Nobodys Diary

Ok ... so we were watching that Menzies vs Churchill thing on ABC last night and M said "Who writes journals these days??" and then said "Oh but you write a diary of sorts."

So is this really a diary? I don't think so. I don't blog about half the things that come into my head, coz that shit is nasty!! NAAASTY!!

PS why did cuddy kiss house??? Please don't be a jumping the shark moment!!

Frankly Mr Shankly

Ok .. The Smiths to reform and play Coachella 2009???!!!! Oh wait .. I think I just had a stroke ... I can't see ... oh somebody help me ...

http://web.nme.com/news/the-smiths/31972

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Comments:

Temasek wrote:


Haha!! Quick someone tell Bernard Butler!
28 Oct
 
Phoenix wrote:


Finally Johnny Marr will be in a decent band again! Hoorah!
28 Oct

Nesting and Dying

Ok ... so you know how I mentioned previously that we went to the launch of Nesting and Dying - Ghost patrol & Miso's combined effort at the Metro 5 Gallery in Armadale:

Punters outside fagging and boozing!!

trying to be arty!! - but looking like I laid a fart!!

We met both Ghost Patrol (you are under arrest!!!) & Miso .. well I had to push!! But P would most probably have a different take on this. Miso was the quintessential artistic introvert ... but P is organising a purchase (the rough sketch of the final print he bought) so we weren't being total pathetic groupies!!! i love artistic types .. particularly ones like these who have a fair modicum of street-cred (shout outs from threethousand, deisgned a threadless tee, part of the whole graffitti consortium .. you know the deal!!). Pretty soon its fashion copy and music videos!! Anyhoo, everyone and his artistic dog was there .. including Sunday Arts .. I nearly spoke to Finella ... but she looked wasted and on the prowl (ifyouknowarrimean). Thankfully not too many toocool4schoolers, but fringes and skinny jeans ruled nonetheless!!

Couldn't find too many pics of MISO's art but will try and take a photo of P's soon .. in the meantime, here are some including one of those sticker stencils that I absolutely adored for ever so long without realising that it was one of MISO's.

sticker stencil in liverpool street - the old lady is a recurring theme

a smallish photo of this was on sale - M's favourite

this is on plywood - loads of texture in MISO's art that doesn't quite come through - loved her papercuts!!

Helpdesk!!

Ok ... picture this!! A hot balmy Sunday night - with 40% humidity - I sit at the dining table under the pale deco light while the piano mocks me with my own ineptitude as a light stale breeze casually flicks the pages of Ravel's Tombeau Le Couperin ... i am typing this on M's laptop as S the cat casts a baleful look as he jingles his way through the half opened window ... and why does this simple act of typing on a laptop warrant such a ridiculously ott and totally laughable paragraph ??? well because this household is now wireless!!! And I'm pretty damn chuffed about it as I purchased the router and set it up all by myself!!!!! And at $50 a steal, I don't believe it was too much of a risk banking on my so-called "IT" skills ...

What did I get? - Netcomm NB504 - it was the cheapest at Officeworks (I also checked out JB who didn't stock it and Dick Smiths).

All I did was plug in the various cables as instructed - modem into WAN and PC into LAN, powered the modem back on and restarted the puter .. and then logged into the router and checked configs and set up security settings .. too easy!!

Should be the same for everyone, unless of course you have a USB - firewire connection on your modem like T & K ... in which case a call to Netcomm support or an adapator is in order.

Now I can access the internet on my iPhone (YouTube videos are fucking fantastic!!!) and also on my Wii ... although it timed out doing an upgrade due to the neolithic speed we are on!! Seriously ADSL2 ... when telstra when????!!!! The west is inhabited!!! Its not farmland and livestock out here. If only Joan Kirner was still the premier she would have sorted this all out quicksmart!! After all she's a Willy girl herself.

Every Year I Do This

Ok ... every year I get sucked in with Aus idol ... and every single fucking time I reach a point in the competition where I hit the 'target market' brick wall. Tonight was Rolling Stones night and Roshani picked Wild Horses and sang it in bluesy Torch Song fashion ... a quiet moment of barely controlled desperation ... not cabaret .. what is it with these judges!! Seriously!! Kyle pounced on her for poor song choice ... and then proceeded to rub it in when commenting on the next contestant saying that they were smart in the head ... and the other two comedians agreed!!! Poor song choice because it was not a well known Stones song???? Hello??? Its all about the marketing with this contest now ... even more so than ever ... and considering the dire straits the music industry is currently in ... this all seems like such a facile exercise. So there is always a jumping the shark moment for me and if Roshani gets booted out in the elimination round .. come 7.30 pm next Sunday, I'm reaching for the remote marked DVD. And again, the "country shearer" ends up being the most marketable .. is this because it makes middle australia feel less guilty spending their baby bonus on a plasma tv because they are spectators of a show that celebrates the aussie battler, and just purely the fact that they tune in faithfully each week is validity itself of a charitable work well done .. or it because its much easier to take when said aussie battler is dropped like the proverbial stone after the 3 cd contract expires ... after all the aussie battler exists out on the drought fried plains far removed from the air-coinditioned cardboard walls we exist in .. with our artificial lakes and our quest for the next branded gadget to occupy our stimulus starved brains ... and why are we so starved .. because we're scared of difference ... we're even scared of celebrating difference vicariously .... and the sad fact of the matter is ... those who are prepared, like me, to shout at the barricades "Vive la Difference" ... only ever really do it in our own heads!!

So for those of you out there forging ahead the path less troddened, I salute you. Remember - Ridicule is nothing to be scared of!!

ps. sorry about the rant

Ghost Patrol

Ok ...

"ghost patrol! You are under arrest!
ghost patrol! You are under arrest!"



I want ...

all of these

Slammin' pencil paintings



but at over a grand a pop and with more than 30 to choose from ...

this will remain but only a pipe-dream

You like?

You want to see?

Get yo ass down to High Street Armadale and check em out!

Deets - http://www.metro5gallery.com.au/upcomingghost%2Bmiso2008.htm

Oh and who's the artist??? Well Ghost Patrol of course!!

Me, M & P went to the opening partee!! I may blog in more detail later only becoz P scored with his previous purchase of a MISO print ... considering that some of her larger pieces were going from between 3 and 5 thousand ducats ... and he only paid about 200 ...well you do the math. And it was an interesting drive out there ... Hoddle Street - Peak period traffic - stir crazy!!!

Alright back to it ... Boney M just came on the iPhone ... Rasputin anyone??



PS - whatever happened to Gerling?



PPS - wii = crack!!

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Comments:

Phoenix wrote:


Those are really beautiful. That's the sort of art I'd collect.
23 Oct

wii oh wii

Ok ... get ready to shake head in dismay and roll eyes!!

I just figured out that when you play the tennis game thingey on wii, you can play both players ... erm ... not just one!!

It opened up a whole new world peops ... someone get this monkey off my back!!!

Oh and wii-fit ... I don't understand the damn instructions!!! What am I meant to be doing with the blue bits and the red bits!!! Oh no! my wii fit age is 75!!! *clicks off button in disgust and walks away*

creeping in the night

Ok ... I was horribly spoilt this year ... there has to be some merit in passing a milestone ... who would stand the pain otherwise!!!

I was very grateful to have friends around me to share in this momentous occasion not unlike the celebration of death ... the backyard was all muted tones and candlelight for a reason ...

The original intention was to upstakes and head bush ... but the logistics proved too daunting ... and I wanted as many people to share in my youthful demise as possible!!! So we decided to cater ... well when I say cater I mean we ordered finger food from the Famous Blue Raincoat, an odd little spot stuck in the middle of a tiny shopping strip right in a residential street in Kingsville ... everyone seemed to know each other ... and they all seemed to be of the "IT" variety ... get the drift ... comicbooks, swordmaking, renaissance fairs ... brief stints in the army ... herbal indulgences!! ... The cook actually part times as the rock band teacher in one of M's schools ... anyhoo ... the joint has a great vibe ... no pretension ... if you want to be left alone .. they leave you alone ... if you want to join in ... everyone's welcome ... but the food was superb.

We had, risotto balls with pumpkin, italian meatballs , this chicken breasty thing served with indian style yoghurt and these goats cheese tartlets that just whoofed gastronomic delight when I opened the box they came in ...

Anyhoo ... I hope everyone had a great time .. our parties are generally lowkey ... so quiet music and hopefully stimulating and delightful conversation ... oh and great wine ... a must!!

In fact it was a perfect weekend, including a couple of whistful hours in the beer garden at Wesley Anne on Sunday arvo .. a nice way to round it all off.

And why was I spoilt??? My friends pulled out all the stops with their generosity ... I would dearly love to give special shout-outs but each and every present was special (ok ... so I'm teetering over the cliff of maudlin sentamentality ... but at my age .. I'm allowed to! So suck it!).

Having said that ... the biggest surprise was M's present to me ... a fucking Wii!!! Hello??? Does it say NerdAlert on my forehead??? (Just kidding) I totally love it!! I'm like creaming my tracky dacks over the tennis .... even the bowling got a guernsey ... and I actually enjoyed the golf!! Someone give me some advil and a hot water bottle!!!

Oh and he also bought the Wii Fit ... but I haven't quite got there yet so its still in its packaging ... ok and I am a little clueless about this whole gaming thing ... but I went to JB at lunch and almost choked on the leftover curry I had when I saw the prices of these Wii games ... oh my god!! Don't they know we're in a recession .. haven't they heard about the credit crunch!!! Anyone off to China soon???

Happy Bday to me!!!

No Darling I will not have a surprise - The Invite - edited

No! No, no, no darling! I will not have a surprise. I will not have a surprise party. If it's going to be a surprise, I want to know about it, alright! Because I want to decide when I'm going to come and what I'm going to wear if I do come, alright? You can't expect me to go to any old bloody party, darling.

Reason: Daniel’s “I can feel the fortiness creeping in the night” Party
Day: Saturday
Date:
Place:
Dress: Tizz if you like, don’t if you CBA, either way if you wear the wrong thing we’ll laugh at you behind your back!
Attitude: Whatevs!!
Catchphrase (to be said at least once during the night): I’d Hit It!
MUSIC: Be Afraid, Be very Afraid
BRINGS: Drink – nibblies supplied courtesy of the Famous blue raincoat

My father's childhood - A story

Ok .... another of my Father's stories which I call "My Father's Hands"

He had run that race in his mind and on the track countless number of times but Faizal always managed to inch past him in the final moments ... chest puffed right out to hit the invisible line when it mattered.

It was the same for the 100m, the 200m, the 300m ... same for the baton relay, and the long jump ... always always second .. but this time it was different ... his father was sponsoring the cup ... and would be there to present it to the winner ...

He can't remember being unduly inspired .. he barely knew his dad .. apart from the fact that he was the one who barked out orders and made the orderlies tremble ... the one you tiptoed round the creaking wooden floors of the shophouse in the afternoon so as not to disturb his afternoon siesta ... the one he would in later life confess his religion to only to be banished out of home and country ... but for now ... the only connection was a surname and a slight family resemblance ...

But whether the gods had chained the fates to their whim and blown fortune towards this little malay schoolboy in the cotton shorts with the drawstring sewn by his mother's obligingly worn hands we will never trully know ... but the fact remains that on this one special day, my dad tasted the winner's victory for the first time and probably the last time in his life ...

When it came to prize-giving, his name sounded decidedly odd coming out of the principle's mouth over the PA ... a sound rarely heard ... the construct of vowels and consonants like a virginal hymn out of the dulcet chords of a pre-pubescent choirboy ... he walked up hot and nervous onto the dais ... all the time his mind focused on the cup and the congratulatory pats from team mates later on ... grasping the cup in both hands felt like conquering the world ...

Then his father grabbed his face in his hands and expressed his pride in a gentle squeeze ...

My father wondered at how smooth his hands were ...

He would recall this years later standing in front of the shophouse door as it slams in admonishment.

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Comments:

Temasek wrote:


Thank you!! I didn't have to try too hard ... his story really did touch me. If I had a tape recorder then, I would have just transcibed what he said .. it was perfect.
13 Oct
 
Phoenix wrote:


This is really good.
8 Oct

Aireys Inlet 2

Ok ... slowly but surely ... we stayed at the Butlers Bend Villas .. 4 units on a slope leading down to the inlet itself ... wood heating and vaulted ceilings are not a good combo ... the mornings were cold ... but apart from that it was extremely comfortable and reasonable priced ... but I wouldn't go during the extreme seasons ... air-conditioning wise ... its not too well equipped .. we were in the lowest of the units .... so almost at street level ... but right on the banks ...

Our unit

the verandah

the front door

shots of the interior

the happy punters

flora and fauna

THE VIEWS!!!

Aireys Inlet

Ok ... Aireys inlet!! I think I will let the pictures do the talking ... all you need to know ... I was as stressed as a hot infected pimple just aching to be burst ... the rancid yellow pus straining against the thin veneer of dried skin masquerading as a barrier against a whole village of diease-ridden bacteria slowly feeding its way through the crunchy nourishing epidermis ... but when we hit the great ocean road ... our tired bodies felt like they had slipped into the warmest bath imaginable ... blood warm ... gently pulsing ...

BLISS ...