Whores will have their trinkets

Hi folks! I know I’ve been very slack around here, keeping you completely uninformed and all that… so I pray to sweet baby Jesus in heaven that you will forgive me, look passed my wrong-doings, and give me another chance… I haven’t even had a chance to shamelessly promote myself yet! (probably because I haven’t got anything to promote at the minute, but still, yeah…). Bad stuff has happened to my removable hard drive causing me to lose the demo I was going to put up for you, along with every-fucking-other-thing, so that’s on the back burner until I can fix it… or, Dad can fix it, either one.

So having promised readers a song then being unable to deliver it, the blog got put to one side for a bit. To be honest, I really thought ‘fuck yeah, I’m finished study so I’ll be able to blog more and shamelessly promote the living shit out of my self, I’ll have a new song up every week and be getting all kinds of fanmail and love from my soon to be fanatical followers!’ But in reality, I’ve just avoided even sitting in front of a computer when I can help it, and have been playing guitar and skating and generally whooping it up during my little holiday time with the family. It hasn’t helped that family are sleeping in my recording room, and I do my best work at night. However, I am part way through doing a demo of all the (still unnamed) band's songs on acoustic guitars with Chris, so if they’re any good, one might find its way onto the net, in which case, I’ll point you in it’s direction.

Anyhoo, whilst I have been doing lots, nothing is going to be interesting to you, as it’s mainly family stuff and every-day stuff (eating, sleeping, talking etc…). I am planning a three day bike trip for next week with my brother, so I’ll put some pics up when I get back.

I’ll leave you with a pic of K-Dub drinking beer in the park, off an old roll of film I only developed the other day.

Talk to you next year!

Go and listen to ‘Hours That You Keep’ by Maritime

They give it by the inch but they take it by the mile.

Man the bank is really bending me over at the moment, looks like I might have to call off Christmas… apparently I am still on a ridiculously heinous interest rate on my land loan because the bank values my property at $105,000, which is well below it’s market value, however the state revenue office still sees fit to tax me for a block of land worth $120,000… I have had 4 rate rises in the 9 months I’ve had the loan which is twice as many as the Reserve Bank of Australia have introduced in this time, and still the bank treats me like they don’t want my business! And the worst part is that they know your fucked whatever you think of their practices, ‘cos every bank is as crooked as the next, and, of course, the process of changing banks will attract so many bullshit fees (exit fee from one bank, new account fee on the next bank, land valuation for the next bank, loan establishment fee on the next bank and whatever other ‘account keeping’ horseshit they try and pull on you) that it’s not worth it for the fraction of a percent interest better off you’ll end up. So yeah, I just have to grin and bear it really! I suppose that I am at least in a position to pay my loan off and get somewhere, and a lot of people are getting houses repossessed and all that, but this is my blog, and I can complain about whatever I like.

I don’t really have any new news, except that one of my work-based goldfish committed suicide last week. I found Bob all dried up and stuck to my desk one morning, the poor bastard made it about half a metre from the tank. I guess an office would be a pretty depressing place to spend your entire fishy existence… I think I will try and find a new home for Shirley before she meets the same smelly fate as Bob.

I got all my assignments in for the year which takes a load off, but I still have an exam next Wednesday standing between me and the ‘holidays’ (not so much of a holiday as I’ll still be working full time… but yeah), my only issues with all this is that the exam looks to be a bit tricky and the day before I sit it I am due to have the cast taken off my wrist, so I might be a bit tender… I guess I’ll have to ‘harden the fuck up’ eh?

Also I am working on that first demo I will upload, and I should have it up by the weekend.

Check out my flickr for some new shots! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lookwhatgodjustdidtous/)

Here is a shot of a lumberjack named Chris-


Go and listen to ‘Go Places’ by The New Pornographers

Peace

New Moon Baby

So I was rifling through my many lyric diaries the other day and found a concept page I had written for my solo EP, and whilst I have essentially kept to my concept, I had dated this page November 2009… This may not mean much to anyone but me, but I find it very shocking, as I had an EP written but just not finished at the time I wrote this down, meaning that I have spent a year procrastinating and scrapping songs and only have done one solo show… whilst drunk. So essentially I have gone backwards in the last eleven months and am further from putting anything of substance out there.

This makes me wonder how anyone put any of their own music out with any confidence in the quality. When you are in a band it is a lot easier, because everyone contributes towards a final product, everyone has their favourite/least-favourite songs and are able to make decisions about what will work on a record and what can be scrapped or re-written or whatever, but when you are doing it all by yourself, including production, it’s a different ball game, full of self-doubt and double guessing… so my resolve it to just put up a bunch of demos and see what sticks, then produce the most well received and whatever I write in the meantime that is of any good and release it as some kind of free EP that is downloadable. So expect a link to the first instalment in this series of (probably pretty scrappy) demos within the next little while! I still have to finish off the vocals, as I got sick with a shitty virus half way through recording (with a broken arm no less) and don’t really want to immortalise my currant nasally tones.

Here’s a picture of the potted vegie garden K-Dub and I established over the weekend, it’s going to rule!

Go and listen to 'Anchorage' by Franz Nicolay

Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow

Spirits are low today readers... What's worse than having a broken wrist? Answer - Being sick AND having a broken wrist... ON A WEEKEND! I must have wronged the gods recently, as I'm in this situation without any food in the house, and the thought of driving and being in public to stock up is enough to sending me hiding under the covers... much less getting dressed, fuck that... I'm just going to hide in my room in the dark and feel sorry for myself I think. K-Dub is sick aswell (which, of course is the reason I'm sick) so I don't have a personal nurse to fuss over me either. I also have the feeling that work is going to guilt trip me about not coming in tomorrow, as we have a short-staffed week coming up, but oh well, ain't nothing I can do to help that is there?

ANYWAY, end bitch session.

The reason for this post is that I have been able to play guitar and banjo with my wrist in the cast, so have continued recording my EP, I hope to put a song or two up on the internet for free download soon and, when it's complete, put the whole thing up for free download. Does anyone know a website where I can host downloadable and streamable music for free?

Cheers

Go and listen to 'See You In Hell' by Small Brown Bike

I'm off to make soup

Photo-a-gogo

Hey, I posted some shots from my new cam on my Flickr and a few film shots (including the one below) I had forgotten about, check that shit out - http://www.flickr.com/photos/lookwhatgodjustdidtous/

I don't know how to use the new cam yet so excuse the dslr shots.

Go listen to 'Moonpies for Misfits' by Hot Water Music

O'Doyal RULES!

Hello folks!

Not much going down in the Andi camp at the minute... still crippled by a broken wrist. However, my new camera arrived yesterday so I've been playing with that... Annnnnnnnd... work? nah, not interesting enough to write about. Not being able to play guitar has had me putting lyrics to all the solo and band demos, so thats good.

Anyway the reason of this post is to show you a photo of Chris being a Velociraptor in a Jurassic Park-esque kitchen we stumbled into one night last month.



Go listen to 'You're Ass Ain't Laughing Now' by American Steel

Peace

Andi

Broken bones and mircophones...

Ok, so blog entries have been very few and far between over here of recent, but I really do have some great excuses, they are as follows –

I have been doing some serious study recently, as the study year is approaching.

I work full time, and study full time, so when I get the chance, I like to sink into the couch and read a book or just stare at the ceiling – this beats blogging most of the time.

I have been writing lyrics furiously for my band and solo project as both are soon to be gigging hopefully.

And last, BUT DEFINATLY NOT LEAST… I ate shit on my skateboard and subsequently fractured my fucking goddamn shitting wrist, which has really put me out, as I cant ride my bike or play my guitar, two things that help me maintain the little sliver of sanity that I am clinging to… ALSO, because it is my right wrist and I am right handed/wristed, it pretty much makes a complete cunt out of the simplest everyday tasks I am faced with everyday, like opening a door whilst holding something or getting my wallet out of my pocket…. Not to mention the fact that it hurts like a bitch. But luckily I have a great girl who makes my injury easier to bare as well as friends who have been making me dinners, opening my beers etc…

In other news, I bought a DSLR, a Pentax k10d which I should get next week, which will be fun to play with.

I also saw Ben Salter last night at the Alley Cat bar in North Hobart, and that dude is amazing!

Anyway, I will sign out for now, as this pitiful entry has taken over half an hour to write left handed (it’s OK, I’m doing this at work).

Go and listen to ‘Cadence!’ by The Honor System

Godspeed!

I'm not dead...

...just hiding from the internet.

I will return soon, and triumphantly mind you.

Quick little update - I saw Dan Kelly last night and he kicked arse! I also fell off my skateboard and hurt my hand...

Anyhoo... only a couple of assignments to go, and i'll be all yours again.

Peace

Go and listen to 'Damnation' by The Nation Blue

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream... for RICECREAM?!

Welly welly well….

Long time and not much blog! I’ve let this place run wild and get over run by bitching about my life and photos… tons of fucking photos… you people don’t want to see that shit do you? Anyway to explain myself: I’m a busy lad, and I haven’t really had the time to do anything profound on here, as I’m working and studying full time as well as writing an (almost finished) album with my band and an EP solo, and keeping my girlfriend liking me, so yeah… I have neglected this space, and for that I must apologise. I only have a few weeks left of my study year, so I’ll be able to do more here…. Probably won’t stop the bitching and photos though.

Anyhow, to fill you in with my past little while – I’ve done something with my foot, which has left me limping around like an invalid for two weeks, and put a stop to my skating and riding and all that, which is shithouse. I also got banned from commenting on the Mercury (Southern Tasmanian newspaper)… so there goes a bit of a time waster activity for work… see I’m bitching already!

I did however get a sweet old 10 speed Apollo road bike for $40, which kicks all kinds of arse! So I’m gonna be riding in style this summer.

But yeah… that’s all really. I won’t write a review on those shows that I said I might do, can’t remember them anymore.

Peace

Go and listen to ‘This is Not a Pipe’ by Franz Nicolay

I want to grab my collar and shake the shit out of myself!

Here's some shots I got on the night that I picked up my tripod.

Not great, but whatever... It doesn't hurt to look.





Go and listen to 'Smoke' by Lucero

I am a human tripod...

...and I just bought a new tripod, so I will no doubt be posting some long-as-fuck exposures on here when I get my current roll of film back. Shit's gonna be mad y'all.

Anyway, I have the next few days off work as I am studying and going on a road trip with my main men to see some awesome bands - I might even post my first live show review... if you're lucky that is.

I also got the awesome news this week that the New Pornographers are touring Australia AND they are coming to Tasmania (huge deal if you don't already know) AAAAAAAAAND they are bringing Neko Case! Fuck yeah!

I'll leave you with this pic I took when teaching K-Dub the art of driving a car -



be sure to go to my Flickr thingy and look at my other shots, and you should totally leave some comments, because in reality, it will make you feel good as well as boost my ego... so everyone wins!

Go and listen to 'Use It' by the New Pornographers

Peace yo

Holga!

Ok so I ebay'ed a Holga 135BC the other week, and then put some cheap, expired film through it. Here's what I got -






Note: I had some great shots of K-Dub, but she didn't like them... so yeah, you can't see them (women eh?)

Go and listen to 'Dan Kelly's Dream' by Dan Kelly

'Only squares wear shoes while they're at work'

Hello internerds!

Just an update, so blogger won't delete my little slice of heaven over here (I'm sure they'd jump at the chance, coz all these photos take up a whole shitload of room [maybe I'd link them if blogger didn't crop the shit out of them {I'm aware that there is probably some really easy fix for this, but hey... I like to complain, and its giving me a good 'jumping off point' to really get this post started -I wish there was a 4th type of bracket...-}]).

So yeah, I haven't really been doing anything, just riding my bike and skating and work and study etc...

And I haven't developed my rolls of film, due to financial issues... So I ain't got no piccies to show you. But to validate the title of today's post, I will add that the last couple of days at work, while in the office, I have been ditching shoes, and just rocking the explorer socks... and it feels great! I know you may be thinking 'dude, this isn't some new craze, me/my workmate does this all the time', so I'll have you know that the concept isn't new to me either, I've seen poeple doing it before... but it's (for some strange reason... because it's fucking AWESOME) never appealed to me. But yeah, I've been embracing it, as well as taking all the shit (phone, work phone, keys, wallet, other loose trinkets) out of my pockets and planting them on the desk. This has always been hard for me in the past, but it feels fantastic now... maybe it's my more layed back vegan life taking effect.

The only downsides to all this are: you have to put your shoes on prior to visits to the toilet (if you have any sense of hygene), and grab your wallet when heading out for lunch, out of the office ect... as well the increased risk of leaving things at work... of course I am taking about keys, wallet ect, I'm layed back, but no so much to not notice that I am not wearing shoes.

Anyhow, I have to sign off for this arvo, as K-Dub is sick in bed and needs me to make her dinner... Not that she deserves is, she's got over 90 followers on blog and I have 4 (one of them is me, and one is her)... how fucking sad is that!?

Go and listen to 'Mouth of a Tiger' by Sundowner - the new album 'We Chase the Waves', has recently ripped me a new one... highly recommended!

And follow me! I mean it's not the worst blog on the internet... And it'll do wonders for my self-esteem.

Peace

Good evening...

...blog enthusiasts.

Been damn busy latley, but be sure that regular blogging will recommence shortly. OK? Good.

Go to my flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/lookwhatgodjustdidtous/

And splender in it's glory.

Here's a shot of the table at Lenny's place.



Go and listen to 'Home Outgrown' by the Menzingers - it

will make you head explode!

Trip 35

Here are some shots from the Olympus Trip 35 I just got.





I can leave some positive ebay feedback now! yay!

Go and listen to 'Last Light' by Following Sea (http://www.myspace.com/wearefollowingsea)

Love, Ire and Song

Yo Yo!

So it's been a week without a post, and what has happened in that week? I played my first solo gig, and I think it went pretty well (I only stuffed up a few times) and I got a new camera (olympus trip 35) and I set up a Flickr account (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lookwhatgodjustdidtous/) and currently my Dad is down from Canberra and staying with me (I'm not sure if he's stoked on the vegan thing, he could handle vegetarian meals, but I might be pushing it now... [that's another thing; after 4+ years of doing the vego thing I'm going vegan])... so yeah, you're up to date! Oh, and I was going to take the Pentax SLR to the gig to get some shots of the other people, but it ended up just sitting in my backpack and getting all wet from a leaking drink bottle, so it's sitting in front of the fire now, and I have my digits crossed... it's goign to be a nervous wait.

Here's a photo that I took in Melbourne last weekend on the Pentax



I was lucky enough to have one of the best dudes play banjo for a cover of the Eagles 'Take it Easy' and I think it was videoed, so thanks for that Linc!

Go and listen to some of Linc's songs at - http://www.myspace.com/linclefevre
I promise you that they will cripple you with awesomeness!

Go in peace

If we don't do it, who fuckin' will!?

Hey peeps! (wow that reads gay... [not that I have a problem with that of course {i'm not gay though}])

Fuck, what a hard day at work! I am still recovering from a pretty big weekend in Melbourne, in which I saw Paper Arms (go and listen to this band now, seriously... go here - www.myspace.com/paperarms - and tee up some tunes to read the rest of this post to... i'll wait) and Stike Anywhere. Both bands really kicked arse, althuogh it was a really rowdy set for SA, with something getting broken by stage divers every single song... Thomas seemed to be getting kinda shitty towards the end (and that guy is such a calm and collected dude). And the sound guy seemed to have no ears, otherwise a sweet gig. I saw them last year with Polar Bear Club at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood, and it was such a tame show compared to Melbourne.

Anyhow, I have some films to be developed from the trip (none of the show unfortunatly [my camera isn't exactly pocket-size]), so if I wasn't to drunk to focus, and lets face it, this could well be the case, I should have some sweeeeet photos to upload at some point. In the meantime, here are some digicam photos I took whilst walking hip streets of Fitzroy -















(P.S. uploading this many photos is a bitch)

Anyhow, I gotta get back to writing songs for my solo show this WEEKEND.... fuuuuuck (If you live in Hobart, Tasmania [or will be around on Saturday] email me and i'll give you the details{it's at a party})

So yeah, peace...

Go and listen to Paper Arms... again!

Edit: Click on the third pic down and view it big, the check the leather clad dude... made me laugh...

Wide angle!

So, remember a few posts ago (Huge Gold AK47!) I said I bought a cheap wide angle lens for my old Pentax SLR? Well I did, and here are some of the spoils of the first roll I shot through it -

Duke (desaturated)


My bike



The front steps at my Ps place


Chris and his (decapitated)Hummingbird



As you can see, it is a cheap lens and doesn't take the sharpest shots (maybe thats just me), but I think i'll keep it and play with it a bit more.

Go and listen to 'Making the Nouveau Riche' by Blueline Medic (this band fucking rules!!!)

Peace

Livin' for the Weekend!

Well, there goes another weekend eh?

Today the band recorded demos of all complete songs (six [6] I think), and, as we were all hungover and hadn't had a mid-week practice, it was agony!

But I think they turned out alright (at least they will once Nic has fixed up all our fuck-ups with cubase!), so we can start working on vocals. Whoo!

I have two (2!) wisdom teeth giving me hell at the moment aswell! Damn!

Here's some digicam photos I took over the weekend (didn't get a chance to develop my wide angle SLR shots...)

First one is of the highway, using one of the shitty filters on my Ixus. The second one is of Duke (my cat) and demonstrates his obsession with dangly things (in the case of this photo, the lanyard on the camera). Enjoy.





Go and listen to'Star Witness' by Neko Case

Meh...

I'm sick today, currently sitting on the couch blog surfing and watching cartoons on tv. Whats the deal with the new cartoons? Its all 3D and shiny! I'm sure kids don't give much of a fuck about graphics.

Anyhoo... I have to fill in a day, and I feel to shitty to drive or study or write (how shitty is blogspot for not having spell check?) - So I might just piss away my time on the internet.

My cat hasn't stopped meowinf since 7am, despite being fed...

Here's a photo of me with a dutch elephant (they're orange over there).

Go and listen to 'Trestles' by Rumbleseat

Huge Gold AK47!

I got this cheap little wide angle lens off the electronic bay, I can wait to shoot a roll through it! Didn't come with caps though, which is a pain.



Will post shots when I have some to post.

Go and listen to 'Love Ire and Song' by Frank Turner

I will post something of substance when i can be bothered.

Trust me... I'm a rat!

So July is really alive and kickin' eh? Where did the first half of the year go?

Just a pointless update today folks, as I am new to the whole blogging thing and figure that the only way to stick to it is to keep 'em coming, even if I havent really got anything to say (don't judge me... every other blogger does it!).

I've just been trying to finish my songs, study and keep sane.

Today at about 1pm I found my fly undone, I hadn't used the toilet since leaving the house. I also mentioned to a co-worker that I was thinking of applying for other jobs, only noticing that my boss was standing right behind me afterwards... fuuuuuck.

Go and listen to 'Ryan Murphy's Song' by Gunmoll
Peace

Happy New (financial) Year!

So… let us reflect on the posts that have been, as roughly one month has past since I began this unholy tyrant… I guess I have to sit back and ask my self, ‘how is the blog going for me?’, and more importantly ‘how is it going for you, my faithful audience?’, have I been thought provoking (not really), inspiring (defiantly not), opinionated (yep), controversial (not unless you are easily offended), angst ridden (kinda recently) ect… the elephant in the proverbial room is of course the ‘promotion’ side of Shameless Self-Promotion. I, of course, started this thing as a selfish outlet for self-advertising and just generally a place to post my bullshit… So far there is only the underlying hint that I am doing music stuff, but I have made myself sound pretty damn slack, and there’s been lots of bullshit, so this month I am going to try and focus this thing a bit more on the ‘getting to know me’ side of things… so brace yourselves. Also I think by the end of the month, I may have gotten around to recording a demo and putting it online, but we’ll see.

I've been demoing my live set on my iPod with the use of K-Dub’s headphones with a mic on ‘em (which I stole [Mwaahahahaha!!!]), and they don’t actually sound too bad, so my advice to all you singer/songwriters out there who want to demo on cheap it to do it like this. I actually have a full recording studio rig, but it’s scattered between two locations at the moment, and it’s a bitch to set up (took me a whole fucking weekend to setup the first time) so this technique works for me. I only have the most lowly iPod still, but I’ll probably upgrade someday, although I think that the screen of one of those new ones must be the most unsanitary thing in the modern world, because one of the times during a regular day which the device would see extended use would be during ablutions (pooping [shitting{taking a crap}]), so yeah… wash your hands before eating.

Oh and reading over my bitchy post of yesterday I realised that I forgot another misfortune that I suffered during the day: my watch strap broke. This really put me out for a whole 24 hours. So yeah… feel sorry for me.
Me and Chris decided, after reflecting on the happening of last night, that our pushbike gang with in fact be an outlaw pushbike gang! We shall call ourselves ‘The Saddle Club’!

Another thing I am going to try and do for you people this month is to write these entries a lot better. I have read through a couple recently and found it hard to make any sense of them.

Go and listen to ‘Dull’ by samiam

Here’s a photo I took outside my house during a lightning storm at about 20 minutes to midnight on New Years Eve 2009.

Where's the fuckin' justice?!

Well the post I deferred yesterday will have to be deferred again today, because I am way too full of angst not to have a good rant.

I had another abysmal day, the alarm didn’t go off again this morning which is a bit of a fucking worry, but at least my delayed awakening wasn’t to the same extent as yesterday. I had time to do what I needed to do, but it was rushed… which sucks first thing in the morning. Work was work, and then I had the afternoon off to study, but I couldn’t focus, so it was wasted time, but I was at home after all, rather than work, so it wasn’t all that bad. I then rode my bike down to band practice as I normally do, but got a flat front inner tube, at this point I was starting to get fed up with the day. Band practice, however, was great and got my spirits up once more, that is until I took a swig of the wrong beer… in fact it was a beer that must’ve been sitting on my amp for a good few weeks, as it had big chunks of mould floating about in it… which was gross. Then the best bit… I got pulled over for running a red light on my fucking PUSHBIKE, keeping my mind it was 9:45 at night in a fairly quiet town (no cars on the road at all!).

This leads me to the conclusion that being a big tall man is not necessarily a positive thing. As I towered over the little policeman that was writing me up, I couldn’t help but thinking that he was exerting something higher than ‘little man syndrome’ (which I will probably cover extensively in the future), but rather ‘little cop syndrome’. Anyway, I tried to take this in my stride even though I thought it was bullshit (I mean… innit?), and rode home (even though the cop told me to walk my bike home [WTF? If you drove you car through a red light and didn’t lose you licence, I’m sure they wouldn’t tell you to push your car home]) only to get a flat rear inner tube miles from home… and of course I’d put my spare tube in the front earlier.

Anyway, this leads me to my point (the crux of this post, if you will)… The justice system is completely fucked! A man can beat the shit out of a Chinese woman whilst on bail for another racial attack, get caught, and still walk free!!!(http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2010/06/25/154441_tasmania-news.html) And yet I can get done for a ‘cycling offence’.

Go and listen to ‘Fuck tha Police’ by N.W.A

I’m off the stew about all of this in bed,

Night night.

Peaches come from a can, they were put there by a man, in a factory downtown.

This morning Dom (my housemate) knocked on my door and said 'you gettin' up man?', and I was all like 'fuck off, it's so early...', but then looking at my watch, I realised I had about 5 minutes until my lift to work arrived. I had just enough time to put my clothes on and feed the cat before heading out the door to find my lift waiting for me, so I had to start my day by apologising for keeping the guys waiting with bad breath and body-odour whilst wearing the socks and jocks I slept in… Needless to say it was a long shitty day at work. Now I’m at home studying (writing this during one of my scheduled ‘procrastination sessions’) and later I'll try and nut out my solo set.

I had epic things planned for today’s blog, but alas, you will have to be satisfied with this (which is actually quite epic in its own right).

By the way, I am not going to comment on the recent political happenings, because there’s enough opinion out there (in my opinion)… except to say that I’m pleased that Julia isn’t a God-botherer! It’ll make the election more interesting.

Go and listen to ‘Avoiding Catatonic Surrender’ by Tim Barry

Go forth, children of god (and peace ect…)

Heres a photo I took whilst on my vacant block of land

Ride the Tiger!

The bassist in my band (Nic [Dicko]) is also in another, really bloody good band, called Ride the Tiger, they played the other week with Hawaiian Islands. Here are some shots I took with the Pentax SLR, they're a bit grainy, so deal with it...

First shot is of my housemate and drummer Dom, the rest of 'em are the band.









Awesome gig by the way...

I'd love to say that they always dress like this, but I would be lying.

Go and listen to 'Danny' by Ride the Tiger (http://www.myspace.com/ridethetigerrock)

Live long and prosper

Hey Darlin’, do you gamble?

I got some of these films for a steal on ebay recently, and am about halfway through the first roll in my old Pentax SLR.



Will let you know how they turn out, and post some shots on here if they're any good.

Go and watch this video - http://vodpod.com/watch/3769718-zz-top-sharp-dressed-man-crazy-drummer It will blow you mind, trust me.

Peace and love

If you think carrots are crass, i'ma pop a cap in yo' ass!

Older ladies eh? They can make you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside (I mean that in a totally non-creepy way), I’ll expand –

I really love imagining what people say/yell/mutter when they put down the phone after finishing a phone conversation with me, especially when it’s a work related matter being discussed. Usually it would be something along the lines of ‘blow it out your arse you prick!’ or a more simple ‘what an arsehole.’ Today however I had a nice old lady (old duck, if you will) that couldn’t thank me enough for my time and patience in helping her out, and I could imagine her saying something along the lines of ‘what a nice young fellow’ after our conversation. Anyway after this I kind of had old ladies on the brain. At lunch when I asked the older lady that always sells me my lunch if I could have a vegetarian wrap, she said ‘sorry dear, did you say vegetarian wrap?’, at this point I had the best vision of this old lady busting out some crazy pro-vegetarian rhymes with me laying down some mad beat-boxing. Wrap – RAP! Get it? ...ah, forget it (it sounds mediocre in writing, but it was awesome in my brain).

So I looked back at the few posts that I’ve done and realised that I said I would tell you all about my band, and still haven’t. I cant be bothered doing it now, but I can say that we practiced tonight, and apart from being freezing, it was great, we should probably be right to gig by the end of the year. Last practice the other three dudes in the band (that aren’t me) wrote a song while I was up the other end of the house taking a piss… we practiced it as a band tonight and it kicks arse! Yay!

I have also booked my first solo gig, it’s in a months time, so I gotta get crackin’ with the song writing and practicing.

Go and listen to 'Heather' by Heavens
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM_qGodKF-w)

Here is a photo I took of some bridges in Amsterdam

Methlabs and Bookstores.

I ran into my friend Chris Burrows the other night, and we decided that we will tour together at the start of next year, so look out mainland Australia! I’m coming for you… eventually (something tells me that I need more than one song first).

I’ve been learning banjo and Burrows tells me he has too, so expect some duelling banjos and a generally just an ol’ fashion hoedown.

If you are un-cultured enough to not have heard Chris Burrows’ songs, go here - www.myspace.com/chrisburrows

Also, you guys should check out Project Free-TV if you haven't already, it's blowing my mind at the moment! I just finished all the seasons of Californication, and it rocked. I don't know the URL, just google project free-tv and submerge yourself in the joys of braindead television.

Go and listen to 'Methlabs and Bookstores' by Chris Burrows (here's a shitty video link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFriNCcGr60)

Peace

It's not easy only eating greens.

I am a vegetarian (up here on my moral high ground, looking down upon all you pitiful carnivorous cavemen/women! [not really {well… kind of}]), so is my girlfriend (who will be referred to as K-Dub for the purpose of this blog [because it’s funny]), so we live a happy little vegetarian life together with relative ease, but damn it’s hard to be a vego in the real world, and here is why -

I work in the construction industry (try finding some non-leather steel-toe boots [dunlop volleys don’t count]) with blokey-blokes who just don’t understand vegetarianism at all. So it’s best not to even try to explain it, unless you’ve got all day and are willing to be patronised and asked dumb questions like ‘but you still eat fish and chicken right?’ which shits me to no end (we’ll get to that later), but I must admit that this is a slightly skewed sample. However, when in somewhere like a restaurant, for example, you should be able to ask what you are eating and be provided with a concise answer and peace of mind (if you care about what you are eating), but I’m surprised that waiters/waitresses in most places here in Tasmania are unaware where their eggs come from, for instance, and wont provide a vegan option, so you’ve either got to go elsewhere or take the risk.

Being a vegetarian in a small city can also find you in shitty social situations such as: the BBQ at work or at an acquaintance’s house (people that know you well, should know better by now), where there is no non-meat food available (a BBQ prepared by a man) so you end up doing the whole ‘bread-and-sauce’ thing, or, when there is some vege-burgers/sausages on the barbie (if this is the case you will be greeted with ‘Look, I went and got some vego food just for you!’, rather than a more conventional and socially acceptable ‘Hello’) it’s being deep fried on a scummy BBQ in a sea of meat juices… You will be treated like a monster if you decline this food. The best thing to do is bring some food of your own and some foil.

Another bad situation is when rsvp-ing to a function that costs money, recently all the functions for work have provided a meat covered menu with one option for a ‘vegetarian meal’, now I ain’t gonna pay $45 just to find on the night that I get a re-heated quiche, so I am the guy pestering them to ring the place and get me some options. You do get the feeling that these places call a dish ‘vegetarian’ just because it doesn’t have any pieces of meat in it.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that you should all stop eating meat, if only to make my life easier.

Anyway, I’m rambling now, so I’ll stop.

Go and listen to ‘Bottomless Seas’ by Hot Water Music

Peace

Here's a photo I took in NYC (Jersey City taken from Manhattan [I lived off food from an awesome vegan restaurant on Broadway]).

The Cat Lady!

Here is my recount of a story that I was told by Chris’ housemate Deb.

Ok, to set the scene, Chris’ backyard has a clothes line at the edge of a roughly 2m drop, from this vantage point it is possible to see through a broken window into a room of the neighbouring commercial refrigeration warehouse. So Deb was atop this cliff hanging clothes on the line when she notices that her cat ‘Taxi’ is perched to pounce through the hole in the window, so she rushes over, collects the cat and stands to contemplate the broken pane, Deb told me she was standing there looking at the window and discussing possible solutions to the issue with the cat for something like ten minutes, whilst saying to Taxi ‘what are we going to do about this eh?’ and ‘I think I might have some cardboard that could cover the hole..’ ect… Only after all this time did Deb look beyond the actual broken pane to what was behind the pane and discovered that she was staring right at one of the male employees of this warehouse taking a dump whilst staring right back at her! She relised that she must have been looking directly at him for the whole time, said ‘oh fuck!’ and went back inside. The window was magically repaired the next day!

I nearly fell off my chair when I heard this.

To rub salt in Deb’s wound she found herself in the warehouse (which has recently been vacated and is currently for lease) with someone she knows that is interested in taking on the lease, when she told the story to her friend, the person showing them through the building said ‘Oh… You’re the Cat Lady!’

Funny shit!

I will tell you about my band in the next instalment.

Here is Chris' front door (inviting eh?)



Go and listen to ‘Vital Beach’ by the Blood Brothers

Peace

What a terrible nightmare! Hang on…..Oh no!

Here are some photos from the roll I took over the last couple of weeks with my Asahi Pentax ME Super - I liked these.







The first one was taken on a walk in South Hobart, the second stars my beautiful girlfriend before departing to go somewhere, the third looks down the front path at my house, the forth it taken outside the museum in Hobart, and the fifth is looking up a tree. Hope you think they are nice, I do.

Go and listen to 'Sometimes the Line Walks You' by Murder By Death
(http://www.myspace.com/murderbydeath)

Are You There, Margaret? It's Me, God...

Here is a cool photo I took in Paris




Ok, time for the second instalment, and I figure for this to work (me to promote my future awesome acts of greatness) you (the reader) will require some kind of insight into me (Andi), so that you will grow attached to me, care about me, respect me and look after me when I’m old, ect…

I guess the logical starting point is music, as the only creative thing that I am somewhat proficient at is playing music. Having said that, it is important to keep in mind that I have been writing an acoustic ep for a year now and have one (1) song complete, and it ain’t a masterpiece…. So yeah…

I do however have a band, not a gigging band just yet, but a band none the less! I think the band is called Cocktails and Dreams, although I may be wrong as we have had a line-up change (more of an addition) and haven’t really got any songs.

Shit… I’m not doing much of a job at talking up my aspiring musical career am I?
This sort of defeats the purpose of this blog, but I will try to perceiver regardless.

All you need know for now is that I play guitar and try to sing, both in a band without songs and in a solo act (Andi) with one (not really great) song.

Go and listen to ‘100 Resolutions’ by the Lawrence Arms (http://www.myspace.com/thelawrencearms)

Peace

Hello World, This is Me!

I’m Andi, and this is my blog!

To be completely transparent, the sole purpose of this is to promote my future endeavours, because it seems this is the way of the future (I have no facebook you see..[this offcourse means that I am not invited to anything anymore, and have lost touch with most of the people I caught up with back in the day{until I get an iPhone that is}]).

Because I have the best taste in music I will also recommend a song at the end of each of these semi-regular (maybe…) entries.

Go and listen to ‘Never Felt Prettier’ by Planes Mistaken for Stars.

Peace