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two thousand and seven
(2005) (2006)
Hey. My flatmate did a runner! Awesome! I'm moving out in 2 weeks thanks to her! I hope her Xmas stocking is full of coal and shit.
Um, if you're looking for a Xmas present for your kid or you're just into cute things, buy my cousin's awesome 3-D artwork.
Do it.
Anyway, if you know anyone looking to move into a new place sometime within the next couple of months, let them know that I'm cool. I cook. I clean. I do nice things that go unappreciated by bastards. I have nice furniture and my own artwork for the walls. Plus I have a lot of great DVDs and CDs. Plus I would never do a runner or shirk someone on the bills.
Because people who do things like that are the scum of the universe.
20 November
Yeah. Hey. I'm looking for new flatmates again. Only this time it's not til the end of January and I wanna find a new house too. So if you, or someone you know... is gonna be looking for a place to live at that time, let them know how cool I am. Or if it's you, REALISE how cool I am.
I haven't just been sitting here twiddling my thumbs though. Hey. Hey. I finished another painting... this one hanging ever so exquisitely on my living room wall.
Check 'er out.
For those in the know, it's the St Johns in the City church on Willis/Dixon streets. That's the view from the Dixon Street entrance.
On Friday night I went and saw Liam Finn play at SanFranDingo. Awesome performance by a very very talented guy who I have dubbed "Omg like totally the coolest NZer like, ever." He's all compact and awesome... like an iPod! Only his ear"buds" don't screw up.
Then, on uh... Saturday night we went and saw Grand Prix and the Phoenix Foundation play at the Opera House. I enjoyed Grand Prix a great deal and was stoked that they got a full chunky meaty chewy set. As for the Phoenix boys, well, I mean, they just keep getting better and better. To the point where it's almost heartbreaking that they're not your very best friends in the world.
I filmed a song. I filmed Pure Joy because it's my favourite song off the new album. Typically, Pure Joy was also one of the few songs not to have a pretty fancy nancy light show. I guess it's a quieter song and such, but still. So, my shitbags camera couldn't really pick up much and it looks so much darker on You Tube, PLUS it keeps losing focus. Stink. But the sound is good and the song is sublime so listen to it... Pure Joy - live @ the Opera House
But they continue to blow my mind with how beautiful the songs sound live. Infact, I'll be honest, I had my favourites on the album and I didn't tend to stray from them much... I'd skip tracks to get to others. Not anymore. The songs that I hadn't listened to as geekishly were the ones that shone the brightest as live songs. So there.
As for Liam, he is truly one of the most talented people on the planet and if you ever get the chance to see him live, you're a munted idiot if you don't go.
Click the pics. Get them. Both. They're both stunning.
26 October
Dya know what's funny? It seems that I GET SICK when I take time off work! Yes! I'm currently using up the last of my sick leave until March 2008... because I made the foolish mistake of taking a whooping 2 days off work to stretch out my Labour Weekend. Silly.
Don't come near me. I'm hideous.
Maya is going to abandon me tomorrow for 10 days. Remember when my old flatties would go away and I'd have a party to celebrate and such? Yeah. I'm gonna be lonely. Who will make me cups of tea and bacon sandwiches?!
I'm currently syncing my iPod. Yes. This is literally as exciting as it gets. Oh and I caved and got Facebooked up.
20 October
Ok, well, first thing's first. Forget the excitement about seeing the Arcade Fire. Unless they come to Wellington on their trip to NZ, I won't be seeing em because I won't be going to Big Day Out. And if I get one more massive credit card bill, I may shoot someone.
Powderfinger and Silverchair was (were?) awesome. Powderfinger played pretty much like a support act... I guess NZ isn't that into them? I dunno. I enjoyed it even though I don't think I listened to the new album in its entirety once. They acknowledged their status in NZ by mentioning their one hit many years ago (My Happiness). I didn't take my digital camera because I didn't wanna have it held at the door. Turns out they did that to all the bags anyway (but not the cameras) so I may as fucking well have. But then I also had to hold my cell phone, keys and wallet so it would have made life difficult. Plus lots of crowd participation fun was ruined by not being able to clap like they asked us to. I had to bang my wrists together or jangle my car keys. Sigh.
Here's Darren from Powderfinger. Courtesy of my fairly crap cell phone.
Silverchair were fucking ace. I don't care what EVERYONE said to me before I went. You're all wrong and your opinions are stupid. They're incredible. Daniel Johns is a fantastic frontman. The way he works the crowd is just awesome. And his voice is so beautiful... cept for when he launched into some high pitched wailing during Ana's Song... hehe... but you could see Paul Mac and Ben Gillies looking at each other and giggling so I guess it was unplanned. Or something.
They played a variety I guess, mainly off Young Modern which was fine by me because that album would have to be album of the year for me. Only one Diorama song though which was sad and no encore. Who doesn't do an encore? I mean, I appreciate that they didn't do the whole "walk off the side stage and wait, poised..." thing, but geez. If they threw in a plethora of "Wellington is better than Auckland" comments, why not just do the damn cliche... whatever. It was great! I loved it and I'm glad I went.
Yes. Hot.
Yesterday was the first proper summery feeling day in ages. Did I mentioned I won a year's supply of meat pies and L&P? We gave the night shelter most of the pies but the L&P was delivered the other day and is like precious gold.
I don't wanna do today.
7 October
Shitty shitty weather. It's Day Light Savings time in Spring and it's gloomy and horrible and I'm tired and CRANKY.
And hungry. But no one seems keen to make me food.
Bastards.
Hey! It's ROCKTOBER LOL TOLHURST OMG SHUDDUP. This week we have Fur Patrol at Happy, next week we have Silverchair/Powderfinger and... a couple of weeks after that we have Crowded House. PLUS the Arcade Fire were announced for Big Day Out. PLUS the new Phoenix Foundation album comes out tomorrow. It's a lovely way to start the month.
Now I want another Bacon sandwich and a nap. And could someone go buy me some chicken?
11 September
I'm totally officially 27. That's 6 months away from being midway between 25 and 30. Wicked. My internet connection is playing silly buggers lately so I might not get to actually upload this old skool style til a later date, but you get that on the bigger jobs.
I tell ya what though, Saturday night was a motherfucking CELEBRATION BITCHES!
Have a gander at the photos. I only took a few because I was a bit too drunk to operate myself, let alone a camera, but I had such a great night and so many of my loveliest friends turned up and I felt the love. I felt it pushing into my back. Thrusting. I got my 27th birthday celebratory group hump. Ahh, what a magical tradition.
Anyways, the party was wicked, my friends are awesome and despite feeling pretty shitty on my actual birthday, I felt it was worth it because the giant "pineapple" of cocktails was a nonstop ride of deliciousness.
My new flatmate is in da house and she is also worth it. Ring our phone and listen to our lame ass answering machine message. We pledge allegiance to Britney "the comeback kid" Spears.
25 August
Well, fucking month of August, kiss my assbot.
Yes, my ASSBOT. As it draws to a close and my birthday approachs it seems to have settled into nicey-nice, but by crikey. Assface and Stinkyfart, aka my flatmates (hahah remember when I liked them? Yeah, that lasted for like 2 weeks TOPS...) gave me a massive ONE a a HALF weeks notice! They came to me in the kitchen last Tuesday night and said they were moving out. Me, being naive and thinking our signed agreement which they never gave me a copy of would be... oh I dunno, somewhat binding, asked "Oh? When?" baaaaaaarely able to keep the smirk off my face because I wanted them out but didn't have the heart to chuck em. "Next week, we've already paid our last fortnights rent". Dimwitted Lisa just nodded vaguely and turned back to chop vegetables. It wasn't until the next day when I got up early for our weekly meeting that I realised "WE HAVE OUR MEETINGS ON A WEDNESDAY! HOLY CRAP I HAVE TO FIND A FLATMATE IN LESS THAN A FORTNIGHT!" and lo, the panic set in.
I've been listening almost exclusively to the new Silverchair record and nay sayers be DAMNED, it is spectacular. I am very excited about seeing them live. I have my ticket! But I think people need to open their minds to the music they create now. It's nothing like the early years of grungey angsty crap. It's beautiful and whimsical and orchestral and his lyrics paint lush pictures and his voice is just so stunning. They're very weird songs at times but I think that's just part of their charm these days. Like how "My Army of Birds and Gulls" by Betchadupa was always a favourite of mine, "Those Thieving Birds" by Silverchair just blows my mind every time I hear it... so give it a chance. You won't be sorry.
Anyway, I found a box of crackers I didn't even realise I had and I'm currently stuffing them in my mouth all dry and gross so I'm gonna go open up some cottage cheese and gorge myself WITH FREEDOM! And crackers!
5 August
First thing is first. Stupid guestbook has stopped working again. So if you have words of love, adoration, encouragement, glory, deviance, what-have-you, send me an email! I know this will result in exactly no emails, but a girl can dream.
I finished another painting. Every now and then Joanna and I will have arts & crafts night and sit around her dining room table, painting and listening to music. This particular painting started as one of those projects. Well TECNICALLY it started not too soon after the photo was taken. It was going to be a present for John to remind him of our morning at Kare Kare beach on the west coast of Auckland. These days I wouldn't know how to get it to him even if I wanted to. So the drawing of the landscape and ocean sat on my bedroom floor for about 2 years. Recently I spent an evening slopping my brush around on the canvas and today I sat at my parents' kitchen bench and finished it. I quite like it. I have no idea where I'll put it, but I'm keeping this one.
Yes.
This weekend I spent no money and hung out with family all day Saturday and half of today. I feel relaxed for once. It's quite awesome. But as a result I have nothing scandalous to write about. No sex, porn, drugs, booze, hookers, old men from Marton... nothing.
22 July
Hah! Victory! My sense of taste and smell are back. Finally I can smell who cut the cheese.
I was a domestic girl yesterday with all the washing and the cleaning. I used our dryer for the first time since we got it 6 months ago (I'm fairly sure it's older than I am and I was scared it'd blow up - it didn't. BONUS!)... and today I painted all day and finished the 4 pohutukawa paintings I promised my mum like a million years ago.
Go have a look.
16 July
Oh crap. A month and a half went by again and I didn't do anything.
I've been drifting snottily around my house now for 5 days, crippled by the cold to end all colds. It just doesn't seem to be going away. I had 3 days leave last week, one of which was healthy, the other two... not so much. I had the oil leak in my car "fixed"... and by "fixed" I mean, they charged me $90 but the fucking thing is still leaking... LIKE MY NOSE. Well, whatever. At least it's not the flu right?
Oh, I also can't taste anything so there's no point eating. I've drunk (drank? drunken? dranked? drinked?) so much water, I'm burping water and I'm pretty sure I'm peeing pure filtered water now. Oh the joys of head colds.
But on the plus side... I discovered the joy of Twin Peaks and watched both series. Love that Kyle MacLachlan. May have had a dream about him... may have. Though it puzzles me that one show can on one hand bring so much joy (just a simple "Harry, I have to urinate" or a tweak of the nose), and so much TERROR (uh, the episode where we find out WHO KILLED LAURA PALMER!!!???) on the other. I mean, in some ways I would love to watch it over and over again, but in others I don't think my poor heart could take the horror of seeing BOB again. I just need to take a deep breath and remember that the actor who played BOB is dead now. He's dead and he can't hurt me. Hmm. Poor taste? I DON'T FUCKING KNOW! I CAN'T TASTE ANYTHING!!!
I had a deliciously colourful roast dinner at my parents place last night and for the first time in years actually chewed my peas. Because for once I didn't have to fear the icky sludgey pea mush inside the little pea cases touching my tongue. I welcomed it. Sigh. I miss being able to smell. I mean, I've been in my bedroom now for 5 days almost exclusively. It could smell like a dead camel in here and I wouldn't know.
In other news, I'm going to see Crowded House with mum in October (huzzah!), I've watched all of season 1 of Outrageous Fortune and now I see why people think it's so great, and no one will likely wanna come see Powderfinger and Silverchair with me which makes you all SMELL. Ha!
2 June
Holy shit, it's June.
Exciting stuff. I got an iPod. I resisted for so long. Ohhh they're too expensive. Ohhh they're too sensitive. Ohhh they're a waste of money when a discman is just as awesome.
BULLSHIT!
I got one because a couple of months ago when my beloved coworked left and we got him a massive 80GB beast as a farewell present, I thought... so shiny! So tiny! Want!
Waaaaaaaas I talking about the iPod theN?
Well, yes.
So, the other night I was scabbing a free dinner at my parents house because I can and sitting there watching Coronation Street I thought to myself "You can afford it... use your credit card... it's late night shopping in Porirua... go on... you deserve it..." and so the little voice in my head and I went to Noel Leeming and bought a black sleek sexy 30GB, which is ample space considering it's got all my music in it, it isn't full yet and scrolling through the mp3s on there, I AM ASHAMED at some of the utter shit that is wasting space. Like Robbie Williams. He gives me a RAGEACHE.
Tonight I am dog-sitting. My parents have of course moved. I had a little tear in my eye when I went over to the old house the morning of the move to help and saw it all empty. Sad. I'm never going to sleep in MY BEDROOM anymore. My little red walled room with the dent in the wall where my friend jumped on my bed and slid off it into the wall, breaking the gib board underneath. Sigh. But the new house is really pretty fucking awesome.
Look at the view! That's Mana Island in the background. That view will likely get built out, but still. STILL!
I'm off to see Fur Patrol play tonight too. The first time since December 2005. Oh what a night that was. Seriously. I was all "I'm out with the boy of my dreams even though it's not a date but still still still..." and then I get a text message out of the blue from my ex boyfriend saying "I miss you" and I'm thrown into a tailspin.
But anyway. Fur Patrol rule.
And I'm so geekishly and totally stoked that Suzanne Paul won Dancing with the Stars. Sitting up on the couch by myself, shrieking and clapping in delight. I'm a winner baby, that's the truth.
16 May
Wow. I have been super lazy in updating. It's because I do things old skool and have a notepad document open and an FTP uploady dealie. So it involves too much faffing about. I'd trade it all in for a blogger blog, but I'm too stupid to figure that thing out.
Hey, guess what though?? FUR PATROL have released a new EP. I felt all left out of the action because I found out it was out via myspace bulletin. So very 2006. So I went and bought it the next day and I bloody love it. As I said to Andrew... it reminds me why I was so ga-ga over them back in the day. They're just really really good at what they do.
So go and buy it and love it like a child.
Work has been so horrible of late. I'm jumping between feeling normal and slightly tetchy, to HOLY SHIT IF YOU EVEN BLINK AT ME I WILL RIP YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF. Just the nature of the work I'm doing now brings me down like you wouldn't believe.
My flatmates are away for 2 weeks. Party at my house on Saturday.
9 April
Lately I have had nothing to say. Unfortunately I sometimes have nothing to say as I tinker in the little notepad window to update this site. UNNNNNFORTUNATELY.
My parents have sold their house. My house. The house that I lived in for nearly 15 years. That is 57% of my life! They're now in the process of clearing out the "clutter" oooooooor all the stuff my brother and I left behind. What this essentially means is we either take it or it bites the dust. For some unknown reason I rescued my University essays (I can't believe I got an A- for an essay which quoted Homer Simpson and I CANNOT BELIEVE I actually wrote an entire essay describing a Pearl Jam concert in thin and thick terms. What the hell kinda degree do I HAVE?? Oh yeah... that's right... hahahhaaBAhahahha).
I also went through a giant pile of birthday cards, most of which bit the dust in a big way (DIE DIE DIE SUCKER DIE). I kept all the cards from my grandparents because I won't ever get another one in my grandfather's familiar fancy writing. I kept the postcards I got when I was a little kid and my dad or grandparents were overseas. One of them says they hope I enjoyed starting Kindergarten.
Probably the best thing I found (and threw out in a fit of rage) was my Tawa College leaving certificate and my final report card from 7th form. Ok, first of all, what the hell am I supposed to do with a leaving certificate?? Apparently I was 18 and 2 months when I left. And according to the report card I was none too clever, easily distracted and chatty. HA! Stats was over my head, I didn't fulfil my true potential in English (still got an A in the end though didn't I lady??)... but I was punctual. And polite. Awesome. I was on time to be nice and stupid. At the end of the day though that stuff means NOTHING. Your teachers have fuckall say in how you end up doing. My art teacher told me my work was the standard of a 4th former! HA. I ended up with an A Bursary for fucks sake. Though probably not deserved. When I got my results in the mail I was on the phone to a friend and I scanned for Ds or lower, then whooped in delight. She said "Hey, that sounds high, did you get a bursary?" and I scanned it again and said "Hmmm, well it says I got a bursary... but I dunno what kind..." "It... says... you got A Bursary you idiot" "Oh.. heheheh... OH! Awesome..." etc etc.
Simpleton. Well this trip down memory lane was great...
28 March
I have an itch in my throat that I feel only a stint as a sword swallower will cure. Damn colds.
This time two years ago I was happy. TWO YEARS AGO. That's a long time.
If you've been paying close attention you'll know who my new arch nemesis is. Yes. TelstraClear. Choose your weapon. We meet at dawn.
Never in my 26 years have I had to deal with a company who just doesn't give a rat's arse how bad their service is. And when I say bad, I mean godawful. The internet barely fucking words. When it does work, the connection is so slow sometimes it's hard to tell if you're still connected or not. I'm going back to Telecom and Sky as separate entities. Why am I too nervous to tell my flatmates?? It's my house after all...
11 March
I've updated the photos. In other words, I have added all the photos of bands that I've seen play this year that I really can't be all that bothered writing about RIGHT NOW. Give it time. But for now, enjoy my blurry, out of focus photos of such musical greats as Bic Runga, Camera Obscura and the Phoenix and BDO photos you've already seen.
25 February
You know how each time I see the Phoenix Foundation play I end up gushing idiotically about one particular part of one particular song and I tend to express my delight by upping the font size and using bold? Yeah. This time, because I saw them by myself in a large outdoor setting and was pretty close to the action (aka Cuba St Carnival) I decided to just film that one part and show you what I meant. So without further ado...
IT'S A LIE!!
There you go. And for an extra added bonus...
Yep. Good times had by all.
9 February
I think one of my very favourite things would have to be that break in the heat.
When it's been so fucking hot that you haven't slept under covers in a while. When you leave the door open well into the night, despite the moths. When you get home and pass out on your bed because you just can't be fucking arsed moving. And then it happens! The sky opens up and the DOWNPOUR. It's so glorious. Every time it happens (maybe twice a year at the most to this extent) I go and stand outside until I've felt several big fat cold wet drops of rain hitting my face.
Now it's stopped raining (though what a maaaaaaarvellous downpour it was while it lasted) and it's got back to being humid and gross in here, but hey. Small pleasures.
I really enjoy this photo... I'm such an artistic GENIUS......
Went along to see some of last night's Great Blend. I stayed long enough to watch the Back of the Y lads talking and thoroughly enjoyed them. Gotta say, never really gave a damn about their show when it was on, but the fact that the place was full of old people cracking up who I could never in a million years imagine sitting down to watch it when it was on TV... it just added to the hilarity. Like, seriously, gasping and hooting and guffawing. It was awesome to see. But then the heat and my need for groceries had me leaving early and... when I got home one of my lovely new flatmates presented me with dinner that they'd saved in case I didn't get to eat when I was out. WHAT A FREAKIN' DIFFERENCE!!!
6 February
Happy Waitangi Day.
To celebrate... I've done a painting of New Zealand's Xmas tree... for YOU!
Ok, so really I did it for my mother... and there are still 3 more to go before this particular project is finished. But this one was remarkably easy. Good good. Now I wanna cover my hallway with paintings of native flowers. I know I never will, but a girl can dream.
5 February
Hey, guess what I just did?!
I updated the news on the Fur Patrol site for the first time since mid 2006. Good times.
See you there!
4 February
Possibly the greatest link ever
3 February
I put the progression of the phone booth + tree in the art part. I'm going to the Warehouse now to buy some little canvases. I'm all, like, inspired and shit so I need to run with it while it lasts.
31 January
So, I painted a painting. A painting for a friend. The MSPainting co-artist. He's leaving. Work and the country. So here's a small token of my appreciation for being a good friend.
It's in Seatoun. It's neat. I'm drinking a Randy and eating peanuts to celebrate finishing the damn thing.
29 January
I had a dream last night that I had a big fight with John Cusack in a diner and then yelled out "WELL, I'm on Piven's side!" and he was really hurt and Joan, who was with me, totally agreed. John stormed out.
23 January
I'm going to do a half arsed Big Day Out recap now.
We (Jo and I) got there early. 11am. We got there and sat around waiting for Eskimo Joe to play. While we waited we watched the act opening the main stages... a human beatbox band from Japan. Doesn't get much better than that. Certainly not when Sinate played and sucked.
Eskimo Joe were superb as always (she says like she's seen them more than twice?) and they were the only band where a trip into the D barrier was a goer.
They played a lot of new songs from Black Fingernails, Red Wine, and seemed geniunely surprised and touched that people in the crowd KNEW the songs. I don't think they played anything from Girl, but they played the singles from A Song is a City.
After that we took full advantage of the Immortals Lounge passes provided to us by the lovely and forever worshippable Jessie.
From here we saw a bunch of crappy bands playing, muted on the stage through the glass. We sat in armchairs and paid for drinks with eftpos. OH THE LUXURY!
At 4.15pm we had the pleasure of being blown away by the delightfully cheerful and cheeky Lily Allen in the Boiler Room. Sweat was pouring off my face like a tap but who could care when the little British chick in the dress and sneakers was prancing around the stage showing off her mightily impressive vocals? NOT ME SIR.
After an hour break we went back into the Boiler Room to watch Peaches. She came out to the Final Countdown, complete with lightsabres, and started out with a rousing Impeach My Bush. What a dirty girl she is. Great fun to watch though even if we were a bit far away.
I shouldn't even mention the Killers as they were a non event. Muse were amazing and if I was a fan I would have been dribbling but because I'm not I was easily distracted by the catty little bitches infront of me making fun of some unfortunate chick sitting next to me who happened to be getting stoned... while sporting an impressive ginger beard.
Tool sounded great but I had a pressing engagement in the top field in the form of Dimmer who I had missed seeing the night before due to being absolutely fucking wrecked from the car trip up to Auckland.
I was very lucky here to be able to stand side stage and experience my first Dimmer gig in style. And I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it even if I was a bit distracted by the enoooooormous crowd gazing up adoringly. At Shayne Carter... not at me.
After the Violent Femmes very abley wound us up and down again with a set packed full of the songs people wanted to hear we wandered the streets of Penrose trying to find a taxi back to the hotel again. And once there I passed out on the concrete slab that barely passed for a bed.
And so endeth another Big Day Out experience. Click on any of the above photos to be taken to the other photos in the set, including the thrilling car trip up. Annnnnnnnnd this wee fella...
The ultimate haircut.
17 January
I just accidentally swallowed a glob of toothpaste and now I am pretty much convinced that I am going to die. I'm sure I used to eat toothpaste when I was a kid. Why is this so painful? Did I accidentally swallow my toothbrush as well?
So, it's a day off for me. And true to form, Mr Day Off has provided me with not one, not two, but THREE "tradesmen" to wait for. How uncanny that things go wrong at the same damn time. I'm waiting for a plumber. I hope he has plumber crack on display.
Tomorrow Jo, Brad and I are heading up to Auckland for the Big Day Out which I am HELLA excited about. I will try to remember (remember oooooooooor be motivated to...) buy a fucking hat this year so I don't end up with pusy blisters on my nose and gooey melted head gunk crumbling into my hair where my part would normally burn. Yep. I'm a burner alright.
I won a Myspace competition (hehehhehehe) and the lovely people there sent me a Dimmer CD (choice but I haven't listened yet) and a Peaches CD (which is so fucking badass and awesome I almost can't believe I considered going to see Scribe instead of her on Friday!). Good times. So stay tuned for poorly aimed and executed photos!
14 January
Let's celebrate. My crazy awful flatmate has finally (pretty much) left. With 2 weeks until the new guys move in, she's actually packed up everything and taken all her wordly possessions (some Indian spices she never used and Bollywood movies...) and pissed off back to her parents house (I assume). Good riddance. Worst. Flatmate. Ever.
On a more glorious note, hands up who saw the sunset the other night??
*waves hands around excitedly*
Click that picture to see the rest of the photos I took at Lyall Bay beach on Wednesday night.
Last night Jo and I had an arts and crafts evening, complete with milk and cookies. I decided to paint this picture of Penelope Cruz because there were no good pictures of Schapelle Corby available to me. Anyway, her neck is all tattooed.
Shall I start the bidding at 50 cents??
1 January
This website is nothing but bravado.