Hello, Again it's been a very long time since the last post. I've been away and done an awful lot, so I'm gunna blame it on that. I'm also moving this blog, I want to move away from such an awful name! So I'll be copying the old blogs across and trying to add a few new ones as well. If you'd like to continue following (all 1 of you?) head over to versesmusic.wordpress.com I'm also writing travel related blogs over at versestravel.wordpress.com so have a look at that one as well

3D printing - now we can pirate everything!

So I've been getting a little excited by the whole 3D printing thing, I doubt I'm the only one. Need a cover for your phone? Copy your old one, and when it breaks, print a new one! Need some cheap promo products, want to build your own custom gaming army, run out of clothes pegs? All can easily be fixed with the magic replicator of 3D printing. We've already seen people trying to print snowboards (not great...) but as the technology improves and the materials we can use get more versatile there will be almost no limit to what we can make. Then today, I had a quick look on pirate bay (not to do anything illegal I swear) and I notice their new category. Physibles... The blueprints for 3D printable products, and it got me thinking. If I can make a copy of a clothes peg to re-produce as many as I need great, but who's copyright am I using there? And am I allowed to copy it? Surely I would still have to buy new ones instead of copying someone else's design? And then, I could upload the scanned data, and allow other people to use that data to create their own clothes pegs, virtually for free. Now I doubt we have to worry about pegs too much, but what about specific designs, products that manufacturers put hours into, only to have the first buyer upload them and boom, everyones got the latest gadget or gizmo. Sure we can't do metal (yet) but there's plenty of plastic stuff out there. The first that comes to my mind is snowboard bindings, expensive and complex bits of kit, that could effectively be reproduce for a fraction of the cost - but most importantly, with no payment to the original designers. Remember that these sorts of products are not just drawn and made, but years of development go into them, teams of designers and testers making sure they actually work, and do the best possible job. Ok, so with plastics compounds and blah blah, a copied pair won't be the same but I'm sure they'll fix that soon enough too. Models as well, Games Workshop in the UK charges a tonne for little plastic figures for its games, and now we're going to be able to make our own? Those guys are screwed! So what's going to happen if we can download our new shoes without paying for them? Seems like the winners here are going to be the people with the printers and the people making the raw material... How much is one of the those printers? Perhaps it will be a step towards a less capitalist world? If you can't charge us for things, then we can be free to work together?

I want these shoes!

I have a pair already, but they're knackered!
No idea what this was referring to. But now it can refer to my Macbeth Eliots in Black and cream, which they don't make anymore :( EDIT: I threw them away, they started to make my feet bleed...

I AM CLONES

And another... So, my good friend Rob has a solo project

I Have Clones

and because he's cool, he's got me playing bass and screaming for him. Which is fun.

and we're playing the first gig tomorrow night at Aston University. It's still early days (I'm learning lyrics now...) so we probably won't be as good tomorrow as we will be soon but fuck it.

A draft post from 2008....

Listen to Flogging Molly!

Seriously, go do it. Now.

Australia East Coast Guide 2

Something I wrote for some friends I met in Asia that were heading to Aus, probably a fair bit different from the last one I wrote, but this is rather influenced by peterpans! CAIRNS Things to do: Great Barrier Reef - this is the big one, have to do it. Currently a special with Ocean Free that'll do you a dive for $20 and it's a sweet boat. Bungy Jumping here, only place in Aus. Don't bother with Cape Tribulation (Cape Trib) it's a bit shit, but the Atherton Tablelands tour is good. Uncle Brians is the best tour, but Captain Mattys is good too (and a bit cheaper) White Water Rafting, this is great, but a bit of a drive away from Cairns, you can use this to transfer down to Mission Beach though, which is a nice spot, and it'll knock about 2 hours off the journey down to your next stop Places to see: The lagoon, lots of girls, sometimes topless. There's another one at Gilligans which is smaller, but less kids/old people so better for the boobies. Where to go out: Gilligans is king here, it's got a massive nightclub in the complex, during the week it's quiet and they do some stupid backpacker things, including wet tee-shirt comps and other retarded shit. At the weekends it packs out with Aussie locals, the atmosphere take a bit of a dive, but altogether it's still good, and it's a good time to meet some aussie chicks too Woolshed has a similar vibe, and allows people to dance on the tables, which people like. It seems to be the main competitor of Gilligans, nowhere near as big, but still a god party, and cheaper than gillis. Worth a night. Everywhere else... not a clue! Cairns - mission = 2 hours MISSION BEACH White Water Rafting - same as above Sky Diving - a great place to skydive onto the beach. This place is really small and chilled out, a nice rest from Cairns, and some really friendly people in the hostels, but you'll get bored after a day or so, not much going on here at all. mission - townsville = 3 hours TOWNSVILLE/MAGNETIC ISLAND Townsville is an Aussie tourist hotspot, but very few backpackers here, it's only used as the port to get over to Maggie Island. This is a place that wants to by thailand! They have a full moon party, but people have said it's a bit shit, so don't bother with that, but you can check it out for a day or two. Seems to be highly recommended by the Irish, so maybe head over and check it out. You can get deals that include your ferry ticket, accom and some meals at the Base hostel if you go to Peterpans. Again, it's small and chilled, but I've been told it's really good.. so... up to you guys! townsville - airlie = 10 hours (overnight!) AIRLIE BEACH/WHITSUNDAYS The Whitsunday islands are beautiful, and you'll want to be on the Clipper to have the best time, it's the biggest boat, it's got the best vibe and the biggest party atmos. Slide, diving board and hot tub on board, it's for getting loose and having fun. But you'll still get plenty of time to see Whitehaven beach and do plenty of snorkelling and see the fish! Just don't get too drunk and a hangover on a boat is no fun. Airlie: Stay somewhere cheap, that's not shit (Beaches is shit, everywhere else is pretty ok) Party... Anywhere you want, there's one road in Airlie, and it's pretty short. You can wander up and down fine and you'll see where is busy and where's not. Beaches is pretty good and Mambos(??) in the middle is pretty cool. Mama Africa is the only club and stays open pretty late. Just keep it easy, and when you meet a chick who's game, take her home quick! It's such a short walk, you can bang and bail in half an hour wink Airlie - Agnes = 10 hours 1770/AGNES WATER This place has two names, it's confusing as fuck! This is a good place to stop for a night or two, they really want to bring more people in here, so you can usually get a free surf trip or something while you're there. Most of the hostels have free wifi, so make sure you get one of those. The best thing here is that it breaks up your journey to Rainbow beach, saves a long stop over at a shitty bus stop in Hervey Bay, which you don't want! Agnes - Rainbow = 8 hours RAINBOW BEACH/FRASER ISLAND Rainbow is a cool little town, good place to chill, but with enough backpackers coming through to keep it fun. Most people just rush through though, so it might not be a great place to spend too much time. The best thing here is the DINGOS tour of Fraser Island. This is rad, driving a 4x4 around on the beach and down sand/dirt roads, then jumping out to see some cool shit, or go for a swim in some really nice lakes. It's on of the best things I did in Oz, so do it! it's 3day 2 nights, camping next to the beach, and pretty high chances of a lay. Rainbow - Noosa - 2 hours NOOSA this place is cool, and crawling with Canadian chicks, definitely worth a stop over, and possibly a good place to stop for a while, work for accomm get into things a bit more. A good place for surfing as well, so give it a shot. Don't stay in Dolphins! It's also near Australia Zoo, which is the biggest and best, so hit that up on your way down to Brisbane Noosa - Brisbane - 2 hours BRISBANE Boring. Good botanical gardens, great modern art museum, not much else. Some people love it, I was bored. Brisbane - Surfers = 2 hours SURFERS PARADISE Not my cup of tea at all! But, very good night life, a little more dressy than other places (no flip-flops and vests!) and lots of Aussies on the pull. A good place to meet Aussie chicks though, especially if you get out of the backpacker bars. Has Wet n Wild and Dreamworld, the biggest theme parks in Aus, so give them a blast, but not in the school hols! Surfers - Byron = 2 hours BYRON BAY 3 places to stay in Byron 1) Backpackers Inn - the cheapest place, about 10 mins from the town, not great though 2) nomads - right in the middle, big party hostel, but one of the most expensive 3) Arts Factory - funky place, lots of people love it, but it's about 20mins from the town Very cool place, very hippy, loads of people love it, and it's rad. Great for surfing, and even free board hire if you find the right place, but the board are made of dick. EXPENSIVE though, so popular, and expensive to match. you have to go to Nimbin! it's fun and cool. Byron - Spot x - 6 hours SPOT X It's a surf camp, nothing else there! Just surf, chill, shag, and eat. All food provided, and it's good food! Spot x - Syd SYDNEY.... I'll finish this later...

Romantic or Creepy?

I got to thinking about this when a girl I met in Thailand told me about a guy who had been following her across borders and around islands. My first thoughts were how romantic, that he was willing to change his plans just to be with her, but she thought it was creepy. So I did a bit of research, and there's a few articles online on the subject, (one totally stolen from another, bad reporter!) each listing some examples of what was romantic and what was creepy, and yeah, when phrased with bias it's easy to make a possibly romantic gesture seem creepy and vice versa. For example: Tony meets Gemma in a hostel in Bangkok and after a night out together she leaves, without having exchanged any details. Tony asks around at the hostel and finds out where Gemma has gone and decides to catch her up. He finds the hostel she's staying in at the next town and surprises her. Now it's easy to spin this either way, mostly based on how the night out was, good or bad, and how he finds out where Gemma has gone, asking others who she knew, or everyone at the hostel. But at the end of the day, the defining difference between romantic and creepy is... Whether she likes him! Simple as that, if they hadn't exchanged details because they forgot, and she wanted to see him again and he magically appears at the next hostel as well, well then ain't that just grand. But if she deliberately didn't give him her details, then he turns up to see her, well that sure is creepy! Well fair enough, makes sense to me... but wait. Isn't romance supposed to be about wooing the lady? Making a girl that's not into you get into you with romantic gestures. Yeah that sounds right, but wait. If she doesn't already like you then those big romantic gestures (and the bigger they are, the worse it is) are just seen as creepy and push her further away from you. So, thanks creeps and stalkers for ruining romance for everyone, and thanks girls for assuming anyone trying to be romantic is being a creep. Romance is dead, long live awkward honesty.

Soundwave

I headed over to Soundwave festival at the Sydney Olympic Park yesterday, no ticket but hopeful. After a nice guy sold me his spare for $5 less than the original price I was in a good mood for some bands!

The arena is pretty huge, and pretty intimidating, the buildings are all huge and there's no signs anywhere. Luckily the free (yes free, UK fests take heed) program had a map, kinda hard to work out, but I got there, and I'm off to catch:

A Day To Remember
From way away in the stands there's really no atmosphere, and the sound quality is pretty low, lots of wind and the huge distance make it sound like listening to a iPhone on a cliff-top. Still, the crowd near the front seem to enjoy it, and the set is pretty tight. Predictable crowd favourites are the order of the day here, but a nice mix of the newer albums, missing out the heavier tracks for this audience. The most entertainment came from their props, while the band did the easy rocking out thing, stage hands first launched a load (heap!) of beachballs into the crowd, then a few songs later showered them with toilet rolls. Seeing the white strings in the air above their heads really made ADTR fun to watch. I skipped the end of their set for:

UnderOath
The stage these guys are on seems to be a cattleshed, it's a huge metal cave and as such there's way too much reverb in here, a lot of the sound getting lost in the mush of echoes. After a bit of a delay the band hit the stage hard, and it's clear to see why these guys are still going. A smaller crowd than they would've got in the UK, they still the heads are nodding. The hits are obviously the order of the day again, which suits this audience to the ground, the older songs going down much better with a surprisingly female crowd. It's a case of a band who's audience hasn't kept up them over the albums, with many looking like they should be in a sydney club rather than a dirty post-hardcore show.

Four Year Strong
Are playing the outdoor stage just outside, so giving them a listen seems too easy. Catching the end of the set, including many favourites including 'wasting time' and 'heroes get remembered' they're very tight and the vocal harmonies are as nice live as on album. Again, the crowd seems too small for a band this big back home. It's a fun set of great tunes, but the outdoor stage suffers from being too quiet to get into the music, and as such they come across a little weedy. With the dependance on two vocalists there's not too much action on stage, not to say that they were boring, just compared to others they lack the 'x' factor.

Bad Religion
Are surprisingly playing one of the main stages, clearly these guys are more popular here. There seems to a lot of love for bands of their generation, a love for punk that seems a little stuck in the 90s. As such BR pump out a set of oldies, pleasing the crowd, but for a newer fan (like me) I'm left wanting for more from 'The Empire Strikes First'. Still they play a decent amount from that album, and plenty of older classics as well. It's possible that they played 'you' after I left, but the song that accompanied many happy hour of video game skateboarding would have been welcome. Overall the sound is good closer to the stage, and the set is real tight, while the between song is honed to a friendly chat, no bullshit, and a few smart jokes. The size of the venue dampens the atmosphere a little though, so the effect is less impressive than other shows. I leave a little early to see a personal favourite of mine:

Circa Survive
It's another big shed for Circa, and as such a total lack of atmosphere. This doesn't stop Anthony Green doing a superb job though, his pitch perfect vocals soaring over the melodic guitar lines. The band play a stunning set, keeping things alove with a mix of their three albums. It's pretty clear that Anthony is high, probably on PCP or something similar, but this just makes him even more entertaining to watch, arms swinging all over the place and eyes like a crazy hitchhiker in the middle of the outback. The energy on stage smashes the passive audience to pieces, although the last song 'Get Out' sends the crowd crazy, finally showing the band the love they deserve. Again the differences between Aus and home become apparent, as the UK would have been more excited for early album 'Juturna' songs rather than the later efforts. That said, it was a spectacular set, if only more people realised, or the sound was less echoy.

Thursday
Are outside as well, the same stage as FYS, and suffering from the the same problems, lacking power mostly from the lack of volume. Their set is fast paced, as the power through the best of their albums. They're keen to let the gathered people know of their upcoming show in Sydney where they'll be playing the whole of 'Full Collapse' as a memorial to themselves, and as a farewell to Australia. The band put on a nicely tight set, but it's not enough to get people moving much, or to inspire much. It goes to show how even the longest lasting of the 'emo' bands from the early 2000's are beginning to fall. Then it's time to wander over for

The Dillinger Escape Plan
who are on one of the smallest stages, although it's still in a shed far too big. Perhaps this is the way of Australia, nearly every pub, bar and venue I've been has seemed far too big for it's occupancy, I crave a tiny intimate venue! Still, this set certainly had atmosphere, with plenty of people piling to see the crazed tech-metallers. It's a blistering set as well, deathly screams over quick double pedal, insane technical riffs and pounding bass lines. This is a band that don't do things by half, and within seconds the vocalist in the crowd screaming in the faces of the front row. This is just the start though, as the guitarist start throwing themselves around the stage, climbing amps is a regular occurrence, and even the lighting rig at the back of the stage. Guitars are spun around arms and bodies as they show their love for their music in the most visceral way possible. It's powerful stuff that really impresses, especially when combined with the technicality of their songs. All too quickly their set is over so it's back to the first shed, but on the way I happen across:

Strung Out
conveniently playing my favourite song. It's an amazing mix of punk-rock and technical ability that creates a real unique sound, although the lame stage does it no justice. All too soon it's time to hurry off for

LetLive.
My most anticipated band of the day and one I've been looking forward to since Reading festival last August. They hit the stage like a brick to the face, hard and heavy. It's a small crowd but every one there seems to be a huge fan, screaming and singing back to the band with passion. The pit is a little strange as the lack of people allows it to open too wide. Vocalist Jason Aaron Butler is a machine, throwing himself across the stage with a raw passion that is unmatched these days. It's pure emotion pouring out of his lungs as he bellows those words into the faces of those present. Again, the stage action is impressive, with guitars, drum parts and speakers all being used to climb, leap from or throw. The power behind this band is huge, and the audience is left with knowledge of how a good band really should be. Up close and personal. On the stage right beside

Your Demise
start up. Only staying for a couple songs, I find their style of 'party hardcore' idiotic and meaningless. The riffs are brutal and aggressive, but there's no depth to this band. Still they're a tight band, and they look the part. The action on stage is nothing compared to the insanity in the pit though. It seems that most of the audience have come down for the chance to two-step and swing fists more than actually listening, but that's fine as it gives the rest of something good to watch. Back in another shed though is

I Am The Avalanche
A band I don't know much about, and not one I've listened to much. It's quiet in here again, but that doesn't seem to bother the band, who pump through the last couple tunes of their set. It's clear that the Vocalist has taken of lot of his old band 'The Movielife' with him to this project. It's a similar mature punk-rock that works well. This would definitely work well in a smaller venue, as the somewhat apathetic audience doesn't help at all. Still, the last song 'Brooklyn Dodgers' is a perfect example of the great songwriting capable from this band.

Slipknot
Are about halfway through their set when I climb the stands to give them a chance. I've not been a fan of theirs for many years, and unsurprisingly I'm still not. From what I can tell, their super tight and their songs sure are heavy. But it's not for me, and the distance again weakens the impact hugely. Also, I'm shocked at how polite they are between songs, so much for the horrific and disgusting image they had, they're just some nice old guys in silly masks. As the drum-set lifted for the set finale I struggle to understand the purpose of such a showboat maneuver, it seems somewhat pompous and cliched now, but the crowd sure go wild for it! And it's back again to the shed for one last band although

Cro-Mags
are still playing when I arrive, a band that does not impress at all. It's like watching Comeback Kid play all those songs no-one liked. It's fast and hardcore, but most of the people in the room at that point are just waiting for

Enter Shikari
Who come on to a massive cheer. And play loads of new stuff that I really don't know, but everyone else seems to...

Bored of writing this now, will continue at another time, probably.

East Coast

So, I'm now down in Byron Bay, having driven up then coached down the east coast of Australia. Here's some hints and tips for those wanting to do something similar.

Don't hire a van, they're small, uncomfortable, awkward to find places to park, and less sociable
Budget well
Book as you go, listen to other travelers and get recommendations
Don't trust travel agents - especially in the UK, they have no idea what they're booking you into
Don't stop everywhere, there's no need

CAIRNS
If you want to party, stay at Gilligans - it's like freshers week all year round
All the hostels are cheap and offer free food, don't think you're getting a bargain, they all do it!
Book onto lots of trips/activities, they are great fun and a brilliant way to meet people
Book through your hostel, most people do, so you'll meet people from your hostel
Don't get trapped, it gets old after about a week
Do the great barrier reef, white water rafting and bungee jumping

MISSION BEACH
This place is tiny, so go if you want to chill.
The full moon party was apparently shit

AIRLIE BEACH
Airlie is like a mini Cairns, but everyone is heading off to the Whitsundays, so don't stay long unless you like making new friends every night

WHITSUNDAYS
Beautiful, must see part of the east coast
If you want to drink and party, book onto the clipper,(ratio may be very bad) if not, most of the other boats will do. (good ratio)
Boomerang was a professional sailing boat if that's what you want - though little sailing happens

TOWN OF 1770
Scooteroos are pretty much the only thing to do here, so don't stay long
Very chilled

HERVEY BAY
Gateway to Fraser Island, don't stay longer than you need, no-one else does

RAINBOW BEACH
Like Hervey Bay, but with a nicer beach

FRASER ISLAND
You must do this.
Do a two night camping trip, you'll make amazing friends, meet awesome people, and get to drive a bad-ass 4x4 around in sand. Try not to have sex in the sand, it's not good (wait till you get home on the last night)

NOOSA HEADS
I have no idea what's here, or why people go...

BRISBANE
It's a city, a small one, with not much to do and lots of Germans
Nice to settle, maybe

SURFERS PARADISE
This is a city, not a cool beach town
Good for partying and the beach

BYRON BAY
Small town, but popular with travelers, stoners and hippies
Don't stay in the YHA, it's too strict on noise/alcohol
Try all the bars, some are tacky and naff, others are tackier, others are kinda boring
Hard to find work here!

pupfresh:

Apparently an artist only makes 8 cents on a 99-cent iTunes download.

The detailed breakdown shows that for every 1,000 iTunes downloads sold, a UMG-signed artist gets paid $80.33. And that’s after the label collects on a 25% ‘Container Charge for Audiophile Records,’ as well as a 15% ‘Net Sales Deduction.’
With major labels abandoning the CD-format next year, it really looks like the world will be ending in 2012.

me:

This is the best thing i’ve ever heard. I’ve known the stats about artist pay for a long time, and the end of the cd was always going to happen. However this is not the death of music, this is the rebirth! This will be the end for artists in it for the money, no more horrible suedo punk and rock bands in it for the girls! We’ll still have disgusting pop artists who will be funded through endorsments and sponsorships, but we’ll lose the vile faux-alt music that has been destroying our culture for so long. Music will be made by musicians who WANT to make music not money! It will bring forth a new DIY era where the smaller labels will be in control of quality music, bands who play music because they want to, not to get paid. It will also help to usher the music subscription model, a time when a monthly fee is paid, just the same as sky tv, or internet, that will give you access to as much music as there is (like spotify does now) and artists will be paid based on amount of plays. If like itunes it will be possible for unsigned bands to add themselves, then it open up the market for small bands to finally have a stake in the earnongs. For too long the music industry has been run on greed, just like most of the capitalist world. With ‘alternative’ culture becoming more and more mainstream its been hard to know the difference between those that give a fuck and those that don’t. Soon the time will come that bands will be popular based on quality, rather than marketing. Dinosaurs will die, long live the DIY

Tumblr killer my punctuation - sorry

Why Blog?

I got asked the other day why I write a blog and a journal... I was a bit lost really...

I have lots of different profiles and places on the internet, all that I use in different ways and for very different purposes

Journal - my personal notes, nothing really interesting and mostly written when I've got bored of reading and have nothing else to do. Documenting where I am, what I'm doing, how I feel. Sometimes it gets a bit emo and serious, but I'm usually too lazy to write in it.

Blogger - most of my rants and thoughts that I want people to know go here. Again I'm pretty lazy, and I only know of three people reading them (Alan, Tom and Rhianna - hello!) But I like to put down in writing these little rants that I have. It was supposed to be about music and all that, but there's too many people doing that better, so it's just what I want.

Tumblr - cool stuff I see on tumblr, this is more for me than anyone else - a collection of the best stuff I find online. Mostly snowboarding videos. Occasionally I get a pang of politics or the need to rant to a larger audience, so I post shit on there. I like to tell people what to listen to as well.

Twitter - well.... I don't get this anymore, the only good things are links...

Facebook - it's a promotions tool, so have lots of friends so you can promote to them, or ask favours! It really is a good way to keep in touch, but don't take it too seriously. Also, very good for checking out girls/stalking/perving... It's kinda nice to see what others are up to as well, if you care...

Hotmail - well, that's my email...

Not sure why I wrote this, but I'm sure someone will read it... maybe

Be nice to fundraisers, they're people too!

Having come to Oz, the easiest job to get is fundraising, with no experience needed and a friendly outgoing personality, I found it easy to get started in the job. However, i used to think of it as selling your soul, to work on the streets and beg for money for a charity. And, well, I still do! It's a shit job but it pays. Thankfully I'm travelling lots with my team so that's a positive, otherwise I'm sure I'd have quit be now!

Here's some advice for those of you that hate us, because we hate ourselves enough already, so we don't need you guys making us any worse

If you don't want to talk to us, just say no thanks, we don't need a long winded excuse because we just don't care about your sick dog...
Don't ignore us, we're dicks, but we're still people, and if you ignore we want to kill you/ourselves
Don't pretend you're on the phone, we can tell, you're a dick.
Don't pretend to deaf, you're a massive dick
Don't stop just to 'cheer us up' if you're not going to sign up, then move on so we can find someone who will

We're not out there to scam you, and we have to be super friendly, so be friendly back, it's only polite :)

The job is pretty demeaning, and depressing. We know you hate us, butnit's our job and as much as we can take endless rejection, it does get old fast!

EDIT: if you're single and cute, give us your number, most people (boys and girls) doing this are single!

ermmmmm

I was going to write a blog post yesterday, but I have already forgotten what it was going to be about...

Fundraising perhaps, and my experience with it so far. Well, it's hardly a job to be proud of, but it pays well enough and thanks to free accommodation I'm saving loads of money. Plus I'm getting to travel lots too, off to Port McQuarie later today after one night in Sydney. Last week we were in a small town called Terrigal which was right on the beach and the hostel had free surfboards so we managed to get a bit of surfing in, although the waves were tiny!

I'd actually recommend it to people looking for work here, it gives you a chance to meet some pretty cool people as well.

Looking forward to travelling more, and hopefully finding some more girls!

Talk to strangers!

last night i had the best time yet in sydney, all thanks to a stranger!

after finding out as much as i could about alternative nights out here, i was still seriously lacking in someone to go with, so after drinks with the work guys i headed to scary canary, the bar attached to the hostel i’m staying in, where they play the same horrific and generic house shit every night, just like nearly every venue in sydney actually. thankfully i know a few people there, and i’m soon in the smoking area taking in lovely lungfuls of second hand smoke, and chatting to a german friend, from this i get chatting to some lovely swedish girls, then some nice finish girls too. i convince the swedish girls to come check out this club with me, but for some reason these two german guys end up tagging along as well (total cock block!) and when we get there, they totally bail on me :( after a bit of joking around, they still bail… but i clocked a guy with stretchers on the walk up, so heading back that way i find him ‘nice strectchers’ i say. it turns out the guy hasn’t been in sydney long but is staying with his brother, and is from adelaide. anyway, we get on so well, and are talking music all, so when we bounce from the bar they were in i lead them back to the club, only to find out there’s only 70 people in there and it’s $10 to get in… we bounce on, heading for the other night i’d heard of, after losing the brother we find this place, on the gay side of oxford street, wander in and it’s free, thanks to the box office being shut! get in and boom! it’s sweet dubstep and shuffle tunes, so i learn to shuffle and we have a great laugh. so glad i made that step to say hi! especially as i finally have someone up for hitting the cooler places in town with me, someone who has a clue about music! we’d be out tonight, but he’s broke :( so while it’s easy to meet people in the hostel, these guys just ain’t my style ya'know what I'm sayin'?

A first-timers guide to Australia

First up, know why you're going, is it a holiday, or do you want to work?

If you're doing a holiday, then make sure you book up as much as you can, you don't want any empty days, seriously. You can explore most of the cities in a single day by foot so you'll soon get bored of wandering around if you've got too many days to kill. Book everything from the UK, it gets very expensive very quickly out here, but you'll get a good deal and be able to plan it all nicely with the tour operator in the UK. You need to know what you want to do, but it's all pretty much the same stuff that everyone else does. Bungee Jump and Skydive, Snorkeling at the great barrier reef, Fraser Island and Whitsunday, Sydney attractions, Byron Bay, Bondi Beach... etc just work out what you can afford and do as much as you can. There's about 20 different options and easily 100 operators all selling the same shit, so just go with what your operator suggests. Remember it's a holiday, so make the most of it.

If you're planning to work here then it's a whole different story. I'd recommend not doing any of the suggested intro packages (they're usually pretty shit), but instead book yourself a week or two at a reasonable hostel and prepare for some boring days... Try to fly in on a sunday or monday, so you've got the whole working week to get yourself sorted. There's a lot of stuff you need to get prepared:
Phone - head to Vodaphone, or any of the other shops and get the cheapest you can find
Bank Account - easy enough, make sure you have your phone first though! You can't get paid until you have an aussie bank account.
Tax number - this stops you paying too much tax, there's about 1000 ways to get this, so it shouldn't be too hard.
RSA - This is required if you want bar work, and is a bit pricey, but get it asap.
RCG - This allows you to work somewhere that has gambling, which a lot of bars do, so it's pretty useful
Other qualifications - depending on what sector you want to work in, there's probably a certificate needed, it's a ballache, but if you arrived at a good time you can get it sorted pretty fast.

Once all that is sorted you can start the job hunt, this is also a ballache but remember, the aussie minimum wage is around $20 an hour, so the price of a beer doesn't seem to so bad then! You can save the hassle of getting certificates if you go for farm jobs, or fundraising. Farm jobs are usually miles away, but offer free accomodation and if you do them for 3 months you qualify for a second working visa.
Bear in mind that Australia is expensive! Cheapest beer I've seen is $5 which wasn't even a full pint, and a Big Mac meal is $7, which works out at about £5. So it's expensive, until you start working, then it really seems quite cheap. But when you first get out here, you'll be draining your bank account a lot quicker than you might think - so avoid the expensive stuff until the end of your trip.

Finally, whether on holiday or working, take a friend! It's pretty scary moving cities in the UK, but when you consider that you'll have no-one to go to the pub with, no permanent place to live and no job it's really easy to get homesick. If you are alone, then stick with it, you do meet people and make friends pretty quick, but when you're sleeping in a room full of strangers and running out of money it's pretty lonely.

sex

Hello to the two people I know that read this...

This post was inspired by a rather rediculous post I saw online, that said "If a man comes during sex it's normal, if a woman comes is exceptional" or something similar, I'm paraphrasing.

I'm sure you know me well enough to know that I disagree! It all comes down to effort, and dominance. Men come because they are the ones putting the greater percentage of effort in, and are in charge of positioning. If a girl wants to enjoy herself more, she must be more active, either putting in as much effort, or changing the position into one which works for her. I know most guys would not complain about this! I only remember being with one girl who was totally assertive, in fact, she was pretty damn pushy as well, insisting she was on top and grinding away in a way that did nothing for me. I was happy to oblige though, knowing that she was enjoying it, and well, things would continue on afterwards.

Perhaps girls should stop worrying about how good the boy is, and work on making it work for them!

Also, what's the deal with the toilet seat thing? Putting the seat down takes practically 0 effort, while lifting it is more work (physically speaking, it's obviously not a big deal) but I've never heard a bloke moaning about have to lift the thing!

I've had a few bits n pieces to write about for a while, but I seem to have forgotten the others...

Awesome Days 2

Slam Dunk,

Offered tickets on thursday, found someone to go with who sorted us a car to get down and then comes one of the most awesome days! Getting stuck in traffic and having to keep switching the engine off to keep it cool, listening to one chilli peppers song on repeat because it was the only good song in the car, not having to queue at all, free afterparty tickets, sunshine so we can rock the shades, and then so so many bands!

Failsafe - still awesome!
The Famous Class - actually terrible
This Time Last Year - not bad I suppose...
Goldfinger - a very pleasant surprise, but cut short
Bury Tomorrow - still shredding
Lost Boys - great show
While She Sleeps - missed my favourite song, but still loved the set
VersaEmerge - caught a song or two and was impressed, plus super hot singer
Blitz Kids - didn't play my favourite song! But signed by my friends at hassle, good job boys
MC Lars - rammed the smallest room and killed it
Francesqa - kinda boring tbh
Dance Gavin Dance - 3rd time that week and still blew me away in the top 5 bands now
Less Than Jake - great to see them again after so long, and really good to get nostalgic, plenty of awesome old ones from my youth
Deaf Havana - lead was wankered, but still sang great! Seriously impressive response from the crowd, singing it all back
We Are The Ocean - seriously good these days, props to those boys

These aren't in order btw, just the order I remembered them! Missed Lower Than Atlantis, The Skints and The King Blues, but I can live with that.

Ended up buying Far Q by LTA for the drive home and selling our afterparty tickets, pretty sweet really.

Such a good time, and so impressed by the festival. After last years problems getting around they really got smart and sorted it all out. There was no issue getting around, plenty of space for all the merch and food stands, and best of all, the sound quality was amazing in every room! Loved every second!

Awesome Days

i finished uni on tuesday and have had the best fucking time since! tatto, snowboard, london and some of the best shows i’ve seen.
serious props to:

piers for my ghost, rob, scott and tereza for board times and maccies, lucy and maisie for tumblrlols on the ‘snow’, regents park gardeners for the roses, chloe for food, dgd, nasin and sleeps, rob, charlottw, scott g, rudy and matt for acw chilling times, don broco, the dangerous summer, the james cleaver quintet and yashin for music, dance gavin dance for the sickiest shows, particularly jonny craig, matt mingus and eric lodge who chilled with us at nasin, ryan and amar for drinks, and ross for being awesome, nina for posh lunch, elle for the thunder storms and cheap lunch, uxia at dgd(2), the cute merch girl for dgd and the jcq for cheap shirts, mike of lta for being drunk, rhianna for sleeps and good times, leo for posh breakfast and ellie for pint o’ prawns twenty minutes later, and the ifpi for not changing a bit.
and now, party times with the aston snow crew, work with the a&b lads and slam dunk with awesome lost boys!

fucken love my life :d

Why girls hate guys, and why guys can't be with girls.

Setting aside the whole notion that we're all still too closely related to animals, and therefore are much more prone to wanting several partners, here's why guys don't want to be with girls, and why girls hate them for it:

Girls are boring.

And why is that? Because the majority of girls that I know only do two things: Work and drink. This doesn't interest me. What I look for in a girl is the same as what I look for in a friend (with the exception of attractiveness which is rather more important with girlfriends) which is someone who will excite and inspire me. Someone who will be enthusiastic about the things I enjoy. Someone who will help me to live a more enjoyable life, and to experience new things.

For example, my friend Tim was brilliant, not just because we could play in a band together, or that we could go to the pub until 3 in the morning on a Tuesday just because. But he inspired and taught me new things, he introduced me to Mountain Biking, something I always wanted to try, and thanks to him I did, he taught me how to play Mah Jong (the real version) he introduced me to some amazing music, Behold... The Arctopus and Soulwax mostly as well as taking me to see Roni Size. Thanks to him I experienced so much more.

Ina also helped in many ways, getting me to listen to much more jazz and funk, getting me more involved in the working of computers and gaming more, and teaching me a lot about people.

It's rare that I've met a girl who can inspire or has encouraged me to try new things in such a way, which is a great shame. While I may be arrogant, I am humble enough to know that I do not know everything, and I would like to learn. Whether a girl teaches me how to cook (I really know so few girls that are any better than me!) how to rock climb, or encourages me to do something I've always wanted to do, like a bungie jump or a skydive, it doesn't matter what, but it matters that she would have pushed me to do it.

I'd like a girl to have her own opinions and tastes on things, whether these are similar to mine or not doesn't matter, so long as it's a sincere and passionate belief, and not a shallow formed and ill-informed opinion. I'd like a girl to challenge me as well.

I don't want to be held back, as much as I love a chilled out night in watching films, I don't want that all the time. But I also don't want to organise everything all the time. I need time home alone, out with friends, with a girl and out with a girl. But to organise all this would piss me off. So a girl needs her own life, I don't want to be her life, just a big part of it.

And you know why girls hate guys?

Because they don't want to settle for some boring girl! And we're to blame for that apparently. Guys have been taught as they grow up that in order to get the girl we need to be cool, funny, successful and confident. We're told that we should do things that make us seem cooler, look better and offer a better package to a girl. We're told that we should do all the work to earn a place next to a girl. On top of all that, we do more stuff because we actually want to, it's fun!

What does the girl have to do? Be Pretty. That's all their told. But it's wrong, guys don't want you just because you're pretty. We've worked hard on all the aspects of our lives, we've got it all sorted. So now we can girl the girl, and if we can get you, we can get more. Why should we choose you? What can you offer other than a pretty face?

So, there's a few girls I know that have more than just work and drink in their lives. Some rock-climb, others go to the gym, some snowboard, some surf. But none have ever thought to encourage me.

Maybe I'm just getting the wrong girls, maybe all the good ones are taken. Maybe I just need to meet more people and this is a horrifically incorrect sweeping statement. But please, if you're a girl and you do more than just drink and work, please let me know! Then give me your number.

Advice to Bands

This is some advice I sent in an email out to a guy whose son I saw play on Friday night:

" Before going on stage send one member to speak to the soundman, and tell him that you're about to go on, and that you'll put a thumbs up once you're all ready to play. Then, all walk on stage, quickly check everything is working - and I mean very quickly, one quick strum of a guitar and tapping the mic is enough - do not play anything else! Once you know everything is working fine, put the thumbs up and the soundman will bring the music down. The quickly introduce the band and the first song and get straight into it.

Plan the set all the way through, including points when you're going to talk, and play it all the way through in order at least 3 times every practice. This way you'll always know what song is next.

Work on playing some songs back to back with no, or very little pause.

Make sure you say the band name very clearly at least three times during the set, once at the start, once in the middle and once at the end. Don't worry about mentioning the myspace/facebook everyone will already assume you're on there.

Prepare a good joke, so if you need to fill some time between songs you've got something to rely on. Talk slowly and clearly and with confidence, if you're not sure what you're saying, don't say anything!

Make sure you're enjoying yourself on stage, and work on movement. If you look bored, the audience will be! Try to get as involved as possible. Watch videos of other bands and watch what they do onstage, and try to emulate that. Practice this at rehearsals every time you play through the set. The singer especially needs to be strutting and moving a lot more, he's the focus and centre of the band and should act it.

As for getting better gigs, play every rubbish gig that comes along, but play everyone with passion and enthusiasm. Even if it's just to the same friends and family, and the other bands, if you can impress them then do it! There's no such thing as a pointless gig. Work on playing a seamless set with loads of confidence.


As for getting bigger shows in the future, make sure the boys have got that professional edge, then using your PR email address start emailing promoters and other bands. Act as though you are a booking agent, this will make the band seem more professional and will give a good impression to promoters. Find bands that are similar that are playing in the next 3 months or so and ask if they have arranged support for those bands. If there are slots available put the boys forward to play the shows.

If someone else in charge of booking, then get them to set up a new email address especially for it (but forwarded to their normal email address so they don't miss the replies) As a promoter, getting an email from joey-182@hotmail.com asking if his band can have a gig is not a good start!

If the boys are really serious about the band, get a good logo designed and have stickers made up - lots of them! then give them out and stick them everywhere! Give them to friends, and hand them out at every show, and just stick them everywhere. The band members should always have stickers on them, to stick everywhere they go, and to hand out to people they meet.

Finally, get a website and email server. This can be a total pain in the ass, but it's worth it! Using a tumblr.com blog page, you don't have to worry about designing a page, and you can have all the info you need on there. Then using Godaddy hosting, get a domain name and email address package. Having a .com really makes the band look a lot more professional, as does sending emails from that domain."