for the coast next - Minnie Water & Woolli are 2 little villages within Yuraygir National Park - great place, beautiful beaches. Went fishing & motored around in M&B's boat - much to The Kids delight. Only 1 fish caught by the inimitable J, but undersize. Went to Harry's Chinese in Woolli - heralded as "an institution" in the local blurb. I agree with J that this is just not possible,as Chinese food suffers from "excess goop" syndrome to an alarming degree. Anyhow, old Harry knocked up all the standard Chinese stuff for us, with minimal goop & it was OK, but nothing more mediocore than any other Chinese joint - well, the prawns weren't frozen I suppose...

Highs: Digger's Head beach, Woolli Woolli River, fires at night
Lows: Kid falling out of bunk, not catching fish of edible size,coming back home...

Laying rubber...

2006-04-13T14:30:00.000+10:00

These are my trusty thongs - $2.99 at Woolies (as I recall) & still going strong after 8 years of quality service. I've been noticing the thong revival lately, & of course now that nothing ordinary is acceptable these days, we now have the sub-genre of the 'cool thong', ala yr Havallinas (? or whatever they're called). The 'cool thong' is invariably funkily coloured & sold in surf shops & cool boutiques etc & usually retails from $17.99 & upwards...but here's the rub...the cool thong is a show pony, a ponce, a cream puff which is fit only for shopping or sipping lattes. The cool thong is not suited to lawn mowing or ditch digging or anything vaguely physical at all! I would be surprised if you got a year out of a pair of cool thongs...but I suppose by then they may be out of style & need replacing anyhow...

Anyhow, this post is a salute to the traditional thong - cheap, ugly & enduringly practical. Long may they survive & never be usurped by their chic contemporaries!

Proposition me not...

2006-04-12T10:58:00.000+10:00

Watched The Proposition last night...apparently it was 'superbly poetic'..alas I must return the verdict of superbly crap. Why is this film so lauded & praised? I don't think Nick Cave can write a script to save his life - 'Ghosts of the civil dead' was bad enough, but 'The proposition' drags out every western cliche you've ever seen - the tough law enforcer, the wild & murderous gang complete with inbred brothers & a poetry spouting leader (think of the inbred hayseed family from The Simpsons, sans poetry), haunting visual shots of the rugged outback, and bad western style font (yep, even the font gave me the shits!).

Basically it's 'Apocalypse Now' set in colonial Australia - a man given a mission, a journey to find an enigmatic leader, and of course (violent) Confrontation. The other bad thing going was the whole made-for-TV feel it had, or maybe that's just because most colonial era film depications always end up as TV mini-series (almost always stretched over 2 or 3 'compelling nights'!). Anyhow, 'The Proposition' just didn't deliver. A few flaming sunsets & gnarled trees complete with a standard Western plot, does not a good film make. I suppose the film is being adventurous in that it is the first Australian western, but then most westerns aren't exactly innovative are they? The soundtrack was also supposedly haunting & evocative - courtesy Mr. Cave & Warren Ellis (Dirty 3). Like most soundtracks, it's mangled in the edits, & Nick Cave does some very interesting trebly warbling that is pretty inane - listen to Dirty 3 CDs in their entirety instead...

I really wanted to like this film...feels bad to can it, but it was lame lame lame...even J thought so too! Anyone got any good movies out there to recommend?

Sometimes I suck...

2006-04-11T09:50:00.000+10:00

Admission of lameness...I forgot my Mum's 70th Birthday on the weekend - this is bad! My sister organised a party down in sydney & all I had to do was contribute & send a card. I managed to do that, but on the actual day I forgot completely & didn't ring to congratualte her at all...she ended up ringing me to thank me for the gift which I had played no role at all in choosing...I think many times my good old Mum has been charmed & amused by my hopelessness...but somehow I think this was not one of those times...shit! SORRY MUM!!!!

Slabwork...

2006-04-03T08:36:00.000+10:00

Went in to the hire place on Saturday to hire a jackhammer for the weekend...

Me: Hi, I rang up about hiring a jackhammer
Hire Guy: Aaaahhh, got some slabwork to do have you?
Me: Umm...Yeah...
Hire Guy:So, what kind of a slab have you got?
Me: (describes slab dimensions)
Hire Guy: Well, you'd probably be best off with a Hitachi H65 for a job like that...

...and I've gotta say after 2 days of intense usage, the Hitachi H65 is an amazing tool - we bonded in a cloud of concrete dust, grit & chunks of rock...& today my hands are still vibrating...God knows how those guys use these things day after day...& they use the next model up which is heavy as hell & makes the H65 look not unlike a toy!

Anyhow, it was a beautiful sunny w/end here, so while J & The Kid went to the waterslides I got stuck into my slabwork...which was kinda fun in a perverse way. Picked up The Drones latest CD on Saturday....this is a great record! Raw, messy, fucked up & painful...very nice stuff indeed. If I was a reviewer I might describe it as "viscerally exciting"...it is just damn good - imagine 'horse stories' era Dirty 3 channelled via early X (Australian) with contributions from The Saints and Nick Cave...

...after finishing my demolition for the day, I had a beer, cranked up the Drones & sat & watched the cows next door...simple pleasures...

Weather geek...

2006-03-31T12:25:00.000+11:00

Pissing down outside...so of course it's time for a little distraction and time to check the BOM website. BOM as in Bureau of Meteorology, as in yes I'm a weird geek who looks at this site along with many other geeks, & yes I really should get a life...

But seriously, this is a great site! There's cool rainfall radar images, storm warnings, & lots of other stuff. Whenever there's a storm you can bet that the action at our house will be hanging around the radar image on the computer (provided we actually have power) & marvelling at the high intensity rainfall over Woodburn, or sighing in relief as Repentance Creek levels out after a 4.1 metre peak...I tells you theres dizzying highs and crushing lows to be experienced on the BOM site...whoever thought weather could be so emotional...

...and as an even better step up to weather geekdom is the wonderful Cloud Appreciation Society. Check out their site & enjoy more discussion on cumulo-nimbus than you can handle in a lifetime...and maybe order a set of the hottest cufflinks in town!

Up dog, down dog...

2006-03-31T09:34:00.000+11:00

I've been doing 'Power yoga' (sounds pretty extreme doesn't it?) for a while now, and after last nights class have to share some of the more amusing aspects of it all...Our teacher spent 10 years in LA teaching & practicing, so has a very LA 'beautiful person' type outlook on life - we are often informed that we are all getting 'stoned on oxygen' in the class! She also has the odd habit of playing music through the whole class - often this is a mixed bag from Missy Higgins to Jack Johnson, which is all bearable & ok (well, maybe not Mr. Johnson as we all know he is the Fielders 'mighty white' of the roots scene), but sometimes she plays these painful new age type CD's which always makes me think of a porn soundtrack...tragic!

Anyhow, one of my teachers favourite topics is the good old anal sphincter...we're constantly reminded that it's the 'first muscle to go...y'know?'. This is usually followed by a regular spiel which is pretty much as follows:

"You should work that anal muscle, because you're gonna need it when you're older. But if you don't feel comfortable doing it, well...that's up to you, but you should know there is a whole industry in adult nappies these days. You can walk into any supermarket and see a whole aisle (always dramatic emphasis on this point, and a slight pause for the seriousness of it all to sink in) of adult nappies for people with this problem. And you have to ask yourself, well, do I want to end up needing that? It's a pretty obvious choice don't you think?"

We had this spiel again in last nights class, & as always, I have to refrain from yelling out "This is bullshit! I have been to Woolies & personally walked every bloody aisle, & I have to tell you, there is no dangling sign at the entrance of any aisle marked up in removable lettering stating "ADULT NAPPIES". I don't think I have even seen ONE adult nappy in the whole damn supermarket, so give this bullshit misinformation up!"

...but, of course I don't...I just move into the next pose, & watch my sweat patter onto the mat...while dutifully engaging my anal spincter of course...

A wee rant...

2006-03-27T09:06:00.000+11:00

Spent the weekend de-asbestosing the house...not the most invigorating thing to do, but it made me appreciate the evenings, when I was introduced to the funniest video/DVD I've seen in years. 'Nathan Barley' was a series on English TV & it's out on DVD now - 6 episodes on one disc - can't recommend it highly enough, it rips the shit out of the funky twentysomethings who are convinced they are the coolest, most cutting edge crew in media, music & just about anything else...provided they have the essential mobile phone - in this case the Wasp T12 speechtool! Check out the trashbat website here for more info. I'm not sure how widely available this DVD is...mine is a borrowed copy from someone in the know...

Anyhow, this series just sums it up perfectly about how irate all this modern culture of 'kewl' just pisses me off, & how dumb & helpless we all pretend to be in the face of it. And it pinpoints exactly the problem I have with modern funky mags such as 'Monster Children' which primarily are just boys toys mags dressed up as cool shit (basically Ralph crossed with Rolling Stone).

An example: the guy I work with uses this poor man's brand of metrosexual shower gel which comes in a stylish container (black) with futuristically stippled sides (probably for 'easi-grip')...of course the contents are mysterious iridescent blue for that associated 'fresh' imagery, while the label has a great blurb on the front (written in a zesty, space-age type font) stating that the product is both 'oxygenating & invigorating'....arrrggghhhhhh! This is fucking soap! With blue dye added. In a different shaped bottle. Costing 10 times what it should!!!! And idiots (I would defer to the 'Cashed Up Bogan' demographic. Your real metrosexual would scoff at such a product, when CK no doubt produces a similar item for $30 or thereabouts) buy this shit! This stuff drives me crazy, & the sad thing is that it's everywhere & seemingly more prevalent every bloody day!

....thus endeth the tirade....I'm gonna get me some religion & go join the Amish..

Life in a caravan park...

2006-03-24T09:36:00.000+11:00

Been travelling a bit for work lately & staying in many a caravan park - some good, some crap. Top 3 picks are:

Aukaka (Nambucca) - for 70's type style & super budget rates & friendly residents
Split Solitary (north of Coffs Harbour) - for nice Paperbark surrounds & private beach (grumpy manager tho')
Pyramid (Tweed Heads) for tacky layout (each 'street' is named after an egyption theme...& yes there is even an Anubis Street as I recall), & complimentary macadamia biscuits. Also prone to grumpy manager syndrome.

Above are some lovely pics from residential caravan types from one up in Tweed - talk about gnome overdose! These 2 sites are right next door to each other, so I like the duelling nature of their gnomery...enjoy!

The bald and the beautiful...

2006-03-13T16:47:00.000+11:00

Just realised the other day how damn bald I really am! Obviously I've been in serious denial...note horrified expression from The Kid. I am now sporting a kind of inverse mohawk...obviously there will be some excellent opportunities for a comb-over in later life if I feel like going down that alley. Who said us baldies (or follically challenged as some might say) don't have hairstyle choices?

...and the beautiful - blossom of Red lilly pilly (Syzygium hodgkinsoniae) - another Threatened plant from round here. If I was in J's counselling group, this flower might represent my very obvious wish for hair, and perhaps some deep seated issues with my place in the natural order...

some trash is good trash...

2006-03-07T10:56:00.000+11:00

Just read about this on the SMH website - click on the sample & hear a ripping cover of AC/DC's 'back in black'. & why should AC/DC only be the province of yr traditional skinnylegged black-jean wearing rocker? You can check out Wings offical site here if this stuff lights yr fire. Maybe she really is the rock & roll messiah...and I would would also think a perfect candidate to be a Gay Icon - maybe next years Mardis Gras?

stay home & read a book...

2006-03-07T09:11:00.000+11:00

Reading James Frey "A million little pieces" right now - yes, the 'controversial' one, the one that is on the cutting edge side of Oprahs book club (yeah, I didn't know there was one either!), the one where the author has been accused of lying & deceiving & disguising fact as fiction...

Anyhow, it's not a bad read, if you take it with a grain of salt & regard it as well-embellished fact. The whole deal is about a fucked up alcoholic/crackhead coming to terms with rehab. UnfortunatelyMr. Frey is from the 'tough guy' school, so he ain't gonna take the rehab bullshit lying down - if you can imagine Henry Rollins being an alcoholic junkie & then getting straight, this book is exactly what he would have written! Nearly every sentaence in the book is repeated several times over, so it's a damn quick read when you switch to 'skim' mode. A typical extract is (this is from memory): "I turn on the tap. The water burns. Its hot and it burns. I can feel it burning. Hot fire on my skin. It burns. But I deserve it." Get the picture? Some of this is almost laughable. This is like the tough guy hetero version of "Dry" (Augusten Burroughs) - where the protaginist is a very un-tough gay guy living in uptown New York - much funnier, & not so deadly serious...

Best book I've read in years is "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides - READ THIS BOOK! It really is a damn fine read...

six feet high & rising...

2006-03-05T20:49:00.000+11:00

Pissing down rain, as it has all weekend...it's been kinda nice actually - a good excuse to slip into laziness mode. All the creeks are up, causeways flooded, with minor flooding due in Lismore tonight...will have to do 'the tour ' tomorrow.

Did what many other bored NSW-ians probably did on Saturday night & watched the FREE* Tropfest DVD that came with Saturdays SMH...Crapfest seems like a better term...just seemed like a boring rehash of previous years with even less of the charming trashy backyard jobs that are actually interesting. When a film ain't good, 7 minutes can seem like a bloody eternity!!! Best part of the night was cranking up the fire, burning some of our precious carbon & listening to the Dirty 3 'ocean songs'...I'm a sucker for a well played violin every time...

* Promotional material included

day of reckoning...

2006-03-03T10:10:00.000+11:00

...and you thought it was just an ordinary Friday, well!...over at The Kids school, it is not only Tuckshop Day, but also American Indian Day as well! Forget the 10 years of Howard in office - this is the real event of the week! I'm sad to be missing out on the teepee making at lunchtime (so very North Coast!)...but I'm sure I'll get the lowdown.

Feeling weary from lack of sleep...went & saw BBK down at Byron last night - they were good, but will never play a great show in a town where anyone other than the John Butler Trio or The Waifs is considered unworthy. There were maybe 30 people in the room, 5 of who actually were interested. The supports were lame - Richard Fontaine were US alt. country types who just didn't do it for me, while another Brisbane band called Mexico City opened. I hate to rag on this band but they were pretty crappy...think any covers type band with the singer singing in an American accent & channelling Bryan Adams - sheesh! I'm not too up on the whole 'alt. country' thing...but if this is any indication, its a genre to avoid!

Over at The Kids skool they're probably putting up that teepee right about now, & tucking into their pizzas & mint slices...sigh...I am defintely in the wrong place today...

Fresh fruit for rotting forest floors...

2006-03-01T12:34:00.000+11:00

It's official - there is actually a damn photo on here - amazing! ...& now I realise how stupidly easy it is there may even be more! Anyhow, photo is of the fruit of the lovely (& endangered) Small-leaved tamarind - Diploglottis campbellii for the nerds. Been out for the last 2 days in a good chunk of forest with at least 10 of these massive mature trees, with the whole forest floor scattered with these amazing red fruits...they're quite tasty too...altho why they are not being eaten by birds or rats is a total mystery.

Anyhow, after getting rained on & scratched to crap by lawyer vine & lantana I am back in the civilised world...where the hunza pies are good, the clothes are dry & Bluebottle Kiss are playing tomorrow night...is good.

little fish...

2006-02-24T12:07:00.000+11:00

J is doing a counselling course at the moment & told me about this exercise they did the other day. Each person had to make up a fairy tale, & then they'd all tell their fairy tales & the woman running the workshop would 'analyse' their fairytales for how they might represent parallells in the persons life.

Anyhow, J made her fairytale up around this fishpond that she has created in our garden which has been a bastard to keep going cos the fish either: (a) get eaten (b) mysteriosly disappear or (c) die. Anyhow, something is obviously terrorising them (I suspect the neighbours cat....grrrr...) cos they are the most timid little things, & won't waft gently through the carefully placed pondweed & lillies, being pleasant to the eye as goldfish are supposed to do. Instead they do hyperspeed missions from under their rock shelters to zip out & get food or burn off nervous energy before returning to the safety of their rocky caves (Afghani rebel style).

Anyhow, J's fairytale concerned the fishpond where the fish were unhappy and not living as fish should. When it came to 'assessment' time the woman drew some pretty hasty parallells ala "So, you don't like it when people don't do as you ask?" followed by "Does this fishpond really exist?". J contains frustration at this ridiculous overanalysis (through gritted teeth) : "look it's just a story about a real fishpond that really exists, it doesn't mean anything"...

This didn't dissuade The Assessor...J was grilled about her poor old fishpond for another 5 minutes. Maybe 'well, there was once a lovely princess...' would have gone down much better !

The lapsed vegetarian blues...

2006-02-24T09:33:00.000+11:00

Yeah, I'll admit it - I've lapsed...after about 15 years of vegetarianism, I have gone to 'the dark side' & been eating my animal brethren (well, aquatic brethren) for the last 3 years. I now fall under that horrible label of 'Vegequarian' - which is just too corny for words. But, I'm not without guilt tho' - the perverse thing is that my main fish eating is tinned tuna - & yellowtail & bluefin tuna are endangered species - how crap is that? So, yes, I am contributing to the global demise of these poor creatures...one tasty tin at a time...

The sad thing is that I can't imagine giving up the fish & reverting to my former flesh free status. I'd be better off eating organic chicken in terms of having less impact on the environment...but just don't like that idea. I was hooking into some trashy chinese a few days ago (garlic king prawns) & kept thinking 'yep, 15 kgs of bycatch died for this (very tasty) dish'...guilty as charged.

Kiss the bottle/uncontrollable urge...

2006-02-23T08:45:00.000+11:00

Hey! Got the Bluebottle Kiss 'Somnambulist homesick blues' ep the other day (thank you Ben)....brilliant! This hasn't been around for ages & has the wonderful 'Generic teen' on it...if I was vaguely clever I would have a mp3 on here, but you'll just have to miss out in that regard, altho they've got a video for it on the bands website...check it out, plus all their other stuff too - one of the few current bands I actually like! They're playing in Byron next week - should be great...one of the (on average) 3 gigs that I go to annually...bring it on...

Oh yeah, got a message from a friend (Hi Luci) about a band she is in called The Uncontrollables. They're from Berlin & have an interest in beards, facial hair & some cool music, if their post on myspace is anything to go by. Some recent pics from their last gig can be found here. Bring on the bearded revolution!

lunchtime at skool...

2006-02-23T08:40:00.000+11:00

Conversation between me & The Kid:

Me: So, how's school going?
The Kid: Pretty good...but there's one boy who was a bit silly today.
Me: Oh? Why what happened?
The Kid: Well..we were all sitting having our lunch, & he came up & pretended to wee into all our lunchboxes...
Me: ..Oh...

crush, kill,destroy...

2006-02-22T10:22:00.000+11:00

Have spent the last 2 days following an excavator around as it uproots trees, looking for Koalas & any other potential wildlife casualties, with the most methodical excavator driver in the world. This guy was pedantic to the extreme! Each tree had to be neatly stacked & aligned - any aberrant branches were quickly twisted off...while I waited annoyed trying to get the guy to hurry the hell up...and woe betide if an Ironbark got in the way - any Ironbarks were ruthlessly hunted down & felled, adding to my foot-tapping frustration. But Paul was not a man to be hurried, especially by some young impudent upstart like myself who obviously had no idea about the art of tree removal. So, Paul, I salute yr methodical ways & I'm sure yr lawn is neatly mowed & all leaves raked as well...

Finished up at 5, drove screamingly home by 9, Hungry Jacks vegieburgers on the way...tragic I know...

The world suffers but are you happy?

2006-02-16T11:57:00.000+11:00

The above has been scratched into wet concrete near my work, maybe a good 10 or so years ago, & is the sole dissident outcry in quiet little Alstonville...where are you now silent graffitist, & are you happy?

Making me happy on another note is some of the recent great postings of old obscure Australian punk stuff (Razar, Fun Things, Victims) on 7 inch punk - a great mp3 blog which is pretty damn good for old nostalgic fools such as myself...check it out! I'd put it as a link on the side, but that bit of bloggy cleverness I haven't been able to figure out yet...in time, in time...

...and also rating high on the happiness index is the release of 'Look both ways' on DVD. This a bloody good film & worth seeing all over again...nice animation, good story, low on saccharine moments, & unashamedly no bullshit...good use of a cool Gersey song too in the soundtrack. The nice thing about the DVD is that are also very few 'extras' - no bullshit outtakes, directors commentary, interview with the main actors left kidney etc etc ...ie. no filler or fluff. My only gripe with this film is 'the rain scene'...but use of rain in films (& songs) is worth a post in itself...something to fill in on another day...

the day the music died...

2006-02-15T11:07:00.000+11:00

Saw possibly the most cringe-inducing moment on TV in a long time over the w/end. Watched the Grammys for a while & watched amusedly as a pastiche of footage about blues masters and hip hop legends was screened...then we get a live ('legendary' may have been the word used!) performance from the modern inheritors of these crowns...enter Jay - Z and the singer from Linkin Park! I watch speechless & aghast...& then when it seems like things can't get any more vomit-inducing, into the set strolls (Sir) Paul Mcartney & they launch into a Beatles song....sheesh! Execrable is too kind a word for this shit! Poor old Jay-Z was a bit left out, what with (Sir) Paul & Mr. Linkin duetting up a storm, so he just lingered on stage & threw in a few "Huh"'s, & '"That's right!"'s too keep the whole thing moving along...One of the more sordid performances to grace a stage I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing...

In a jar...

2006-02-15T10:43:00.000+11:00

Saw 'Jarhead' the other night...not bad, but not great either...I think I can safely say that I will probably never think about it again, but that gets me thinking, can a war movie actually be memorable or good? It's a pretty damn limiting medium, & please, any future film makers - spare me the barking sargeant major bullshit, haven't we been there already? Anyhow, the thing I liked about the film is how it more or less points out that war is actually pretty damn boring (although how that translates into an 'anti war message' as is ascribed to this film, I'm unsure)...it's like war 'lite' for the slacker generation basically (you get to show all the bravado & testosterone - y swaggering without actually having to do anything!). 'Three Kings' pulls more political punches & is a better film - see that on video instead. Nice use of Nirvanas 'something in the air' in the soundtrack tho'...haven't heard this for a long long time...

...and finally

2006-02-14T15:09:00.000+11:00

...and finally, had a discussion with S who was up on the weekend about bands/artists who are easily hated. My most easily hated would have to be:

Bono (probably topping many a list like this)
Sting
50 cent or any of his ilk
The doors
Aerosmith
Eric Clapton
Simon & Garfunkel (had the displeasure of hearing this drift across from our neighbours place last week...scarey!)
The 'new' roots - ala Jack Johnson etc...

Easy targets I know, but if they're down, I'm firing...

intelligent design & the schoolyard scene...

2006-02-14T14:58:00.000+11:00

Oh yeah! I've just accomplished what any bright 7 year old kid could probably do - ie. actually put a few links on this page...consider the air punched in triumph! The luddite conquers...

Speaking of kids...The Kids reports of the first weeks at school have been pretty good. The canteen gets a big thumbs up (chocolate milk & pizza are the chosen gourmet items), as does rolling hula hoops down the steps at lunchtime - simple pleasures! Thumbs down goes to a bossy kid - pecking order is still being established in the coop. Went & checked out the school on w/end (yeah, I know that sounds bad - I have seen it before...this was a detailed look) - the inside of those portacabins is still the same, but this one has that nice smell of new carpet & general all-round newness...seems good to me. The Kids school (probably like many country schools) seems stuck in the early 80's or maybe late 70's!!! Some of the teachers aides etc I can recall from my schooldays! (And yes, I have discovered the joys of italics)...

the sound of swords clashing...

2006-02-14T14:36:00.000+11:00

Back from lunch in the park with ants crawling all over me...not pleasant. Well, a week has passed, & so much has (not) happened - survived a parental visit, had a brief zoom on Ballina waterslides, a swim in the waterhole & here I am...

Picked up a copy of 'Hegemony or survival' - Chomsky's latest book the other day...reading Chomsky always makes me feel so damn depressed, & it flares up my anti-american-o-meter by about a thousand %... Surprising though how easily we forget this stuff...we get outraged in hindsight, & quietly too...

The pace is glacial...

2006-02-07T09:02:00.000+11:00

Well I can feel a lot happier in life going to the grave knowing that I've had the pleasure of fondling a Wollemi pine....altho it wasn't quite in the remote gorges of Wollemi National Park, but rather 30 cm high and on a reception desk in the wilds of Ballina...ach well, it's the experience right?

While on the subject of things green & growing I also now have the pleasure of my old crappy lawn mower actually working - & this thing is now an unstoppable death machine! What is it about lawn mowing that is such a pleasure? Those long, neat symmetrical strips, the smell of cut grass, the tang of 2-stroke, the joy of instant cause and effect? I used to be a lawn mower by trade in Sydney & in hindsight don't feel I appreciated the finer pleasures of the job....give me a property with a good sized slab of luxuriant grass & a ride on & I'll be very happy...simple pleasures.

Bring on the weekend....

2006-02-03T16:38:00.000+11:00

Drinking beer in the office in air-con comfort...this is good! But the weekend beckons...starting with a waterhole swim this arvo with J & The Kid. But now after the beer I feel that inevitable craving for Kettle chips (or those other yuppie-esque ones) - what is it about that combination of alcohol, fat and salt that is so alluring? Hmmm...

I am not a geek...

2006-02-02T12:19:00.000+11:00

OK, well while i'm posting away (is 3 posts on one day 'allowed' under blogging ettiquette? does it indicate alarming over-enthusiasm or an embarrasing need to be heard by strangers?) i should make a few things clear:

i have very few computer skills, so this site will probably be one of the least interactive blogs around (maybe the least!)...i'm having trouble even getting up a link here! (& that damn 'Google news' link is so far proving un-deletable...)
i have no tolerance for those damn emoticons & the winking colon/parenthese combination will NOT be gracing these pages in any form
i have no knowledge of this blog game...so any feedback would be welcome....many thanks to beth from Miaowthecat for unleashing the blog world on me...if i can manage it there will be a link to her site somewhere, sometime...
there might be a photo on here one day...

Thought Criminals

2006-02-02T11:51:00.000+11:00

Why can't I be in Sydney this weeked? Times like this, the lack of North Coast band culture (djembe workshop anyone?) shows up as very lacking...

Anyhow on this Saturday at the Annandale in Sydney the Thought Criminals hit the stage for the first time in 25 years!!! While re-union shows can be pretty dicey, somehow i just get the feeling that this one would be damn good! The Thought Crims were around in the late 70's & put out a few cool eps (now impossibly rare & insanely expensive) & an album "Speed, madness and flying saucers" (which I'm lucky enough to have the ex-JJ copy of - $2 too!) that were catchy, quirky & just damn good! All this stuff has just been re-issued now too as the "Chronological" anthology. You can hear songs & read history on the bands website. Why is this important 25 years on? Would a Dragon re-union be worthy of such excitement? Well, no because Dragon plainly sucked & contributed very little to musical history, while the Thoughties (as they are annoyingly known) are known throughout the globe as pioneering punk rock legends! ...disclaimer: I recognise nostalgia can be a dangerous thing sometimes...

day zero...

2006-02-02T10:00:00.000+11:00

...the day that blog # 875757458858482086 is unleashed upon an uncaring world...yep, more digital waste/frass/excess for folk to consume/ignore or sneer at!

Things going on:

The Kid begins school (yesterday actually)
Nothing at all going on at my work
J has interview today

Surprised to make it thru the night actually...for some reason a delicate balance of recent rainfall, stillness and quiet humidity (can humidity be quiet? yes!) has resulted in an orgy of mosquitos within the house. Needed to actually deploy the hated mozzie net, & even then could hear roving packs of the hungry buggers zooming around, scoping for blood. The ceiling was covered in small whining black crosses, altho i was particularly glad to see some of them did end up in the spider webs that due to laziness i had not removed...