bigmouth strikes again

2010-01-17T00:36:00.000-08:00

when i grow up i'm going to live here

with a room like this
photos from
http://thepulpgirls.tumblr.com/page/3

2010-01-17T00:32:00.000-08:00

awesomeeee

the stabs

2010-01-17T00:14:00.000-08:00

they're from melbourne
they're playing in sydney at the excelsior on the 23rd of april
they're fucking rad
think a little like a bit of birthday party, sonic youth, mudhoney plus a lot of origionality.
http://www.myspace.com/thestabs

white stripes lomo

2010-01-06T06:14:00.000-08:00

awesome.

Get excited!

2010-01-06T05:33:00.000-08:00

Toumani Diabaté’s Symmetric Orchestra

'A jubilant polyrhythmic party of percussion, electric guitars, and Diabaté’s 21-stringed instrument showering notes like a musical waterfall.’ - The Village Voice

Sydney festival is bringing us many many great things, however, with the description above and a tick price of FREE I think 'Toumani Diabaté’s Symmetric Orchestra' might be my very favourite. I mean- polyrhythmic party- a free polyrhythmic party - with musical waterfalls! what more can one want in life?

Diabaté will be joined by Vieux Farka Touré, and together will use a range of West african instruments such as kora, djembe, balafon and bolombatto alongside guitars and drums to blend rock, blues and reggae with Saharan rhythms to no doubt produce an impressive performance.

So be in the Domain on the 16th of Janurary for an 8pm start.

2010-01-06T05:25:00.000-08:00

there was this one time where i dressed up as jellyfish for a birthday party. I wish it looked like this.

2010-01-06T04:58:00.000-08:00

blowing my mind

2009-12-30T06:18:00.000-08:00

“Is there anything more beautiful than a beautiful, beautiful flamingo, flying across in front of a beautiful sunset? And he's carrying a beautiful rose in his beak, and also he's carrying a very beautiful painting with his feet. And also, you're drunk."- Jack Handey

This quote is gold, appropriately I stumbled across this on a blog that gave a rather scathing review of the twilight series.
And also, Stephanie Myer, you're drunk

down the rabbit hole

2009-12-20T04:21:00.000-08:00

via dreamwalking.tumblr.com/

Horrors

2009-12-05T06:38:00.000-08:00

Get on it

Deathstarcanteen

2009-12-05T06:35:00.000-08:00

Lego+Star Wars+ Eddie Izzard
Pure Gold

2009-12-02T23:28:00.000-08:00

I've been back on my favourite blog of late. EnglishRussia
So as we know, the state controlled, or at least tried to control everything whether it be music, clothes, movies ect. So naturally, around the time that the Soviet Union ceased to exhist some people made up for lost time and adopted some pretty extraordinary looks.
http://englishrussia.com/?p=2929

omnomnomnom

2009-12-02T22:56:00.000-08:00

I have been working way too much lately. There was a time when a triple shift seemed like a death sentence (to a certain extent it still does) however; with practice everything becomes normal (I’m sure I could find a relevant quote from someone more intelligent than I to put here but...fuck it).

Anyway, where was I at? Ah yes work, too much of it. I go teach kids how to swim in Ashfield, then go to Petersham pool and life guard then go and serve beer to the parents of the kids I teach at the Annandale (note: this has only happened two or three times, but discussing whether someone’s 4 month old child is ready for ‘learn to swim’ lessons over Body Jar and Coopers pale ale was interesting none the less).

Anyway, where am I up to now? Oh yes. Working. Too much. Winge. So with all this work, I have money, and with this little bit of extra money I have become way too much of an impulse buyer. But my latest impulse buy was a deffinantly a win. Mentos Blast Gum, it tastes really really fucking good. I was never so much a Hubba Bubba person because after ten minutes what was delicious grape flavour becomes disgusting out-of-flavour-gum/ babies-ass-flavour.

Anyway. Where was I at? Ah gum, yes Gum. So this shit is tasty, and comes with nice novelty packaging. Plus prior to yesterday last time I had this gum I spent the whole day listening to Radiohead, looking at clouds on a trampoline chewing this delicious processed goodness. So I guess it bring back good memories.

Anyway where was I at again? Oh yes. Go and by this shit.

statuscloud

2009-11-28T07:50:00.000-08:00

i love this new facebook invention, namely because 'meow' is the biggest word, which means i have statused about meowing the most? i'm a cat?

2009-11-28T07:30:00.000-08:00

Listen. Now

Marrrickville Pork Roll

2009-11-27T17:02:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows me will know I love Vietnamese salad rolls. Through out my time living in the Inner West I have become somewhat a connaisseur of this delicious and tastey snacks, whether it be Broadway, Enmore, Ashfield or Newtown (I've tried them all) I can safely say that by far the best is 'Marrickville Porkroll'- dont be fooled by the sign, they serve not only pork rolls but chicken, tuna, bbq pork, meatball and my personal favourite, the humble salad roll. I honestly dont know how they make them so delicious, i was never a salad sandwhich person, maybe its the fresh corriader, soy sauce, chilli and a few other mysterious sauces that they add to it to make it so damn tastey. Oh and did I mention that they are only $2.50!...
100% WIN

You can find this hole in the wall store on the corner of Illawarra Road and Marrickville Road.

It is not unusual to see a line of six or so people winding out of the shop.

omnomnom

i wanted to overthrow the government but all i brought down was somebody's wife

2009-11-25T22:58:00.000-08:00

30 dogs, 20 men on 20 horses and one fox

and look here, they write,

you are a dupe for the state, the church,

you are in the ego-dream,

read your history, study the monetary system,

note that the racial war is 23,000 years old.

well, I remember 20 years ago, sitting with an old Jewish tailor,

his nose in the lamplight like a cannon sighted on the enemy; and

there was an Italian pharmacist who lived in an expensive apartment

in the best part of town; we plotted to overthrow

a tottering dynasty, the tailor sewing buttons on a vest,

the Italian poking his cigar in my eye, lighting me up,

a tottering dynasty myself, always drunk as possible,

well-read, starving, depressed, but actually

a good young piece of ass would have solved all my rancor,

but I didn’t know this; I listened to my Italian and my Jew

and I went out down dark alleys smoking borrowed cigarettes

and watching the backs of houses come down in flames,

but somewhere we missed: we were not men enough,

large or small enough,

or we only wanted to talk or we were bored, so the anarchy

fell through,

and the Jew died and the Italian grew angry because I stayed

with his

wife when he went down to the pharmacy; he did not care to have

his personal government overthrown, and she overthrew easy, and

I had some guilt: the children were asleep in the other bedroom

but later I won $200 in a crap game and took a bus to New Orleans

and I stood on the corner listening to the music coming from bars

and then I went inside to the bars,

and I sat there thinking about the dead Jew,

how all he did was sew on buttons and talk,

and how he gave way although he was stronger than any of us

he gave way because his bladder would not go on,

and maybe that saved Wall Street and Manhattan

and the Church and Central Park West and Rome and the

Left Bank, but the pharmacist’s wife, she was nice,

she was tired of bombs under the pillow and hissing the Pope,

and she had a very nice figure, very good legs,

but I guess she felt as I: that the weakness was not Government

but Man, one at a time, that men were never as strong as

their ideas

and that ideas were governments turned into men;

and so it began on a couch with a spilled martini

and it ended in the bedroom: desire, revolution,

nonsense ended, and the shades rattled in the wind,

rattled like sabers, cracked like cannon,

and 30 dogs, 20 men on 20 horses chased one fox

across the fields under the sun,

and I got out of bed and yawned and scratched my belly

and knew that soon very soon I would have to get

very drunk again.

Bukowski

redblackandwhite

2009-11-21T17:16:00.000-08:00

These are photos taken from the times of the Soviet Union. Simple and beautiful. I found them and the drunken cycler via englishrussia.com

2009-11-21T17:09:00.000-08:00

I miss reading the gossip about Moss and my favourite libertine/babyshambler/human syringe Pete Doherty. Hince you just don't compare.

2009-11-21T16:49:00.000-08:00

Now this is dedication to getting drunk!

2009-11-21T16:26:00.000-08:00

read. now.

jimmyrockingtheknits

2009-11-21T03:09:00.000-08:00

I have gone into a little bit of a Zeppelin phase, reliving all hours of my youth staying up late on Led Zeppelin forums. Yes I was one of those Zeppelin kids. Anyway, I know today has been really fucking hot. So it is hardly time to look to the knitted vest or jumper. But ask my friends, they know how much I appreciate a good oversized grandpa jumper, apparently jimmy page digs them too. Except he leans toward the other side of the spectrum. Undersized. I still want the Zoso jumper.

I've always loved this picture

Mess.Hall.

2009-11-21T03:06:00.000-08:00

It was about five years ago I first saw the Mess Hall live. I was a screaming fourteen year old doing some terrible terrible dancing in between being utterly blown away by the performance… and screaming some more. The set ended with my friend and I in a tug of war battle over one of their drumsticks. And I mean a real tug of war, two on two, sweaty kids fighting it out to the death on a grimy dance floor. It was a close call, neither side willing to give an inch. Well that was until I herd a yelp and the words ‘SHE FUCKING BIT ME SHE FUCKING BIT MY HAND’. The boys let go of the stick, and my friend and I were triumphant. I still have the drumstick. And I still have that friend who got me the drumstick by getting her Mike Tyson on. Yet as entertaining as that memory is, lets hope that my nineteen year old self won’t end up in a fight to the death at the Annandale this Wednesday.

This Wednesday the 25th of November The Mess Hall will be playing and the Annandale FOR FREE. Yes all you uni students out there (uni students who have finished their exams- no excuses) it is free and it is awesome and it is the Annandale’s gift to you, so be there! We have to make the most of these venues so they don’t close like the beloved Hopetoun!

Doors open at 7pm

two dollar champagne has never looked so good

2009-11-17T04:47:00.000-08:00

2009-11-14T16:39:00.000-08:00

Get it. Now

matchcatz

2009-11-12T15:17:00.000-08:00

If you want some, buy sandalwood inscence cones from Eastern Flare in Newtown. I bought some the other day, opened up the packet and BAM, complementary cat matches to go with your insence. 100% WIN

One can never be sure whether it's good poetry or bad acid

2009-11-12T05:34:00.001-08:00

'Small houses and courts with mail boxes full of spiders, mailboxes hanging by one nail, old women inside rolling cigarettes and chewing tobacco and humming to their canaries and watching you, an idiot lost in the rain.'

That idiot was me today. An idiot in a wetsuit and a shirt that said 'fun safe and easy'. Oh lordy

What a beer gut. Despite this gut, according to Bukowski he had nice legs.
Sure you do, you dirty-old-man-genius.

coolbritannia

2009-11-12T05:02:00.000-08:00

...

2009-11-12T04:53:00.000-08:00

2009-11-12T04:14:00.000-08:00

they start with revolutions then you end up smoking in your room and doing washing in bathtubs. at least we'll always have clouds. and bathtubs.

these lovely photos are taken from the blog 'sometimes i just need quiet'
http://www.truth-beauty-cock.blogspot.com/

icedT

2009-11-12T03:47:00.000-08:00

http://www.bellybytes.com/recipe/tea/

This site combines the two greatest drinks: Tea, and alcohol. And to go with the theme of summer (which is generally made up of hot days and drinking) this site provides us with ways of combining these two great drinks into one beautiful refreshing fusion, iced tea punch.
Here is one of my favourites:

Ingredients:
Three orange pekoe tea bags
1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
4 cups water
Five, 5-1/2-ounce cans peach nectar (about 3-1/3 cups), chilled
1/4 cup chilled simple syrup or to taste
3/4 cup vodka

For simple syrup:
1-1/3 cups sugar
1-1/4 cups water
Garnish: peach slices and basil sprigs

Put teabags and basil in a quart-size glass measure or heat-proof bowl.

In a saucepan bring water just to a boil and pour over tea bags. Steep tea 5 minutes and strain through a sieve into a heat-proof pitcher. Cool tea and chill, covered, until cold, about 1 hour. Stir in nectar, vodka and syrup. Serve tea over ice in tall glasses and garnish with peach slices and basil sprigs.

To make simple syrup:
In a saucepan bring sugar and water to a boil, stirring, and boil until sugar dissolves. Let syrup cool and chill, covered. You can prepare the syrup up to two weeks ahead of time, if desired. Syrup recipe makes about 2 cups syrup.

Recipe makes about 7 cups of Peach Basil Iced Tea.

Foal

2009-11-11T17:54:00.000-08:00

Australia has never been lucky when it comes to having bands from over seas tour, and this years Big Day Out is one very good example of this (apart from the horrors, who STILL haven’t announced sideshows). Tomorrow night we have a small… ok VERY small consolation, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers. At the once brilliant, now predominantly disgusting Candy’s Apartment we have keyboardist Edwin Congreaves of Foals DJing. I was very VERY far down the grape vine when I herd the news, thus the news was some what distorted which resulted in me thinking the FOALS WERE PLAYING GIGS IN AUSTRALIA. But of course I realized that this was not so, and I realized that my excitement was entirely unwarranted, because I'm in Australia, no one comes to Australia. (Except Pavement !)

Anyway
• Friday the 13th November
• Candy’s
• A foal
• Many drunks
• Which sounds fine by me.

2009-10-24T17:07:00.000-07:00

Walking through central tunnel I was very graced with the a buskers who is very possibly drunk and slurring "Stand.. stand by me woooaaahhhh" with a hat held out for a donation. He may or may not deserved my hard earned coin, however, some street acts are amazing and deserve serious cash.
This video was taken in a subway in New York City, it would be absolutely impossible to walk past this guy!

Katherine Mansfield

2009-10-19T04:26:00.000-07:00

"...you are overcome, suddenly by a feeling of bliss-absolute bliss!- as though you'd suddenly swallowed a bright piece of that late afternoon sun and it burned in your bosom, sending out a little shower of sparks into every particle, into every finger and toe?"

thinktank

2009-10-15T07:22:00.000-07:00

ahaha

2009-10-14T23:58:00.000-07:00

via iquitelikethebeatles.tumblr.com

2009-10-14T05:47:00.000-07:00

The Harbour Bridge isn't very pretty.
All pipes 'n chains 'n steel fences.

Avoiding essays with Mary-Louise Parker

2009-10-07T07:12:00.000-07:00

I am sorry I have not been on here in a while world.
Yet I am more sorry that I have been spending most of my waking hours avoiding writing a useless essay and doing more peer reviewing than most males in a co-ed PE class when they hit puberty.

Usually my avoiding of essays is fruitless and I am left with five empty tea cups, empty packet of caramel buds and a body clock that operates on a similar level to that of a koala. However, sometimes you stumble across some pure gold. For example today I found a quiz on face book that tells you how long your penis is. Oh the brilliance of technology! I swiftly completed this quiz and discovered that I am, shall we say well equipped in the pseudo-facebook-penis department. I also discovered a list compiled by the lovely Mary-Louise Parker of “Weeds” on the Ten Types of Music No Man Should Own. I think she’s pretty much on the money, although it could be re-titled Ten Types of Music That No one Should Own

1. Records by any act whose name is of a Greek or Latin etymology, i.e. Styx, Megadeth, Yanni.

2. Any recording of Carousel, original Broadway cast or national tour.

3. Any recording by an act or artist who owns a copy of any recording of Carousel.

4. Any soundtrack involving earnest undersea creatures who sing or play drums as they struggle to find their way home ie. The Little Mermaid

5. The soundtrack or singles from any aerobics movie featuring Olivia Newton-John or John Travolta.

6. Any album containing a pop song with recordings of whales or dolphins in the background.

7. Any album by Paul after George died, any album by George after John died, and any album by Ringo after Elvis died.

8. Any of the volumes of Lilith Fair: A Celebration of Women. The DVD is equally, if not more, unacceptable.

9. Any album released between 1984 and 1988 by men wearing unitards or kimonos. Except Boy George.

10. Any tracks or bootleg recordings of the Kiss: Alive II tour. Unless you are twelve.

http://www.esquire.com/the-side/music/sex-music-turnoffs-031209?click=main_sr

A comprehensive list, although I disagree with the little Mermaid nomination.

On an even more useless note; if you have a spare moment of time on your hands, or if you don’t and you just enjoy doing pursuing the useless instead of the constructive (which is probably why you’re on this blog) then here is some cool shit you can do today, or tonight, or in between.

My advice for today is (particularly if your avoiding doing something work related):
1. Listen to: Pavement- Slanted and Enchanted, Grizzly Bear – Yellow House and Rain dogs- Tom Waits
2. Watch the Soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld.
3. Get caught up in a blog vortex (y’know, click one link then another and then another and then. BAM two hours of blog vortex time)
4. Go to Marrickville Pork Roll shop and get a Salad Roll- Seriously, they are UNBELIEVABLEY DELICIOUS
5. Stay up late and ruin you body clock (like Kramer)
6. Eat lots of carrots it’s good for night vision, which is handy if you staying up late and ruining your body clock as suggested above.
7. Ready The Waltz by Dorothy Parker, or anything by her for that matter. She is a weapon and if I could write like her my life would be complete. Well nearly.

sexy people in cool shirts

2009-09-27T02:26:00.000-07:00

http://www.thecobrasnake.com/

Boardshorts, singlets and a truck load of sweat!

2009-09-25T19:10:00.000-07:00

The awesomeness of Vietnam and Cambodia via poor quality photos.

Itunes, imovie, ipod, itrip …

Now all you have to do is reconnect the black wire to the other black wire...

Whoever thought a penguin bin. Multifunctional. Useful and hilarious.

So the monkey proverb goes something along the lines of see no evil, speak no evil hear no evil but this monkey…

Sure it’s annoying when you forget to bring bags and you’re left with arms full of awkwardly balanced shopping, but creating some sort of grocery based tower crowned with a baby- whilst on a motorbike…well that’s an art form

There are buckets and buckets loads of reasons why NOT!

N.B A personal joke you may not get, however, don't fret we don't remember much of the night anyway

The spawn of tin tin, John Travolta and Michael Jackson (owww!)…and trees with faces?...

Wonderful fish massage- who needs pumice stones or pedicures when you have small fish to eat you dead skin… mmmmmmmmmm... skin

(Taken in Cambodian toilets) Who ever thought there were so many uses for a toilet! Be sure not to smoke, not to stand on the toilet, don’t clean your feet with the toilet brush (that’s the fishes job) and be sure not to shower in the toilet.

Where to start! I'm not sure whats worse, chicken soup with tits, or pears with tits?

After a long day of riding a bike, in a tuk tuk or in a Lexus. The heat and sweat gets to you. (or up you) in many different ways.

Got chicken?

gold

2009-09-22T15:55:00.000-07:00

Where was this during year 12 modern history?

via fffound

oh hai judgment day

2009-09-22T15:04:00.000-07:00

I wake up to red. Harsh unnatural molten red.
What could it be? Satan, Judgment day, the giant orange highlighter in the sky?
In my half asleep state all kinds of apocalyptic explanations were coming to me.
But No. It’s dust, just dust. How fucking boring.

Fuck Yeah John Lennon

2009-09-17T22:42:00.000-07:00

My new favourite blog, speaks for itself really.
fuckyeahjohnlennon.tumblr.com

Ah and a guilty pleasure that you should all indulge in:
kanyegate.tumblr.com
I'mma Let You Finish- Some times the speed of the internet scares me.

The Fearless Vampire Killers

2009-09-16T03:38:00.000-07:00

“Holly why the fuck are you shaking your head and dancing in the tutorial”

Yes this is what I have been faced with ever since I splurged and bought The Fearless Vampire Killers EP, and yes, I blame them for making me look mildly insane. Their music is infectious. Right from the opening riff of “I Gotta Love You” it is hard to resist the catchy sixties/blues/rock feel that this band encapsulates (it is also hard to resist shaking your head in a Ringo circa 1964-esqu fashion). Sure the influences aren’t hard to pick but the band puts their own spin on them, referencing rather than copying, I personally think this is what the love child of The Beatles and The Stones would sound like if they made a guest appearance in Tarentino’s “Death Proof”. The band that is made up of Seán Ainsworth, Rich Bradbeer , Al Marx and Dylan Lieberman have won the approval from the likes of Triple J’s Kingsmill and Rosie Beaton, but the greatest thing about this band is that with out delving into their influences, gigs, history n’ all that rot- as soon as you hear their music you smile and dance, and that my friends is more than enough for me.

Drummer Dylan Lieberman was kind enough to do an interview:

How did The Fearless Vampire Killers come about?
Sean, Al and myself all went to Box Hill Senior Secondary and met in the music performance class there. The class was asked to group up into bands. I'd known Sean for a little while before we were at Box Hill, so we teamed up, and Al and Lachlan (our then-current bass player) joined in to complete the band.

What are your main influences?
All the obvious ones, you know, like The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Bob Dylan. We wear our influences on our sleeves, and it's quite easy to tell what they are.

Favourite Beatles album?
Well, I don't know about the other guys, but mine would have to be A Hard Day's Night. It's the perfect pop record!

I’ve read that you recorded your EP yourself. Did you enjoy the experience? Would you do it again?
Most of the tracks for the EP were recorded with the help of an engineer at Head Gap Studios. Some overdubs, like vocals and percussion, were recorded at Will Dempsey's house (our then-current bass player (we've been through a few!)). It was mixed by Al and Will and mastered by Adam Dempsey (no relation to Will). I enjoyed the recording process, that's always fun.

Are you recording an album?
We recorded nine or ten songs a few months ago. One of the songs, "Loaded Gun", will be released as a single next month. The rest of the tracks may be used for an album. It's hard to say at this point in time, there are a several factors involved. Again, we mixed these tracks ourselves. I, personally, would prefer to have the tracks mixed professionally, but there's only so much money we have to spend on this sort of thing.

Any changes to the recording process?
What we generally do is record bass, drums, lead and rhythm guitar live together. That's what we did for the EP, and that's how we've done it with these latest recordings. We are essentially a live band and we try to capture that energy in the studio.

What is your song writing process? Does it stem from jamming or is it more structured?
A lot of our songs do evolve from jams, yes. That's how a lot of our early songs came about (i.e. "Alright Now Honey", "Evil Woman", etc.). Otherwise, what happens is Sean will come up with a chord progression and vocal melody, or Al with a riff, and we work on it from there.

Have you been trying anything different with your new songs?
Not consciously, no. Sean or Al might tell you different, but I don't feel like anything we write is ever forced into any one direction. It always feels very natural. The latest songs we've written are very much in the same vein as older songs, like "The Sinner" or "One Day at a Time". We've struck a winning formula, as far as we're concerned, and we're sticking to it.

Do you take different approaches to the sound you produce in a live show and the recordings?
We aim to get that live energy in the studio by recording the basic tracks live (as opposed to laying down each track individually). I like to think of our sound on record as very much the same as our sound live, but with a few overdubs.

What is your favourite venue to play at?
I like playing at Yah Yah's because of the atmosphere, and there are always cool people there. The Gershwin Room at The Espy is another favourite. We always seem to get a good crowd there and the sound is great.

You have been very much DIY, whether it is in the recording process or booking shows and touring. How did you learn the ropes?
Yes, before we got signed to Majorbox management, we did most everything ourselves. We learnt how to do it just by doing it, I suppose. We all studied music industry at school, so that helped. But now booking shows and tours is all someone else's problem, thank God! Ha ha!

Do you have any advice for other bands trying to hook into the Melbourne circuit?
Just get out there and try to play as many gigs as you can. Self-promotion is so easy now, what with things like Facebook and Myspace, a good band can get into the loop quite easily. Eventually bookers will get to know your band, and if they see that you can pull a good crowd, they'll offer you more shows (in theory).

Can you recommend any other up and coming Australian bands to look out for?
I personally love The Frowning Clouds, who we'll be sharing the bill with on our Snakes & Ladders tour next month. I'm a big fan of early/mid-'60s R 'n' B and they pull it off really well. I also like The Messengers, a great little pop-rock group who are brilliant songwriters. Other bands, like Tame Impala and Little Red I love, though I suppose they've already established themselves in the Aussie music scene. I think it's all heading in a good direction, and I can't wait to see what the next few years have to offer!

Despite the fact that anything to do with vampires has been tainted with the wrath of Stephanie Myer I highly recommend getting your hands on this EP. They are playing at the Hopetoun on the 8th of October, until then I shall continue to dance like an idiot the to sounds of The Fearless Vampire Killers whether it be on the bus, in a tutorial or walking down the street. Awe yeah.

smashedtvshelving

2009-09-13T04:07:00.000-07:00

Got lots of nicknacks?
Need shelving to store them?
Don't have the money to buy a shelf?

Then simply smash a TV and take the spiky thing out of the middle and voila, you have your self a shelf for storing useless shit. Of course you need a TV available for smashing, but living in the seedycrackdealingjunky area of Marrickville had it's ups. Walk around the Illawarra Road and Hill Street area and you can find an array of goods lying on the side of the road including cupboards, lounges (which we swiftly nabbed) and, you guessed it, TV's.

So go on, smash a tv, it is ridiculously, ridiculously satisfying.

flowers

2009-09-13T03:48:00.000-07:00

Ah it has been too long my lovelies. Now if there is one thing I love more than flowers, it’s freeness. So logically I love flowers that are free. But one thing I love more than free flowers are flowers that a free because you have nicked them from someones garden and evaded a large dog whilst doing it.

Epic win my friends. Epic Win

If you want to get some goods similar to the ones in the picture then head on down to Stanmore. Who knew such pretty things could grow with in a 500 meter vicinity of Parramatta Road!

liverpool

2009-09-04T17:55:00.000-07:00

And I've seen it all, I've seen it all
Through the yellow windows of the evening train

wantwantwant

2009-09-04T17:52:00.000-07:00

http://www.characterplanet.co.uk/category-1/cp-10052.html

Sydney International Animation Festival

2009-09-03T15:47:00.000-07:00

Wallace and Grommit, Fantasia, Peter Rabbit, Spirited away right through to Drawn Together, South Park and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. The two threads that run through all these fantastic modes of entertainment are, animation, and awesomeness. So naturally the Sydney International Film Festival is going to be crammed full of both. This event will be taking place from the 4th to the 6th of September and will be held in Sydney's one and only soviet era bunker, UTS. Tickets are only 13 dollars and 10 dollars for us cheapy consessions.

The Programe is:

Saturday 5 September

11AM ESTONIAN ANIMATION RETROSPECTIVE

1PM INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION PROGRAM #1

3PM INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION PROGRAM #2

5PM CLARE KITSON IN CONVERSATION

6PM CHANNEL 4 ANNIVERSARY PROGRAM
PLUS BOOK SIGNING BY CLARE KITSON, SESSION RATED 18+

8PM LONDON CALLING - THE FILMS THAT MADE A DIFFERENCE
SESSION RATED 18+

9.45PM LATE NIGHT BIZARRE
ADMISSION AGE 18+: WARNING, THIS PROGRAM CONTAINS OFFENSIVE MATERIAL.

Sunday 6 September

11AM GREAT MOMENTS IN HISTORY

12PM DIGITAL PANORAMA
ADMISSION AGE 18+: WARNING, SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL.

2PM UTS STUDENT PROGRAM

3.30PM AUSTRALIAN SHOWCASE

4PM FREE PANEL SESSION: Funding support and commissioning process for animation in Australia

5.30PM FREE PANEL SESSION: Sydney based animation film, television and gaming professionals showcase their latest work

7.30PM SIGGRAPH HIGHLIGHTS
INTERNATIONAL AND ASIAN SHOWCASE

Taken from:
http://www.siaf.uts.edu.au/program.php

Get your tickets from:
http://www.moshtix.com.au/Search.aspx?s=&q=animation+festival&c=&v=&p=&from=&to=&caller=UTS

going home

2009-08-24T06:16:00.000-07:00

tricky

at 3 in the morning

I promise I will post something other than photos soon, I'm just enjoying my new toy too much at the moment.

the face of spectrum

2009-08-19T14:14:00.000-07:00

looks kinda like hexxus from ferngully

peterpanlivesinyourroomtoo

2009-08-18T01:36:00.000-07:00

a view from the afternoon

2009-08-18T00:20:00.000-07:00

The Vintage Record

2009-08-15T16:14:00.000-07:00

When you walk into a shop and the first thing you hear is 'I'm Only Sleeping', the first thing you smell is insence and the first thing you see are walls plastered in the creme de la crem of music memorabilia- it can only mean one thing and that is, spend, spend and spend.

At first one may think this store is truely "vintage" ( in the sense that it's ridiulously unaffordable), however, once you look past the limited edition Beatles Butcher Cover, and the limited edition lunch box set there are plenty of great finds for those of us music nerds who are a little more strapped for cash. I picked up the movie Blank Generation which stars none other than Andy Warhol and Richard Hell for five dollars, and my, that was a five dollars well spent.

The Vintage Record can be found at 31 Parramatta road which is located around the hub of all things music and right near the Annandale. It is more than worth checking out.

Beatles Lunch Boxes!

Possibley the greatest record player ever.

(this photo is taken from the web site)

http://www.thevintagerecord.com/

whitelightwhiteheat

2009-08-12T01:01:00.000-07:00

things you should go to

2009-08-11T19:54:00.000-07:00

yup yup yup

the red rattler

2009-08-10T06:37:00.000-07:00

Marrickville is awesome.
Not only can you get the cheapest food, tastiest food, cheapest clothes (best op shops around) and best Asian grocers around. You can also find the Red Rattler, an absolutely fantastic venue. Unfortunately I have not been there of late, however, I do intend on going back there as soon as I can. The Red Rattler is a beautiful fusion of a classy theater-esqu atmosphere and a warehouse, plus, they have crochet blankets if you get cold!

These are a few snaps from last time I was there which was all too long ago:

even the door knobs are classy!

We saw nHOMEa play at the venue
http://www.myspace.com/nhomea
I recommend checking them out

Lounges like this with bands and an optional crochet blanket? I'm in heaven

They have a bunch of great stuff going on ALL THE TIME so hurry up and get yourselves there!
Here is a link to what great events are coming up.
http://redrattler.org/sydney/whats+on

hello hell

2009-08-07T00:36:00.000-07:00

Stanmore ten minutes ago, captured on my trusty new camera.

The Matchbox Project

2009-08-04T08:40:00.001-07:00

A matchbox is not all that often associated with presents or art- however in a beautiful fusion these three things come together in Sonya Gee’s “Matchbox Project”. Each week, a decorated matchbox with a wee little present inside is left some where around Sydney to disrupt some one’s day in a positive way. The Matchbox project blog was started two years ago and has been steadily running ever since as these cute little boxes spread them selves throughout Sydney, Australia, and perhaps, the world. If you want to see some of these goodies in the flesh then you can catch them at the Australian Centre for Photography at 257 Oxford Street from the 16th of July to the 22nd of August.

Below is the link to the blog where you can keep up to date with Sonya’s Matchboxes and look at pretty photos of them.

http://www.blurty.com/users/matchboxproject

Paper Moon

2009-08-03T05:08:00.000-07:00

When one types the words “Paper Moon” into Google the results range from a wholesale retail distribution company, a film that involves an orphaned daughter of a prostitute, a gaming blog and an anime cartoon. Thankfully the Paper Moon that I am talking about has nothing to do with a wholesale anime hooker.

This Paper Moon is a band that hails from Wollongong (and occasionally Marrickville) who play what could be described as a fusion of Ryan Adams, You Am I and Neil Young along with some originality and one hell of a voice. I have witnessed them play a few times now and I think they are more than plug worthy, so you should give them a few moments of your time. They are playing at the Annandale this Wednesday, and hey, no one needs another reason to go there, it’s the Annandale, I want to live there.

They have a few other gigs coming up too:
www.myspace.com/itsonlyapapermoon

Ridiculous Records and the Hardware Gallery

2009-08-03T03:12:00.000-07:00

The Hardware gallery is is located on Enmore road a little up from Enmore park. Emma and I had a glass of sangria and spent a good hour or so digging through the treasure trove of records. We found some gold (in the form of The Human League), some trash and the just plain ridiculous.

"Beatfish"

"Mitch Miller and The Gang"

B* Witched...
On record...

"Daddys Favourite- I Feel Good Things For You"

"Get Outta Me Dreams, Get Into My Car"

"Pump That Body"

"The Funky Worm Hustle"

They have a bunch of other cool stuff going on so check it!
www.hardwaregallery.com.au

omnomnomnom

2009-08-03T01:42:00.000-07:00

I made a recipe!
Spicy Swirl Chips

Ingredients:
2 slices lebanese bread
1/4 cup oil
1 clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Teaspoon cummin
Teaspoon chilli flakes

Method:

Mix all these ingredients together
Brush is onto the lebanese bread
Roll up the bread
Cut the rolled bread a few centemeters wide
Put in the oven or a sandwhich press untill brown then...

Voila!
I should totally be on Masterchef

Addison Road

2009-08-02T23:03:00.000-07:00

Addison Road has pretty graffiti

tap

2009-08-02T07:48:00.000-07:00

This is not exactly relevant, but it is definitely the best sink I have ever seen.

http://www.shelterrific.com/

photosforthought

2009-08-02T06:48:00.000-07:00

It all starts out with one click. Then before I know it there are a million tabs open on my computer, the internet is wigging out, it is two o'clock in the morning and I have spent a few good hours letting the minutes tick by in in photographic form. Having said this, photo blogs are a great place to seek inspiration if your feeling thoroughly unproductive, or alternativley, a great place to waste time, which again is handy if your feeling thoroughly unproductive.

One that I have just stumbled upon is dreamwalking.tumblr.com which is where I found these lovely photos.

dreamwalking.tumblr.com

littlecupcakes

2009-07-27T22:02:00.000-07:00

We are back!

After moving house and going through more jobs then Fran from Black Books, my life has finally settled into some sort of mild routine that accommodates for a wee bit of blogging. And what better way to return to the cyber world than with a cupcake, lots of little ones in fact!

Little Cupcakes is an aptly named treasure trove of baked and iced goodness that can be found when walking through the coffee filled alleyway maze of Melbourne. I was lucky enough to get my hands on lots of these treats (probably too many) when I was down there in pursuit of a lobster phone. My favorite flavors are Red Velvet and Raspberry and White Chocolate. Delish

Here is the link to the site to have a peek at its cuteness.
http://www.littlecupcakes.com.au/

There is only one difference between a madman and me. I am not mad - Dali

2009-06-28T07:33:00.000-07:00

He took his inspiration for the famous melting clocks from over ripe Camembert cheese and his works are now showing in the National Gallery of Victoria. Yes it is Salvador Dali, ever controversial and forever a genius. It would be superfluous of me to even begin to describe his brilliance, so I shall leave you with this:

"Each morning when I awake, I experience again a supreme pleasure – that of being Salvador Dali" - If every one adopted this attitude the world would be a better place.

Here is the link to the gold
http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/dali/#id=Dali&num=01

petty cash.

2009-06-22T03:01:00.000-07:00

i heart petty cash. situated on victoria rd across from enmore park, it is always full of regulars and locals, as it is rather hard to stumble upon otherwise. i highly recconmend the fruit bread (think more banana bread than rasin toast) and if you want a little extra cuteness, the chai, as it comes dressed in its own little chicken outfit. just note - its closed mondays and tuesdays. who doesn't want to go somewhere that offers picnic rugs for those extra chilly mornings. yay.

i want to go back now

2009-06-19T16:18:00.000-07:00

When I told people that I was going on a holiday to Vietnam at the end of year 12 many scoffed and retorted with "what's in Vietnam?" or "why would you go there?". Well my uninformed friends, this is some of what Vietnam has to offer and I hope you had a riot hanging out with the police, getting wasted and spewing up in gutters at schoolies on the Gold Coast while I was in "the crown jewel of south east Asia".

photos by Gernott Worther

nostalgia.

2009-06-18T04:20:00.000-07:00

summer. before the heatwave. its freezing right now. so im thinking of then.

hopless hotel

2009-06-18T04:02:00.000-07:00

after surrounding myself with the same underwear sets for the past zillion days and realising that at least nintey nine people own the same underpanties and bras its nice to find something a little different i saw on the frankie blog a little while back. and completely awesome. and sexy. and pretty. and based on the singing garden in alice in wonderland.

hopelesshotel.com.au

hola.

2009-06-18T03:54:00.001-07:00

i am back. havent posted in a million years due to not having a day off in forever (how do people work retail full time - unless it is their own shop - its totally beyond me) and planning for my newly booked holiday a la japan - eeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

source?

i want to live here

2009-06-18T02:29:00.000-07:00

and eat oranges and put daisies in my hair

thismakesmehappy

2009-06-17T05:23:00.001-07:00

Marrickville shops are the best.

I don't mind waiting for you to return, I really don't.

a rainy day on a bike in the inner west

2009-06-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

It was raining yesterday, and there is nothing I enjoy more than going out, riding around, listening to Radiohead and enjoying that fantastic smell that is produced after rain.
I took a camera with me and below is the result.

Trusty $15 bicycle purchased from Reverse Garbage

These photos were taken on the Cooks river in marrickville near our apartment.

Suburbia is just as pretty

Toy Story anyone? This makes me so happy when I walk past it on the way to the train station.

burnbabyburn

2009-06-15T23:25:00.001-07:00

These are some chillies that Emma and I have grown on our tiny veranda in our apartment. They are super easy to grow, in fact these ones actually grew out of a milk crate that I snaked from Woolworths, plus they are tastey and verrrrry hot which is good if your a chilli addict like myself.

So go and grow yourself some chillies!

The Cloud Appreciation Society

2009-06-14T02:41:00.000-07:00

Yes I am a cloud fiend.
When I wake up and see some spectacular cumulous smiling down at me I know I am in for a good day. I tend to spend way to much time staring at clouds and it quite often results in embarrassing stumbles and/or people thinking I am insane. For a long time I thought the only person who sympathized with this infatuation for "lofty lofty clouds" was the fictional character Prince Andrey of "War and Peace", however, thankfully, I am not alone in my love for clouds. There is a great group on the internet called The Cloud Appreciation society that unites cloud lovers world wide. They have a plethora of fantastic photo's to explore, cloud inspired art, poetry and even their own manifesto which can be seen below:

We believe that clouds are unjustly maligned and that life would be immeasurably poorer without them.
We think that they are Nature’s poetry,and the most egalitarian of her displays, since
everyone can have a fantastic view of them.
We pledge to fight ‘blue-sky thinking’ wherever we find it.Life would be dull if we had to look up at cloudless monotony day after day.
We seek to remind people that clouds are expressions of the atmosphere’s moods, and can be read like those of a person’s countenance.
Clouds are so commonplace that their beauty is often overlooked. They are for dreamers and their contemplation benefits the soul. Indeed, all who consider the shapes they see in them will save on psychoanalysis bills.

And so we say to all who’ll listen:
Look up, marvel at the ephemeral beauty, and live life with your head in the clouds!"

Here a photo from The Cloud Apppreciation Society's site:

http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/

Nintendo’s mascot is a short, pudgy, Italian plumber

2009-06-11T18:27:00.000-07:00

Need to save the kingdom defeat the bad guy get the girl at the end?

Now many would think that to achieve all this one must have super video game powers that involve something along the lines of: ultimate-blastoid- awesome- gun - lazar- death stars-fire ball- seismic toss- super-death karate chop-agility-thunder bolt

Well Nintendo laughs in the face of all these hopelessly boring stereotypes.

While Sega’s “Street fighter” was just a bunch of trailer trash giving each other nipple cripples Nintendo was devising a video game team that was nay on unbeatable. And you know why? Because their main characters include an Italian plumber a mushroom and …Well I don’t know what the fuck Yoshi is (after doing a quick Google search on my favourite green- licking- egg shitting character I discovered that he is in fact a dinosaur.). Now that my friends is pure 100% triple distilled awesomeness.

Mario

Oh Mario- you were never my favourite character, always the “all rounder” with no specific talent except for speaking like a hideous Italian stereotype and perhaps fixing the people of the Mushroom Kingdom’s toilets as their local plumber. But where would my childhood be with out thee? (Note: probably more educated).

Mario is the Mascot for Nintendo and has appeared in over 200 video games, which is a huge achievement by anyone’s standards. Mario first appeared in the Donkey Kong arcade game and was referred to as “Jumpman”. Apt Yes. However after this first appearance he has since progressed to other skills such as puzzles, racing, sports, fighting, role-playing, educating and even making cameos. For a character that his creator Shigeru Miyamoto expected to be very unpopular he has done very well for himself.

Yoshi

Communicates in a completely tonal manner, which essentially no one can understand except, you guessed it Yoshi, which also means get the fuck out of the way or your gonna get eaten. Then pooped out again as an egg.

Luigi

Has been described in Wikipedia as “cowardly, but when he does get the courage to step up, he can be tough and overcome his fears”.
Well to that I say: Whatever, you’re a massive winger when you lose at Mario tennis, which is often. Very often.

Global oil crisis- who you gonna call?
Bowser

Bowser is known as Kuppa in Japan. Miyamoto named him 大魔王クッパ or “Daimaō Kuppa” meaning "Great Demon King Koopa". Kuppa came from the Japanese name for, gukbap, a Korean dish.

So logically:
Korean food +Nintendo+ Petrol = enemy spiky turtle beast king, yes?

Toad

According to Wikipedia “Toad is the general collective name of the "Mushroom People" found in the Mushroom Kingdom, who are a sapient, anthropomorphic race with a peaceful and human, following monarchistic culture.”

Toad is my favourite character, namely because he is a mushroom, however “monarchistic culture”? Communist revolution I say!

Boo

The most amazing ghosty ever

Shy Guy

The most amazing masked dude ever

This photo blows my mind.

oh Morrissey

2009-06-10T04:39:00.000-07:00

I haven’t listened to this album but:
a. Morrissey looks like a truck driver on a long slog from Dapto to Glendambo
b. He looks like he is about to molest this small child.
c. WHY IS HE HOLDING THIS BABY FROM ITS CRUTCH!?
d. He should be holding a meat pie and a "big cold beer", not a baby.

Seriously. I don’t care how beautifully crafted his winging is, how lovely his phrasing is or all the times he has given me cynical company on the train to uni while I am squished between a wall with suspicious stains on it, a business man and a man with man boobs larger than mine. I won't buy it. Not even to pay homage to his seemingly indestructible quiff.

But I’ll download it

PINK

2009-06-10T02:32:00.000-07:00

flickr, google images, theselby

Shameless plug No. 1

2009-06-07T06:19:00.000-07:00

On Friday the 12th of June Billy Jean Demos will be taking to the Candy's stage for the first time in a long while in support of Yellowbird's EP launch for "Songs About Girls and Revolutions". Strange Reactions will be headlining the night with a blistering set, so all should come. There will be much dancing to be had, preferably involving pointing fingers and hair.

So come watch us play for super-fun-happy-times.
http://www.myspace.com/billyjeandemos

EnJOYsticks!

2009-06-05T18:30:00.000-07:00

EnJOYsticks!

It’s comforting to know that when you google “Joysticks” that actual joysticks come up, sometimes it hard to take a band seriously when they are more well known that what their name represents. (I know there are many exceptions to this eg. The Doors who definitely supersede actual doors) I like bands that are new, not insanely well known. I find, for some reason, it gives them a sense of legitimacy. This Sydney band who describe themselves as “Positive Coherent Indie” may conjure up childhood arcade hours or video games nostalgia but they are much more interesting. Their music is Vampire Weekend-ish, with a bit of rock. They are a happy, peaceful rock and roll. Personally I think they are one of Sydney’s greatest upcoming bands. I saw them perform for Swift Love at Candys Apartment. The show was spectacular, they drew the crowds from the caves and the music loud as usual filled the room, and my ears (I could still hear it for a long time after we left. “Oh Poseidon to Neptune, well I think that’s what I sang anyway). Shea on keyboard bashed away more than chords, and the songs have that amazing ability to make you swing your hips and smile a bit. They played Your House, Radiation and my two favourites Bushfire and Poseidon. They are definitely worth seeing. Seriously!.. EnJOYsticks!
They have a few gigs coming up!
Stalk them on myspace and facebook!.
http://www.myspace.com/joysticksthe

Sie liebt dich

2009-06-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

She Loves You in German
Need I say more.

No

The June 4th Incident

2009-06-04T06:56:00.000-07:00

On June 5th 1989 an anonymous man armed with nothing but shopping bags prevented the advance of four formidable Chinese tanks. He became a symbol of rebellion all over the world, and now, twenty years later he is the subject of the exhibition currently showing at Chippendale's "Serial Space". There are a range of innovative works ranging from collages, sketches, print, painting and even dancing in Deborah Kelly's "Tank Man Tango" that all represent this pivotal moment in history in a fresh and insightful way.

I highly recommend taking a moment to visit.

magophilia.

2009-06-03T03:33:00.000-07:00

WHERE CAN I BUY RUSSH JAPAN?

someone please help me! do you think kinokuniya would stock it?

oh haaaaaai.

2009-06-03T02:12:00.000-07:00

I am actually alive. just so happens that work, uni end of semester assignments and most specifically my immune systems lack of actual working ability have evaporated my life as of late. If my brain can function through all this congestion i will post something cool. but fuck, im on holidays as of tomorrow. I should be drinking champagne from a pink sugar flute and eating like, don't know, halluomi or fairy floss or something. Now that i think about it i might blow uni off tomorrow and watch land before time in a pink nightgown like an oversized five year old. maybe ill even buy an ice cream or complain about not wearing matching underpanties with my best friend.

note: above picture of girl is awesome. where do i find polish of this hue? kit? also. nude lipstick. fuck off, im doing it.

other note: that cat is wearing a hello kitty suit. do i really have to say any more than: weapon.

knighttcat, plastic bamboo

Hannah Montana, Radiohead and the Master Musicians of Tanzania

2009-05-31T08:19:00.000-07:00

Hannah Montana scares me, or Miley Cyrus, either way it’s a hideous fusion that I don’t fully understand. It makes me nostalgic for the days where I danced around in my bedroom blissfully listening to Five …wait ... I mean… I didn’t listen to fi… ok well at least they didn’t threaten to “ruin” Radiohead. For those of you who don’t waste their life reading Who Weekly, lil’ Miley made this ever so formidable threat after Radiohead snubbed her at some music bigwig awards show. I presume she would ruin them by singing to them, which of course would induce simultaneous Radiohead suicide, and that little piece of paparazzi encased gold was the most entertaining piece of trash gossip I had read since I found out that Suri Cruise eats only with chopsticks. I mean, if I had those things near me at her age I’m pretty sure they would have entered some sort of orifice where chopsticks are NOT supposed to go. Is that weird?

Anyway in this day and age where miss Mon-Cyrus is dominating the airwaves and Lady Gaga is singing shit like “lets have fun, this beat is sick, I wanna take a ride on your disco stick” I advise looking beyond our western shores and some what depressing mainstream music and look to Africa.

Two records that I have been listening to nonstop lately are “Missing You (Mi Yeewnii)” by Baaba Maal and “Mateso” by The Master Musicians of Tanzania. Yes I know these two cds are hardly discs to go flaunting around Oxford Arts Factory to demonstrate your highly educated indie ear, but they are amazing. African culture has a completely different perspective on music, rather than being cerebral (like dear Morrisey's angst) it is much more spiritual and almost trance inducing. The cyclic motions of the polyrhythms are insane; I cannot even understand how they play some of the rhythms they do.

It’s quarter past one in the morning, and I could stay up all night telling you how brilliant African music is, but one must sleep apparently. I highly recommend these two cd’s, they are not for the feint hearted, don’t be expecting too many verse/chorus/verse/chorus, but fuck. They are amazing.

Both of these cds are available on Amazon. Look them up and give in to the hypnotic African grooves

Mateso- Master Musicians of Tanzana:

Missing you- Baaba Maal:

Beautiful Word Clouds

2009-05-30T07:28:00.000-07:00

http://www.wordle.net/

My mother put me onto this nifty little site. It gives one a visually stimulating outlet for procrastination, so fittingly I tried it out with an essay of which I have made about the same amount of progress as a morbidly obese sloth trying to walk on two legs up a hill with a steep incline while wearing roller blades. Yeah, not much progress.

Anyway, this site basically takes what ever you type into it and turns it into some sort of word picture as seen below.

And here is another one constructed from some sort of rant.

http://www.wordle.net/

G-H-O-U-L

2009-05-29T18:05:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday night a few friends and myself, in midst of ignoring all Uni work, headed off to Spectrum to catch a Ghoul show. Personally I thought it was great, a musical ear could pick a glitch here and there, but who the fuck wants to listen/cares about that? As I said, a marvelous performance. They played the older songs from the EP with prowess and unleashed some new songs on the excitable audience at spectrum. Staying true to their roots, the down fall of the set was it’s length, it seemed as though it had only just started when they announced their last song and I think somewhere in my mind I worked out the ratio of Ghoul time to cover charge cost (it was 50 cents per minute). Anyway it was twenty fifty cent minutes well spent in my book.

Oh and having an extra floor tom is brilliant, if I didn’t already play drums I would take up full time floor tom duties. Pavle was shredding during the set, but I couldn’t shut up that heckler in the back of my head that was constantly yelling “play There There”, God dammit insanity.

Here’s are a few photo’s taken by Emma and I.

So after having finally witnessed their performance, I managed to organize an email interview with Ivan from Ghoul.

Your EP “Mouthful of Gold” was launched at the end of last year, how does it feel looking back on the record now?

There are bits we like and bits we hate. I guess it shouldn't have really been 9 tracks... there are 3 or 4 duds on there. It was good to just get it out and it's great that people are listening to it and getting into it. We've pushed over 1000 units... great for a local release. I'm just happy we have something to call our own.

I’ve read that the EP was recorded in a bedroom, have their been any changes to the recording process this time round? Possibly upgrades?

Yes and no. Drum tracking for the album has been done in a proper studio with more microphones. For Mouthful it was done at home.

A lot of the overdubs are done in my bedroom in front of the computer. I think as long as you've got the right gear and you know what you want from it, you could record anywhere. There's no need to pay someone money to make your record... unless it's Brian Eno or something.

Your songs seem to be driven by an idea, drum pattern or riff, rather than a traditional song structure. How do you go about song writing?

The EP wasn't very democratic. Something would be composed on the computer and people would record bits over the top of it. Then we culled it back or change it completely. Now, we get an idea from a demo or a jam in rehearsal. We record it straightaway, just to get something down into the computer we can work with. Then we try to figure out how we're going to play it live... which is usually where things get fleshed out even further. Then back to recording. Back and forth, constantly.

We're really into repeat patterns, syncopation... stuff like that. I don't think we really 'get' how to write a chorus... just counterpoints. The EP is like one counterpoint for each track... that's why they are so short. Have you consciously tried to go in a different direction with your new songs?

Yes. They're a little warmer, a little more developed...

You’re playing with an MPC in your live shows now; do you think this has changed the performance? Is it hard to get used to playing with it live?

It's giving us the opportunity to play things through, properly. Up until now we just transposed everything to guitar and it wasn't working. With the MPC we have another set of hands... it's not that we're playing along to a backing track or anything. All the samples have to be triggered at the right second or the whole thing goes to shit.

I noticed there was a distinctly different feel in the songs when played live. What is your approach to live gigs?

Yeah less dream synth pop and more liars... ahaha. We're still working on our live show, it's pretty dogs balls. Some things we had to change, like Swimming Pool, just to make it sound bigger. Serbian and Jakob are pretty close to the recording. Loon was figured out post-recording, but I think if we recorded it again it would sound like that. Scary.

And the 20-minute thing... yeah, sets are really short... by accident. I mean, we play 7 or 8 songs but they're all around 2 minutes. Ohana used to play 20 minutes.... we're working on that too.

I guess we're not as twee as we make out to be on the EP. We're just trying to do better things... a little more serious? hahaa I'm not sure.

I saw a Ludwig kit on stage at spectrum, channeling some Ringo?

Hanno got it the other week. It's perfect. Loud as.

Any plans in the near future for touring?

We want to go to Melbourne this year, but we really need to get our live show on par before. No point in disappointing people.

Do you have a favorite venue to play at?

I like main stage on Oxford Art Factory because the foldback isn't shit. The worst is when you can't hear yourself singing.... I just miss everything. Sounds terrible.

The floor in the other room is cool too. Love playing in the midst of people.

What are your favorite bands at the moment?

Better yet, records we are listening to:

Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85 - 92
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
This Heat - Out of Cold Storage

They've got a few gigs coming up, some to fundraise for FBI, so get yo asses theya!
http://www.myspace.com/ghoulsydney

Questionable yet imppressive and sometimes edible food

2009-05-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

Will Anderson, Todd Sampson and Co from Gruen Transfer please stand down, partly because the Chaser is back- YES! but also because with out all the fancy degrees and highflying businesses Asian novelty groceries no how to do it SO much better, and it is rather simple.

• Packaging must be bright
• Must use words such as- happy, super, good and friend (note: they must be used out of context)
• Must have questionable cartoon characters on the package spruking the product
• And as a general rule just sell weird shit

Oh I totally want to eat that! Half the chocolate DOUBLE THE CALORIES! All for a $1.30
Now that’s marketing.

The words "instant", "jellyfish" and "natural" should never be used in the same sentence.

Small children and flowers in a field- where is the link to biscuits I hear you ask? There is none- HA
But fuck I want those buiscuits.

The title of the product is “Oh! Ricey”
There is an exclamation point in the title of the product and they use the word Ricey- I’m sold

Birds Nest Drink – It’s nutritious

And here is a beautiful fusion- Birds nest mixed with white fungus. Does coke own that?

Rice Wine vs Holly

2009-05-27T07:35:00.000-07:00

So I was drinking this rice wine when I was in Vietnam thinking it was normal.
Turns out it is actually cooking wine.
Thank you Marrickville Grocer for informing me that my liver is dead.

Cue- irrelevant anecdote about rice wine:
In the freezing Vietnamese mountains there is a town called Sapa.
A seven kilometer walk out of Sapa takes you to a village with an equally as cool name but; an eighth of the population, double the amount of dogs, triple the amount of chickens and no real roads.

This village is where rice wine punched me in the stomach.

After dinner in the village our host brought out some home brewed rice wine. After a glass that I gladly accepted my stomach began to feel a little, shall we say- erratic
It was at this point I began to question the nature of the strange liquid that was keeping my freezing body oh so warm- yet- erm- my mouth slightly numb. Despite the shit load of wine I drink I haven’t experienced much diversity out side of the “juice box” range, and even though I am not likely to be able to detect the “delicate oak vanilla red” from crushed grapes I do believe that I can pick when there is something funky going on in a bottle of wine. Funk should not be in wine bottles.
Note to self: there isn’t supposed to be suspicious specs of brown organic matter in “rice wine” and “wine” isn’t supposed to be coming out of a Pepsi bottle- and why isn’t the guy who brewed the “wine” drinking it. Hmmm
Fuck

Anyway- to cut a long story short. I am very poor at cards. Was made to consume too many shots of “rice wine” for my poor form at blackjack and subsequently had a riot squirming around in “my bed” with the worst stomach pains known to man.

And the moral of the story is one of the following:
a) Don’t drink rice wine
b) Go to Vietnam
c) 65% of the human body is made out of water. Woah!

op shop scores numero due

2009-05-27T03:13:00.000-07:00

Super Ted $2, Looney Tunes: Daffy Duck $2, Annie Hall $4 and Manhattan $4 - I cannot believe I found these Woody films in Vinnies. I squealed a little.

Peter Alexander sweater. So what someone has probably been sleeping in it and its too big. Its fucking comfy. and piiiiiiiiink. $3

oversized shirts are awesome in any shape, form, colour, pattern, etc. $3

I am so in love with this. another squeal inducer. $3

how cool is the religious sticker. I wonder what its for.

pink Glo Mesh wallet $2

Op Shopping can make one a little hungries. perfect hometime snack. coconut cookies, chinese bread, seasme candy

yay for the things I found today. go to - Marrickville Vinnes on Marrickville Rd and U Turn Recycled Fashion also on Mville Rd.

grindhouse.

2009-05-26T15:48:00.000-07:00

I have a big thing for Tarantino. Perhaps the sexiest creeper ever.

I also have a big thing for Death Proof. Perhaps one of the sexiest films ever.

I also have a big thing for the soundtrack to this film and consuming pepperoni pizza and tequila whilst dancing around to it.

Oh to be a Death Proof girl.

google images

Wendy Whiteley's Secret Garden

2009-05-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

Wendy Whiteley is most often noted for being the wife and muse of great Australian artist Brett Whiteley. While she was the inspiration and often the driving force behind much of Brett’s work, often her great creative talent goes ignored. On numerous occasions Brett proclaimed that she was in fact the better artist with superior technique and skill, however, Wendy’s creative pursuits were not restricted to conventional forms.

After the death of Brett Whitely in 1992 she transformed a derelict piece of land in Lavender bay into what might me described as a little piece of utopia.

Photos from
http://shiratdevorah.blogspot.com

op shop scores numero uno

2009-05-26T04:25:00.000-07:00

unfathomably shit photograph that corresponds with the below post. this is our booty of vinnies sourced VHS thus far. more to come baby, more to come.

The Animals of Farthing Wood

2009-05-26T03:13:00.000-07:00

There is only one word to describe The Animals of Farthing Wood, and that is EPIC. Emma and I have been taking advantage of old school videos being out of fashion at the moment and have taking to picking up some pure VHS gold from Vinnies on the way home from uni of a Tuesday afternoon.

What I have noticed is just how heavy this show was for a children's program. The snake is constantly trying to eat the mouse's babies, the fox totally gets his shmooze on with the pretty lady fox, the small animals demand "self determination" and talk of overthrowing the reigning badger and the owl has said things like “You’ll have to accept that fox and rabbit are dead”.
What the? No wonder I thought it was intense as a youngster.

tea + flowers = oh my god my brain just exploded from awesomeness

2009-05-26T03:10:00.000-07:00

Want to sit in an English garden? Want to watch the curls of Lord Henry’s cigarette unfold? Want to watch Doherty poorly strumming guitar in a grassy field?

Well too bad, you live in Australia.

But what better way to transport your self into the Moors of Wuthering Heights than with a cup of tea, a certain sort of tea in particular. Practically the only liquid I have been consuming lately is an infusion that is made up of white tea (a tea traditionally sipped by Chinese royalty- win!), lavender blossoms, and rose petals (in equal proportions), and if you have the benefit of having a flower shaped tea cup you can really drink the nectar from the blossom.

So make a cup, read something of along the lines of The Happy Prince and for a moment pretend that you’re sitting under a tree with Wordsworth.

Also
Despite my love for T2, it is a MASSIVE rip off. For all you tea fanatics, instead of buying the ridiculously expensive lotus balls or jasmine tea from there, go to one of the little Asian grocers on Illawarra road Marrickville. You can get a glass jar full of lotus balls for $12 and a bag of Green Jasmine tea the size of a pillow for $4 . It’s worth the trip.

iheartpenguin.

2009-05-26T01:56:00.000-07:00

Holly and I stared at these lustily in Books on King today. Want. Want. Want. All of it.

shop.until.com, artmeetsmatter.com

pretty pretty yum yum

2009-05-25T05:36:00.000-07:00

I have a confession.
I don't just have a france obsession, as it were. I also am somewhat of a (Japanofile?) as well. I am just now discovering a plethora of Japanese inspired blogs and cannot stop from clicking link after link. Two sites I am drawn to immediatley are Hello Sandwich and Pretty Pretty Yum Yum. I am adding them to the blogroll right away. Perhaps I may sqeeze an interview out of one of the creators in the near future. I am postponing everything untill my holidays, I know, but I actually will do it. Seven weeks is an eternity. In the meantime meander over to these sites and be cuted the fuck out.

prettyprettyyumyum

MarioMario, Where for art thou etc.

2009-05-25T03:07:00.000-07:00

Mario Testino is a Peruvian fashion photographer.

That statement and these photographs speak for themselves, no?

Claudia Schiffer for German Vogue - tfs