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two thousand and six
(2005)
Tomorrow will be the 4 year anniversary of getting Finn. To celebrate... uh... "celebrate" I'm going to be DOGSITTING at my parents house tonight! Yeah.
Also, to celebrate being awesome, here is a photo of me when I was 5 (like holy fuck that was 21 years ago!) with my My Little Pony Glory.
I've been lamenting the loss of that pony lately. I used to wash her mane with shampoo. I didn't wet her hair first because the shampoo was labelled "for dry hair" and I was just a little bit stupid.
28 December
It's over. And only today do I rediscover what I should have been playing all this time to annoy people. The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Deck the Halls". It's awesome. Sigh.
Yeah I'm on a mini-chili kick due to the fact that I'm reading Anthony Kiedis' bio "Scar Tissue". It's awesome. I recommend it even if you're not a fan. I'm not a fan, but I was a fan, but this is making me pull out the old records (ooooor CDs) and listen to the songs he's describing the creation of. It's pretty weird to think that those songs that I thought were throw away pieces of crap were actually deep and meaningful for them. Like the stuff off "Out in LA". We'll see.
I went on a brief tiki tour to Palmerston North to see my cousin's new house and baby kitten. What a schizy cat. He went exploring on my shoulder while I was standing in the kitchen and decided to leap off. Yeah, apparently his landing skills haven't been developed and he landed very awkwardly. Stupid cat making me feel guilty for being your high dive platform.
They have a lemon tree. I'm jealous. What I want so much right now, apart from a place to call my oooooooown, is a backyard with a TREE in it. Even this flat doesn't have any trees. I WANT A TREE!!!
Speaking of this flat, I've had about 5 people come through and I've offered it to one. Just waiting for him to ACCEPT. Ha. I'm going to be the rejected one again I bet. It's like flat hunting all over again...
24 December
You know, mung bean sprouts have a lot to answer for. There I am, team player. Making a kumara, orange and sprout salad for a Xmas lunch at work. There I am with lots of leftover mung bean sprouts because no one lets you buy those suckers in portions you can control. So I'm thinking, everytime I buy these things they end up going fucking septic and slushy and stink out the fridge before I realise finally once again I've left them to wither and die, sloshing about in their own brown muck and I chuck em away. Not this time! I Was determined to use them. So I thought....... chicken fried rice! I can put them in that!
So I did a half arsed search on the net for a recipe that I thought I could do and I made possibly the biggest wok-ful of rice wasting crap ever. Well, apart from that chicken paella I made once. Yeeeeesh.
It was edible enough, but I had no MSG and uh... skill.
Yesterday, after a hard morning... uh... doing nothing but watch Pretty in Pink, I decided to reheat some fried rice and have lunch. Yeah. Wow. Big mistake.
Fucking sprouts were the reason I made that shit. So I blame mung bean sprouts for the amount of time I have spent in the bathroom doubled over in PAIN since yesterday afternoon. 1... 2... 3... spew. OUCH FUCK. 1... 2... 3... heaaaaaaave. Good times.
23 December
Happy Eddie Vedder's birthday everybody! To celebrate the birth of everyone's favourite elf I have taken leave and don't have to go to work for SIXTEEN glorious days. Alright!
The flatmate hunt is on. Oh, oh, oh yeah that's right, I don't have to live with the soul sucking Killjoy for much longer! A couple more people to meet and then hopefully by this time next week I'll have someone organized. Excitement she wrote!
And because Killjoy has claimed our cordless phone and has said she's going to delete all the numbers I put in the day she leaves, I gave her an extra number to delete. It's just callminder. But it's labelled "fuck you" because well, hey. Obey your thirst and all that (spite).
17 December
Take that Xmas shopping! I did you. And you loved it you dirty bitch.
Uh... so last night I wrote an awesome song about a monkey. It kinda sounds like that little known song by that little known band Blur... about living in a house. But with a monkey. I wrote it really quickly too. I'm very talented.
We went to the see A Low Hum last night featuring lots of bands, but we only stayed for the first two because we're old ladies and also because old ladies are so not down with the dance music. If it was infact dance music. Truth be told I've never heard the other bands that played.
So first up were Signer. My only knowledge of them is that Andrew from Fur Patrol loves them like he would love a tiny kitten. They were certainly very interesting. No polite stage banter.. 'Hi we're Signer..' OH NO. No it was a sonic boom that made every head in the bar go WHOOSH straight towards the stage. Pretty cool really. They also had a giant spoon and fork singing about cornflakes. And crowd participation. I can't remember what the music sounded like however.
Then the magnificent Ghostplane played. They really are quite a fantastic band and I hope they play more often in the near future.
High Sierra rules.
Here is the lovely Ash.
Yeah I only took two photos.
I also did this...
...for Raymi. It's now on display on her site which is pretty radical.
I rented and watched the US version of the Office on DVD. It really is fucking awful. Except the "Tim" character is freakin' hot. But maybe I'd like it a little it wasn't for the fact that the British original is perhaps the most perfect piece of comedy ever. It's made me love Brick Tamlin a little less too which is a shame. Yep. I'm gonna be one of those people who rant about all the reasons the BBC Office is superior to the crappy American version. Like, dude, where the fuck is the sympathy you can't help but feel for the boss? Brent may be a douchebag, but at the same time you kinda like him. And Pam may be traditionally prettier than Dawn, but she's boring as a cats arse. And Jim is way hotter than Tim, but that just makes him less believable as the underdog. And the Americanized versions of the jokes... ugh.
Oh yeah and in the links you're now lucky enough to be able to look at my flickr, myspace and most excitingly... last.fm. Bask in my awesome taste in music!
14 November
Sigh.
Final of McLeod's Daughters.
Dave the vet has left.
Sigh.
Now what do I have to live for??
Sigh.
P.S. Vote for Raymi
13 November
Hey! You know what you should do?
You should click that picture and cast a vote for Raymi in the 2006 Weblog Awards. Because Raymi is about the most entertaining diarist out there and I quite frankly think she's fucking choice. She's what I like in a personal site. She's not preachy so I don't have to pretend to have read long winded entries about stuff I SHOULD care about and do in my way but don't need to read about when I'm bored. Plus I think her paintings are choice. And this is the equivalent of me sticking a VOTE FOR RAYMI poster in my bedroom window which does attract attention. Not necessarily the Vote for Raymi part... but the poster. I once put a poster up in my window to advertise a friend's gig and came home from work one night to find a guy on a unicycle hovering outside my window, trying to read it. And I had to wait for him to read and wobble off down the road to park my car. So yeah. Go vote. And go look at the others and vote for Ze Frank although it doesn't look like he'll win for the video blog even though we all know he SHOULD. And maybe vote for someone from NZ or Australia. Even though there is ONLY ONE Kiwi nominated and his blog is boring. Oops.
Check her out if you're not convinced. But why aren't you convinced? Don't you trust me?!?
Apart from linkin' and pimpin', what else is there to talk about? Still haven't done any Xmas shopping, except for the badass Pinocchio I bought myself and then gave to mum to wrap up for me. Ahhhhhh creepy wooden toys. Gifts of mannequins and other such creepy paintable delights are most welcome.
Eww. All I can smell is pasta mix and mixed veges. My flatmate sucks. Only one more month and a bit and I can get a new flattie! I'm so excited. I hope they're not batshit insane, but at least nice enough to wanna maybe hang out with me in the backyard, drinking and listening to loud music. Like what Fran and I did in the weekend. So yeah. COSMOS. Make it happen baby.
11 December
I'm about all out of Xmas cheer and I haven't even started shopping yet. And then I realised today that there are 2 weeks left at work and then I'm on leave. And then I went home early because of puking problems. It's all go here ladies and gents.
I've changed the layout images again. Please, feast your eyes on the TEENY LITTLE PONIES! So cute.
Ummmmm, way too much going on of late... I've been to a wedding (lovely), a couple of Xmas parties (drunken), I've run out of money a few times (not great), I've been given a large sum of money (grandparents) and have had my HEART CRUSHED AGAIN. Honestly. So lame.
If you direct your eyes to the art part of this site you'll hopefully notice this and these have there very own little slice of html all to themselves.
27 November
I finally bought a copy of Cat Power's Moon Pix today. I've had the vinyl on order for the past 3 or so months and Real Groovy have only just accepted that they can't get hold of it and have cancelled the order. So I got the CD. It's phenomenal. I already knew that because I've already got all the songs but NOW I can listen to it in the living room.
And listen I did. I put it on as I finished up the painting which has been killing me softly with its brush stroke.
There's the finished painting. Incidently, the very second I stepped back and sat on the couch and stared at the damn thing I started to cry. I don't think I've ever wanted to keep a painting that I've done for someone else quite as much as this one. It's going to be traumatic giving it up. I'm tearing up now! I think Moon Pix was partly to blame. I also think the fact that it was my grandfather's photo and he's in the painting (in the chrome of the Beetle...) played a large part in the waterworks. Sigh.
26 November
Ha. I was looking at an old website and found this heated rant from yours truly about Baise-Moi and I'm going to repost it now because I have nothing of value to say.
Sometimes you watch movies that leave you wondering if the way you're sitting is suggesting something... or if you laugh at a certain point people will judge you harshly. These are the movies you walk out of quickly at the end to avoid eye contact or as a friend puts it, seeing who else saw it.
Movies such as Baise-Moi (apparently translated as Rape Me or the more socially acceptable Fuck Me) leave you feeling like you need to floss. You need to FLOSS YOUR SOUL. They entice people to pay for tickets by being SO controversial that it's enough of a drawcard. People are perverse. Slap a banning on something and you know they'll clammer to see what all the fuss is about.
This however can be dangerous. Case in point, the aforementioned movie was banned and there was a huge hoo-haa about whether it should be screened etc etc etc. You'd be thinking, geez... must be pretty provocative huh? So the decision here in good old Wellington was to not only screen the movie, but to screen it at a theatre alongside childrens cartoons and Robin Williams movies.
My "friend" and I went along because of this controversy. We thought, if it was banned then maybe they (read: Big Brother) are keeping something from us. Maybe it'll be brilliant like A Clockwork Orange which was also banned. Maybe it'll be a once in a life time chance to see what could become a cult classic.
Whoa there. There's a fucking BIG FAT LINE between provocative and "never should have been let out of it's cage". Baise-Moi not only ran across the line NAKED, but it stopped midway through to take a shit on it, then it rolled in it... then it ATE some of it... then it raped your dog. And it filmed the rape. And it glorified the rape. And it then went and held a press conference and said it was a movies way of saying "WE MOVIES HAVE BEEN HELD OPPRESSED BY DOGS FOR TOO LONG! THIS MOVIE IS OUR WAY OF SAYING NO MORE!!!" Confused? Well so were the people who decided to not only let Baise-Moi see the light of day, but also those who dreamt it up.
I'm no advocate for censorship. I understand an artists right and I understand that some things need to be said. But I honestly truly believe that Baise-Moi was the single sickest film I've ever seen, that it had not a single redeeming quality, that the acting was appalling, the "cinematography" was abysmal, and that the entire thing should have hit the cutting room floor. Then someone should have doused the cutting room in petrol and set the bitch alight.
I really do feel strongly about this. I've told many people that I in all seriousness do not want them to ever witness this movie. Not even for the sake of seeing what all the fuss is about. I truly truly believe that it's evil and I'm not the kind of person who goes around labelling things evil. Especially not foozball. I think that no matter how provocative someone is trying to be, there's still a level, even a miniscule level of responsibility that they need to acknowledge. The makers of Baise-Moi ranted about showing rape as it is in gritty reality and in some sick way seemed to think that it empowered women.
But I realise that the more people talk about it like this, the more people are going to be curious enough to track it down. If you do, just know that you've been warned. My sincerest appeal is, don't ever see it. Ever. Trust me on this.
This is all sparked from a movie we saw tonight. Secretary starring James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal. It left me feeling uneasy but not completely unclean. I hear it got walloped with the controversy label. There isn't a label SHIT BROWN ENOUGH for Baise-Moi.
*THROWS HANDS UP IN DISGUST*
PS Secretary was bizarre and I think I said "What the fuck?" to myself about 3236 times, but it's still worth seeing. Maggie is a great actress.
originally written on 14 September 2003
I get the impression I didn't like Baise-Moi much...
20 November
High on love for Wellington as mentioned in the previous entry...
Click the randomly spotted Jaffas to be whisked away to all the places I visited after work with a colleague and then tried to take half way focused photos of. It was WELLI-LOVE 2006!!
19 November
I was sent on a business trip last week. I know. ME! Hilarious. But anyway, 4 flights in one day was more than enough to teach me that I hate business trips and hope never to have to be subjected to one again! I spent a grand total of about 5 hours in Whangarei and my Wellington-missing-hysteria set in as scheduled.
As I was telling Joanna yesterday when discussing the Wellingtonista First Annual Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence, I had some difficulty thinking of winners for the catergories because I don't experience Wellington in the same way that most Wellingtonians experience it. I mean, I know you can get a delightful Randy at Brix on Willis Street (hehe) but I also know you can get one in my kitchen for a lot cheaper and it tastes pretty much exactly the same. Thank YOU Schweppes Raspberry cordial! Anywho...
My point was that even though yadda yadda... being IN Wellington is enough to make me happy. Flying back in on Friday afternoon in the midst of the storm was like a rollicking turbulent welcome home bear hug complete with being thrown up into the sky and caught and then given a ruddy good ruffle of the hair. EVen in the shitty weather (because the weather was kinda nice in Whangarei... "Sweaty" as one taxi driver put it...) I would still rather be standing at a 45 degree angle, battling the wind IN Wellington, than anywhere else.
But perhaps it's time to take the bull by the horns and experience more of what this fine city has to offer! Perhaps, but right now I'm going to go back into the living room of my WELLINGTON!!!! flat and watch Family Guy.
6 November
Apart from all the flat stuff like the microwave, heater and numerous other kitchen appliances, I have two notable things that belonged to my grandfather. Well, one is only notable because I have MADE it notable... it being the book of art I gave him for his 90th birthday which I got given when he sold his unit and moved permanently into the hospital (he wrote underneath the dedication I had written that it was a lovely gift). The other is notable because it was his art supplies box. It's a small wooden box with one draw that can't be opened because it's locked. Inside is an array of very very old oil paints, watercolours and the various tools that went with them. The stuff can't be used anymore, not that I think I could bring myself to actually use anything in there for the simple fact I wouldn't want to use them UP and not have them anymore.
My grandfather was quite the artist. It was always him I was excited about showing off my latest art project to. No question that I got the art thing from him.
So it was a pretty low feeling I had that despite what he'd given me, I was still sitting on my hands and not doing anything.
Today I finally bought myself an easel. HOLY WOW. It's so awesome and beautiful. I am in awe of it. That sounds lame but I'm someone who paints off an ice cream container lid and if I need something to lean against, use a cardboard box that a calendar came in back in the mid 90s. This is my first piece of serious art equipment (apart from the expensive paints which I neglect and end up throwing away and replacing because the lids have fallen off and they've turned to dust...). I have named my easel "Eddie". Bow down before him! He was a filthy son of a bitch to assemble and I nearly gave up in a teary eyed fit of rage. But one slightly munted screw aside (stupid bloody thing was bung, it wasn't my fault...) it's a glorious glorious piece of wood and metal.
Sitting on there is the very very very very beginnings of my current project, a wedding present for my cousin. I thought it fitting to use a photograph that my grandfather took several years ago. Sigh. I'm depressing myself actually, but it's a happy purchase and I'm going to try to do more art and hope when I hold them up to the sky he can see them.
31 October
Hey. Guess what? I finished the creepy doll triptych I've been working on here and there for the past couple of years. Take a look
27 October
I know it looks stupid but I was really quite sick of the red mannequin. So you get to stare at the painting I have on my living room. It's exciting isn't it? It's in Tawa if you want to visit the REAL train barrier. Make a day of it.
I just got back yesterday from my grandfather's funeral. Well, I got back from being away to go to my grandfather's funeral. I lost both of my remaining grandparents this year. That really sucks incidently. One way to look at it... at least my grandmother only had to wait 9 months for him to join her up there.
I've never seen an RSA send off before. It made me cry and cry and cry (like I wasn't already crying and crying and crying...) to hear the Last Post being played by an old man with a bugle at the back of the room. And to watch a large procession of elderly men who served in the war placing poppies on his coffin (which was draped in a NZ flag). When they asked us to put poppies on too it was all a bit too much to handle and everyone in my family shuffled up to the coffin sobbing and gasping. Or at least I gasped a lot. I tend to get that horrible distressed inability to breathe steadily when I'm upset.
Anyway. I miss my grandparents. Goodbye Papa.
15 October
Hoooooo-boy. Am I ever wearing my sulky pants tonight!
It's that stupid Ratpony section of the site that does it. Making me listen to songs over and over until they BREAK ME DOWN.
Anyway. Cat Power and the Phoenix Foundation. Together at last. Like nuts-n-gum.
I'm thinking it's time for a makeover for the old dusty old dirty old smelly old site too. I mean, love my mannequins as I do, it's not like they make with the happy memories or anything. At the time I designed the site they did. But now they make with the dumpster probably. So watch this lazy lazy lazy space.
6 October
I am so happy that America's Next Top Model is on again. I do believe that I have ruined it for myself well in advance and I think I recognize who wins, but this lot looks like a fantastically colourful bunch. I just wish they'd put that bigmouthed bigot girl who said to the camp-as-tent Miss J. that she doesn't like gay people. I mean, it's almost like the producers showed SCRUPLES by not putting her in. I wonder then how good the show will be? I mean, isn't conflict the only reason they put Cassandra the sociopath in the competition last time and then turned her into a country singing soccer mom?
Good times ahead. I agree with TWOP, most of the girls are kinda funny lookin'.
Speaking of funny lookin', how YOU doin'?
HAHAH
Yeah. Whatever, it's Friday night and I'm a-bloggin'. And removin' as many gs as possible.
Anyway. Just wanted to share my ANTM joy with you all.
28 September
After a bit of reminiscing I found the following video on YouTube.
Richard Marx - Hazard
I used to think he was so dreamy. I wanted for nothing more than the chance to run my fingers through his thick luscious mullet. To snuggle into the sleeve of his leather bomber jacket. To slip my hand into the back pocket of his tight pale blue jeans.
I wish no one had ever taught me how to record over cassettes by taping over the security tab thingee. If I hadn't learned that I'd still have my copy of Rush Street... and my copy of Alannah Myles's self titled album (my first album).
Ya know he's married to Penny from Dirty Dancing?
Anyway, I have two songs to add to Ratpony when I find the time/appropriate inspiration.
Also, look at my Flickr account for all the utter crap I've been photographing with my seeeeexxxxxxxy new camera. Go on.
7 September
Good deal at LV Martin on a Sony digital camera. So I bought it. Well it's my birthday present, but I had to go get it and stuff.
I'm very excited about it. No disrespect to my Canon camera... it has served me ... ok... in the last 3 years, but without an optical zoom and with the battery life of a dead fish, it was time to step up my game. This new one is cute and blue and small and will accompany me more often than this one so I can become more serious about my art and pull my finger out of my bum. LITERALLY... I mean... er... figuratively!...
You want to see the new view I have from my new desk don't you? Don't be shy... just ask. It's ok.
If not for the fact that it's like a soddin' greenhouse in our office I'm sure I would spend great big chunks of times staring out at the people wandering about.
1 September
So this is spring. And what have you done?
Tonight I went and saw Snakes on a Plane.
I'm sorry but what? What? People don't get why this movie is so great? Really?
I drank too much pepsi and desperately needed to pee. I had to rush out during one part where I thought it potentially could slow down a bit... terrified of missing that ONE fantastic movie making line.
Loved it. Absolutely loved it.
But now I've developed an irrational fear of snakes... Good thing we don't have them here I guess.
I think.
26 August
*Snuck*
Last night I went to a work "function". Karaoke. Stealing booze. McDonalds. Could an evening GET any better?
It allllllll started in the afternoon. After work. We went one floor down and me, fresh from a 2 day stay at my parents house - wrapped in an orange blanket watching Arrested Development Season 2 and sneezing into my hands... wipe wipe.. - vowing not to... drink?
Yeah. I left, took my car home and caught a taxi back to work. The stinkiest taxi ever. I thought Wellington Combined taxis were supposed to be all fresh and clean and blue and wave like. This guy smelled like danger.
They sold 5-drink tickets for 20 bucks. A bit of a rip off considering what the R2Ds were and how much they would have cost, even not in bulk from the Mill. They didn't think it through very well though. Photocopied bits of paper with 1-5 on them, marked off with hole punches? Hello! The party was one floor down from our office. We just took some fresh ones up to the office, photocopied a bunch, scrunched them up a little and attacked them with hole punches for authenticity. Free drinks galore! All this was done with the help of one of the managers. You know. So it was above board...
Anyway, I didn't sing because unless there is a scoring system and accompanying video footage (though how disturbing to find out the singer from Foreigner isn't as hot as I would have liked to believe) à la Singstar, then I am not going to participate. But good news! The Polish guy was really drunk and went WILD and CRAZY Bon Jovi style! He did Dead or Alive, complete with high kicks. He did Stairway to Heaven complete with air guitar solo. He did Hungry Like the Wolf complete with hilarious european pronunciation. He did Aqualung... which was a painful 6 minutes and 30 seconds for us all. I captured some awful footage (too dark for my phone to handle) which contains some pretty sexy vocals... if I can figure out how to upload it, maybe I'll YouTube it. Yes! Using the interweb for GOOD, not evil!
UPDATE: Check out the goodness
Unfortunately this far away footage is the only stuff you can actually make out anything other than the vending machine. Listen to that glorious music though. And my colleagues drunken cackles. And you can see my loser flatmate to the left there.
20 August
I have had pretty much the single most depressingly boring weekend in recent history. It's been kinda traumatic. I even cried before. Lame eh? Sook.
I'm listening to Bernard Fanning. Fuck all that don't appreciate him. He has a lovely soul. And you have NO SOUL.
Sam Scott was last night. Being in the midst of a depressing crapfest of a weekend I actually can't say I was all that jazzed about standing around while the bastards in front of us kept yapping away. I just wanted to enjoy a set by a talented musician. It amazes me that I manage to stand right behind the talkers, without fail. So we move to get away from yappy British chick and her tall spaz boyfriend and settle into a new possie. Then ultra tall guy, nothingman and their very loud dark haired female friend step out of the shadows to conduct a very animated conversation... flailing arms and spirit fingers obscuring the band on stage from my view. GAH! I tried glaring but I have yet to build up the urge to outright tell someone to shut the fuck up.
I am so cranky.
Crumpet toast is inferior to crumpets. It tastes gross even. Just makes me want to go out there and buy crumpets, but that would entail putting shoes on and... it makes me tired thinking about it.
30 July
You DO realise I actually work for a living eh? I joke about never doing any work and Lord knows it is easy to get away with doing nothing if you need to just have some blank time. But I do work when I'm in the office. Honestly. I just felt I should clear that up.
Yeah. So I've had a weekend. I consumed some alcoholic beverages. I made some pizza. I made enemies with a bag of Bigguns. I've somehow burned the top of my mouth, though that vexes me as I can't think how. Or when.
Next week I'll be back home for two weeks dog-sitting. She's chewed off a chunk of her paw pad. As in nibbled off some of the black skin. What the hell are you sposed to do when your dog does that? I've taken her to the vet so many times about shit like this... and short of sticking a bucket on her head (don't look up when it's raining Finny) I'm kinda clueless as to how to stop her doing it. Any animal enthusiasts out there?
How about that Mel Gibson eh?
I'm bored. Everyone come see Luke Buda with me on Friday k?
And I've used "Holy cray" several times now. Have YOU? It wont catch on if you people don't work with me.
19 July
Holy cray eh? That was a typo but I've decided it shall be the new hip slang. Like, a crayfish with a halo. Perhaps sandals. Anyway... It's nearly August which means it's nearly September which means I'm nearly 26! Hide the support hose!
I don't even really know what support hose is but it SOUNDS like an old lady thing.
Apologies to all the old ladies and/or support hose wearers in the audience tonight.
I'm only really here to post this because I'm juvenille and lame.
Click the little version to see what these are made out of.
Yeah well it made ME laugh. And I was all "I'm SO going to send this to Rove as a "What the...?" but then I realised you actually have to POST the pictures and such and just TAKING the photo was effort enough and now that you add posting about it on the internet... well... I'm spent.
9 July
I've been making cookies and eating the broken ones and I really wish that 3rd cookie didn't break because now I think I may throw up.
I should be at Cassette. They're playing at the Cross which is only 2 blocks down. But I'm a bit of a Nigel No-Mates in that no one would come with me. I haven't seen Cassette play since they did a show with the Phoenix Foundation for A Low Hum and the eternally selfish shithead ruined the show by bitching and moaning about how boring she found the Phoenicians and how disappointed she was that Cassette weren't the Accelerants like she thought they were.
Noooow, what's been going on with YOU then?
Me?
Well, I went to that Great Blend whatchamacallit thingee at the Boat Shed a couple of weeks back. It was sold to me because the magnificently named Bunnies on Ponies were playing after all the internet nerdiness. It did mean I had to listen to someone talk about Myspace like it's anything of really great importance. It's like that Quickdot thing. Remember that? Yeah. No one else does either. I could have done a study on that if someone had given me some money.
I guess I just don't see why American teens and their weirdo habits have to be thrust upon us in every single dusty corner of the media. I don't think I'll ever be an American teen.
Maybe I'm just not using the interweb to its full robust capacity. Maybe I would if we had the net at work and if my flatmate didn't suck up the majority of 5gbs of broadband downloading... bollywood porn or something.
In other words I wasn't too interested in the talky talky part but I knew going into it that I wouldn't be. I'm just jealous that I have yet to make a single dime (hehehe dime!) out of the net. It's ok though... I didn't drink anything.
Sam Scott and the Bunnies on Ponies were good as gold though. Even if the crowd were about 2 person deep... scattered... at best... because everyone kinda pissed off either home or to the bar when all the talky talky finished.
How about those new coins eh? I didn't even realise the kiwi on the 20 cent coin was discontinued in 1990. I also think they should put the tutara on the 50c coin and sink the Endeavour. Because I have no respect for history.
To celebrate the evillest man in the office getting a new job and fucking off finally... I have been playing cheesey 80s love songs on my cell phone whenever he walks past. I bet he went home on Thursday with "Hungry Eyes" in his head and he couldn't understand why. Tomorrow is "Unchained Melody". On his final day it will be "The Final Countdown".
I'm going to add some lame ass photos to this site now. Oh and YAY to myhost.co.nz for footing the bill for my domain name for a year. I don't even know why they did but a piece of them will live on in the hearts of the ratponies in the ratpony paddock.
21 June
All I can smell is spray glue fumes. I'm mounting (heheh mounting) a really awesome photo of Wayne Coyne to hang in my room because I'm a 13 year old fan girl and shut up. I have a big cut out of Tim Finn on my wall too. He's holding a Fur Patrol drumstick. You still find it funny? It's serious business. Anywho, I think the fumes have made me a little slower than usual. Mmm. Fumes.
I'm absolutely obsessed with Cat Power. I can't help but wonder what kept me from picking up her albums in the past. I mean, ME of all people! You'd think I would have been all over You Are Free like Britney Spears on a can of Spray on Cheese... because... of the... Eddie Vedder element. But I wasn't. Something... something held me back. But I BROKE FREE and I opened my wallet and now I feel like the late kid at the party. But at least I'm here. She's amazing. AMAZING. I want to do the chicken dance with her. I want to be her best friend. The best friend who she sometimes kisses. I have a crush. Go buy her albums. I've spent a grand quantity of time looking at her videos on you tube. Oh and I also added some Fur Patrol ones. Naughty. Go look.
5 June
It's been a month! And tomorrow is 6/6/06 which is HILARIOUS because of all the "scary" shit that has linked itself to that date.
Oooooooooh it's the new Friday the 13th!
On Saturday night was the Country Club's celebration of Japan. An excellent turn out, much fun drawing filthy dirty tentacle porn, and SINGSTAR! That game just couldn't possibly be any cooler. Oh wait, actually, they should have put me in charge of the "Rock" version because what had so much potential totally sucks a big fat dick. I love Powderfinger, but two songs by them is unnecessary and ANY song by the Veronicas is just poor form. Plus what's the deal with the lack of Bon Jovi and G N'R?? And Come as You Are for the Nirvana song? And NO Pearl Jam?
I think I've said my piece. I had fun though and I'm thinking of releasing an album of my renditions of popular 80s songs. I did Just Like Heaven again (sigh weep misty eyes etc) and WON, but then other people did it and massacred it which hurt a little. My mate Beverly told me she didn't attempt it out of respect for the power of the song and what it means to people... and bless her heart for that. BAD OTHER PEOPLE WITH THEIR REESE WITHERSPOONY EFFECTS!
What I think they should somehow make is a version where you can add and I guess.. grade your own songs. I guess then they wouldn't be able to put out new versions every 5 minutes, but I would kill for a Bright Eyes one... hehe, or a NZ one. Mmm.
Anyway, the reason I actually updated this is because I have added a big pile of wank to Ratpony. I've also changed my guestbook to a paid account because my old one (with its ridiculously large font) got SPAM BOMBED like a filthy whore and I can't stop it and can't be arsed deleting all the crap every single day. So please sign the new one... if it lets you. If it tells you I didn't pay $1.99 it's LYING!!
Oh yes and Sam Scott's album is awesome and sounds extra fucking cool when you're driving through Wellington.
8 May
I feel like a zombie. I've been wandering around in a daze for the past couple of days which could be a result of my "lifestyle" of late or could just be that I simply don't sleep enough. But I'm having fun and that's all that really matters.
Well, I've been to a few concerts over the past few days which has been absolutely splendid. I try to keep a list of all the shows I see for the purpose of reminiscence when I'm really old.
So Thursday night, courtesy of the lovely and very smashing Jessie I was treated to the Bernard Fanning experience. Now, I've come to realise that loving Powderfinger makes me something of a minority in this here world of mine, and I embrace that. I also embraced his solo album and embraced the live show with BOTH arms. And one leg. Yes he was THAT good. I enjoyed the self depricating nature of his witty stage banter as he ALSO embraced all of the above. Not so great was Carly Binding as the support act. I mean, what the fuck kind of logic is that? She sucked so much it ended up being really hot in there because all the oxygen was absorbing itself into her blood stream.
On Saturday night I went to the Canadian C
After Canada we headed off to Indigo (I refuse to acknowledge the new name... it's RIDICULOUS) to see the sexiest band in the land, the Phoenix Foundation. The Mysterious Tapeman, complete with dashing white tuxedo and black gimp maskish tape mask totally rocked the freakin' house with his groovetastic guitariness. It was a beautiful thing and people were stomping their feet and flailing their arms and I'm pretty sure I saw some spirit fingers in the crowd. Nicely done. After he was done WOO-ing me and my kind the Phoenix Foundation came out to rapturous applause an entire buttload of chatter from the crowd. RUDE DIRTY SMELLY CROWD. People who talk while in the frontal region of the crowd deserve to be beaten with stockings full of bricks a la Heavenly Creatures. Seriously. It was super-fabulous to hear Sister Risk first and all rock-sex-injected again. They played a pretty hefty set, with quite a few newer songs including that fabulous fast country song which even though they said was a debut... I'm sure they played it in the National Bank tent. Maybe they have more than one? I can't mention a Phoenix gig without mentioning how awesome Nest Egg was. I mean, that song is like my best friend or something. I swear I will NEVER grow tired of it. And the sweetly sung It's a LIEEEEEEEEEE line gave the crowd the opportunity to flex its Sam Scott wannabeness and scream along. So good. I would immortalize that song in bronze if I could. Like Kylie Minogue.
Also, HELL YEAH, they are playing again this coming Sunday at Cabaret/Chow. Awesome. 20 bucks. AWESOMER.
Last night we were at Cabaret. I went with Jo and her ma and pa and we ate the banquet which was tasty but expensive and TOO MUCH FOOD PLEASE STOP BRINGING IT OUT... where Luke Buda was playing. I cannot stress enough how incredible Special Surprise is. It's so good that I bought the new Pearl Jam album and I can't even be bothered listening to that or the new Flaming Lips when I could be listening to Special Surprise. And I mean, I'm the Pearl Jam guru. Or was. Anyway, he was amazing and performed with his own unique shy flair. And as lovely a voice as Craig Terris has... it was a shame Mr Scott wasn't there to do Slav to the Rhythm.
So many concerts.
Last week I went to the Carter Observatory to see the Dukes of Leisure play. Pretty fabulous experience in a cosy room with strangers in what felt like a sleep over environment. Complete with popcorn. Seeing my friends in their ELEMENT was something alright. I was really impressed and vowed to be their fan girl groupie. Hurrah.
I have little else to add. I'm thinking of maybe pulling finger and getting some paintings done and having an exhibition in our hall way. That would be pretty fucking time consuming though and I have so few friends that I can't imagine many people would be interested. Plus I doubt I'd like the attention. Oh my god I'm so up myself. Someone either talk me out of or into it. Please.
15 April
I'm baby sitting my dog at my parents' place tonight and because I am in a BIG house by myself... I'm singing along really loud and really badly to the mp3s on this godforesaken beige contraption I used to rely on for computations and interwebbiness. Ol' Beige.
Oh my Lord and God above what a piece of shit month I have had. Those of you familiar with my other places to muse and whine will know that for a time there, life as I knew it... ceased to exist. Pah! Families! They can do your head in, am I right? Am I right!? Well, everything has worked out alright (I guess) and mum and dad have bought a big screen LCD TV where I shall park myself infront of this evening and watch Arrested Development Season 2 and possibly that episode of Scrubs that has the Polyphonic Spree in it. Mmmm. Robes.
Since our last dance I have seen the Phoenix Foundation not once, but TWICE, and the magical and fragrant Bic Runga (with her lesser known backing band of random misfits and struggling musos) a magical and fragant... one time. Let it be known that NZ boasts the greatest fucking music OF ALL THE COUNTRIES and boo-urns to all those who think their poxy countries can compete. Hehe. As you may or may not have noticed, a small... or gigantic pink shout out goes to the Phoenix Foundation on the front page of this here site to encourage you all to go see them in Wellington or Auckland (or BOTH if you're that way inclined) before they go off to the UK and the US.
Another huge motherfucking shout out goes to Luke Buda for putting out one of the greatest records this side of Hamilton (which incidently sounds like a colourful place to grow up). Special Surprise is nothing short of angelic beauty. Well done sir.
Those of you who know me reasonably well will be familiar with my stance on drinking. So, it turns out that was all just to spite my alcoholic friends! I have reverted back to my 17 year old self and have started sampling the urine of Satan once again. And for one reason or the other... people actually seek me out to see me... drink in hand. I'm not sure if I should be flattered or insulted. I'm going to go with flattered and me 4 months ago will go with insulted. She'll catch up. So anyone in the Wellington area... let's get stinko! WHOOO!! STEVE HOLT!!!! O'DOYLE RULES!!!! And so on and so forth.
27 February
I let the 8 year anniversary of my one and only Pearl Jam concert slip by without fanfare. To appease Eddie Vedder I will get horribly drunk on red wine and punch a baseball player in the face.
Since we last danced I have added a bittersweet song to the vault, Wait, did I say bittersweet? I meant bitter (boom boom!!) and the ONLY painting I've done this year and the first since the Rufus Wainwright documentation. It's been so long that some of my paints have revolting against me and my neglect and have turned themselves into lumpy powder. Mmmm. Poisonous.
Yesterday afternoon I had the distinct pleasure of seeing the magnificent Phoenix Foundation play an afternoon gig at Waitangi Park.
They played a curious mix of new and lesser known songs, plus a smattering of instrumentals and a pinch of the Slightest Shift in the Weather. A beautiful way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon... definately better than cleaning the bathroom. Ya hear that? You're better than cleaning the bathroom!!
18 February
Well, we're all settled into the lovely flat in Mt. Cook. What's that? You wanna see? Well... Ok...
Knock yourself out.
My life is as dull as a cat's arse (and not one of those exciting cat's arses that you see on the news... I mean, like... Postman Pat's cat) so photos of the new place are about as thrilling as it's going to get. I fully intend to take advantage of the space and the... time, I guess... and start painting again. Infact I've been offered by a motel in Porirua run by a friend of mine, that if I provide some paintings he'll put them up for sale in his restaurant. So that's a fun and scary idea and oh my GOD I have no subject matter and no imagination and I am going to go and hide in the corner now under a purple fluffy blanket.
23 January
In a week I will be moving into my new clean lovely flat in Mt Cook. Very exciting for me, though I'm going to be so broke for a while... what with the bond and the first set up payments I'm going to have to make... AGAIN. As a parting gift, I present to you... Lisa's scody flat: A pictorial tribute. Marvel at the beauty of my current surroundings. I'm sure you'll wonder how I can tear myself away from such palatial majesty... and I can assure you, it breaks my heart to have to walk away from this beautiful home.
I came back from Auckland today from my 4th Big Day Out. I've decided that to get the most out of the Big Day Out you really do need to be insanely in love with at least two bands, because otherwise you've got nothing to look forward to. No reason to press on energetically. I thoroughly enjoyed Sleater-Kinney and thought Kings of Leon and the Go! Team were great, but mainly I was restless after about two songs in every set I caught. Maybe I was just hot and sunburnt and cranky. Maybe I'm too old for this kind of malarky... nah. That isn't it. I still play with soft toys.
Dalyn, a 25th birthday present from someone I work with accompanied us on our trip to Auckland. I have taken the liberty of popping his holiday snaps up on the site for you to ENJOY...
Monkey does New Zealand!
2 January
Happy new year and all that. To celebrate I've added another song to the Ratpony vault. I've been meaning to write about it for a while but I've been busy/lazy. Plus it takes a special kind of sulking to churn them out and New Years IS about as sulky as I get.
What has been going on of late? Well, I'm planning another move. The honeymoon period is over and frankly this house makes me sick.
Being from Wellington I never experienced the student flat lifestyle, but I visited them and by crikey... all the cups tasted like dirty dishcloths and there were short and curlies stuck to everything. Or maybe that's just MY friends. Either way, at 25 that isn't the kind of environment I'm really in the mood for when I come home.
Unfortunately even though these people are my age and are highly qualified people, it seems the concept of CLEANING escapes them entirely. It also seems the concept of RESPECTING the property of others is lost on them. Once the bathroom was completely covered in a repulsive black film, I decided my silent peaceful protest of not being their maid was punishing me more than anyone else. And thankfully I've found a like minded (read: clean!) individual to share a flat with. So hooray for that and boo-urns to dirty flatmates who lose brand new saucepan lids when I only got the chance to use it once.