nightporter81

Stretch & yawn - sleep is good after a week on a bunk bed at a backpacker hostel... So I'll be going back to Brissy after a big family/friends Xmas do and a massive week in Byron Bay culminating with NY's celebration of that ruined paradise's main beach (which in turn got crashed by random horny/drunk backpackers, gay tourists, surfie bogan kids and a John Butler lookalike who tried to scab a free beer off us after playing some nondescript acoustic hippy shit). Good times, good times indeed my friends. Stars @ the Zoo tomorrow will be my first covered show of 2009, followed by many more including Morcheeba and BDO. Now for another cup of liver-cleansing tea... Happy New Year everyone! :)

Peter Sarstedt - Where Do You Go To My Lovely

You talk like Marlene Dietrich
And you dance like Zizi Jeanmaire
Your clothes are all made by Balmain
And there`s diamonds and pearls in your hair

You live in a fancy appartement
Of the Boulevard of St. Michel
Where you keep your Rolling Stones records
And a friend of Sacha Distel

But where do you go to my lovely
When you're alone in your bed
Tell me the thoughts that surround you
I want to look inside your head

I've seen all your qualifications
You got from the Sorbonne
And the painting you stole from Picasso
Your loveliness goes on and on, yes it does

When you go on your summer vacation
You go to Juan-les-Pines
With your carefully designed topless swimsuit
You get an even suntan, on your back and on your legs

When the snow falls you're found in St. Moritz
With the others of the jet-set
And you sip your Napoleon Brandy
But you never get your lips wet

But where do you go to my lovely
When you're alone in your bed

From The Darjeeling Limited OST. Jason Schwartzman is an amazing actor, but that moustache was hideous. Natalie Portman, however, is still gorgeous.

As far as things go, I'm a happy man again, doing what I love doing and being admired by someone who's genuinely into me, so the chance meeting with the abovementioned redhead at Champs-Elysees (which is also a song by Joe Dassin from the same movie) will probably have to wait - that is, if it ever occurs during my time in this crazy world (fortune's a bitch, you know, but then so is karma). After all, je suis un raconteur et entrepeneur...

Japan next year, then hopefully Canada, Europe, America, Winterland, introducing the band.
Big things lie ahead.

That's right, the Paddo - you can check out from that place anytime, but you can never leave because they won't let you once you start regularly attending Monday jam nights. Makes me wish I didn't have stuff to do in the morning. On the plus (or maybe minus?) side, there haven't been any bogan confronations lately - instead, I has crook, which is highly inconvenient considering I'm looking at another live event and jam-filled weekend and there's a gig to play at the Zoo with Dream Sequence amidst next week's craziness. Good thing I've got plenty of honey and garlic pills as I need to be in shape for this kind of a lifestyle. As one of the industry guest speakers said at last week's class, journalism won't make you much money but it will give you a much richer life - he was on the money with that one. Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to music journo-land I go. Anyhow, to cut a long story short - both this and last week have involved so much writing for RAVE, driving around town, going to gigs and uni-related stress I cannot possibly tie it all in one post, so I'll give it the usual breakdown.

Highlights:

-seeing Tim Finn @ Troub last Monday
-seeing Finn @ Paddo (tribute act who do spot-on Crowded House) last Tuesday
-seeing Sparkadia @ the Zoo last Friday
-submitting my last piece of assessment for uni this Monday
-setting shortlisted for BDO (confirmation whether I'm going or not pending)
-scoring Martha Wainwright, That 1 Guy, Sting and (possibly) Pivot gigs to review and a bunch of artist interviews including Morcheeba
-jumping in to write a feature on Miss Kittin for Fiend mag (in the works)
-day-long jam session with Fiona and Freddy at my place last Sunday
-the now-traditional pre-gig burgers at Grill'd in Brunswick St and Monday night steak at the Paddo

Lowlights:

-nearly asphyxiating from the heat and the humidity @ the Zoo
-feeling blah since Tuesday with the throat bug
-post-work and study tiredness and apathy
-not having enough time to cook proper food

Looking forward to:

-the John Steel Singers @ the Zoo tomorrow night
-Jeff Martin @ QUT Guild Bar Sat night
-Martha Wainwright @ the Tivoli next Tuesday
-playing the Zoo next Wednesday with Franticmiss, Grundermat and The Noise
-The Birthday Massacre @ the Zoo next Thursday
-Dub Day Afternoon festival @ the Step Inn - don't think I have to pack a cone for that one as the place will most probably be covered in a thick haze of pot smoke
-the aforementioned big gigs

According to a random XXXX-drenched yobbo down the Paddo who hasn't met me before until 30 minutes earlier, if I'm still doing journalism, I'm fucked. Hmmm, now let's see: how fucked would I be if I had a richer life than your average shitkicker, went to see artists like Tim Finn, Jeff Martin and many, many more FOR FREE with an option of bringing my friends FREE OF CHARGE and wrote cohesive reviews, as well as dominated the soon-published university newspaper story-wise and attended NUMEROUS events and conferences around town where the cream of local media would be present AND they would know my name and face? I've gotten to a stage where I have low tolerance for shit-talking randoms, however instead of telling the said cheesy bogan to fuck off, I politely outlined that I was aiming for an HD in my last 2 subjects, upon which I expected to graduate and continue my journalistic journey. That seemed to have a reasoning effect on the dipshit and he relented that if I've had good marks, I wasn't fucked; well, thanks for that, mate, but you seriously ought to stick to your dead-end job instead of discussing something you know jack-shit about. This was the last concession I've made for a clueless yobbo - they're increasingly becoming my pet hate; shame Brisbane is infested with them. Any tips on verbally (or physically) eliminating these foul specimen? *gets a "Yobbobusters" T-shirt made

Well, I haven't blogged here in ages, the reasons outlined in the following point-by-point summary:

1. An ever-growing pile of stuff to do for uni, work (Gold Coast office) and the still-unpaid journo work (RAVE)
2. Mounting stress
3. A severe lack of spare time
4. A constant "everyone wants a piece of me for their own good" feeling
5. Growing panic regarding my physical inability to put together a portfolio - the final and most important uni assessment item this semester - due to all above points.

To add insult to injury, my 1-year old Sony Ericsson phone is now officially FUBAR ('fucked up beyond any repair' for those unfamiliar with that abbreviation) after Optus decided they couldn't do anything about it randomly dying and restarting. The above phone is also out of warranty which leaves me to rely on ancient-yet-trusty Nokia 6230i brick until my financial situation impoves. On the bright side, one of my RAVE stories got syndicated for republishing in an interstate street mag, which means they owe me money; I got my 'conditionally approved' graduation papers from uni and I'll be going to a shit-ton of cool gigs in the next 3 weeks.

/end rant

EDIT: The 'still-unpaid' RAVE work is now officially paid - I've just checked my bank to find out that I've got my first contribution reward :)

...and I've got a shitload of work to do...
...and it's mostly great fun! :D

*transcribes another band interview

Shame getting onstage at Clarence Corner took forever due to Subkultchur playing essentially the same song for nearly 1.5 hours. Kudos to the lovely soundguy - from what I gathered, he did a good job on the sound out front despite the fact that the venue acoustics were beyond shite and I could barely hear my guitar onstage. Nevertheless it was a fun, sweaty night AND we got paid - bring on more shows!

w00tzorz! I haven't danced this hard since VNV Nation's gig in August. Review written and filed this morning to get printed in RAVE on Tuesday - shame Tycho couldn't do a set because their laptop kept fucking up due to idiot Qantas baggage handlers smashing their roadcase with electronic equipment :& Still, a great night and a plethora of quality electro/EBM/darkwave/instrustrial/futurepop music awesomeness. Geekage below:

LOLZ @ tragic goths in the line outside the venue commenting on "disturbed"-looking passers-by with pearlers such as "look at them shrivelling up in their own shallowness" - GOLD!
ROFLOLZ @ the story stemming from the Covenant meet & greet on Wed night involving an army/goth boy from Darwin, his random big-boobed shag partner, the table in the Botanical Gardens, a homeless person and a pair of coppers chasing some poor bastard - you don't even have to use your imagination to figure the rest
FAIL @ having to wait outside for an hour before finally getting in; the Step Inn's (Shamrock... meh) shitty acoustics; feeling utterly washed out after the gig and being drained today; Rhino's aftereffects
KUDOS to Tycho's lead singer for managing to generate some humour despite obviously being up shit creek with his bass guitar for a paddle - "hard as a rock", apparently. ROFLCOPTERZ @ an awesome dick joke!
OMGZORZ @ DoD guitarist's skyscraping mohawk
WIN @ Covenant, Destroid, Diary Of Dreams

PS Living in the Geekhouse has evidently rubbed off on me XD. I roxxors kkthkbai. lulz

...because I'm crazy busy writing music stories at RAVE, interviewing bands, reviewing CDs, doing newsbeats etc. And I'm loving it! Covenant meet & greet tonight, followed by their gig tomorrow @ the Step Inn which I'm covering for the live reviews section. So much to do, so little time!

From my blog at http://tallrussian.journalspace.com/

Ladytron's first Australian tour proper (their previous visit to the Land Down Under saw only two bandmembers play DJ sets) landed at Brisbane's Tivoli on Wednesday night amidst much anticipation. With seven years having passed between the releases of Liverpool electro fourpiece's debut album 604 and this year's Velocifero, Australian fans have been waiting to see them with bated breath and tonight was finally the occasion. The support act - Swedish synthpop duo Familjen - waste no time onstage, pumping out gloriously squelchy, bleepy tunes with highly infectious beats. It's a solid, if somewhat short set and the punters eagerly lap it up. What frontman Johan T Karlsson might lack in the charisma department, he more than makes up in sheer energy - he knows how to command the crowd's attention and evidently enjoys performing live, showcasing more than a few dance moves while singing. A short intermission follows, with the excitement thick in the air. As the house lights dim and the futuristic urban skyline visuals start flashing in the background, Ladytron take to the stage amidst loud cheers. Kicking off the proceedings with Velocifero's opener "Black Cat", sung-spoken in Bulgarian by the impossibly sassy Mira Aroyo, the band are instantly captivating - two gorgeous frontwomen in stylish dresses, flanked by static/enigmatic male musos, gracefully move to high-density grooves. The band's retro-futuristic sound is boosted by a live rhythm section which gives songs like "Runaway", "I'm Not Scared", "Deep Blue" and the recent single "Ghosts" an organic, rocky punch. Lead singer Helen Marnie is in great voice tonight, effortlessly switching between robotic and soulful tones; when she delivers the lilting 604 highlight "Playgirl", we are transported back to 1981 (the writer's year of birth). The band's set is heavily dominated by the material from Velocifero and its predecessor Witching Hour, leaving out old favourites "Evil", "He Took Her To A Movie", "Blue Jeans" and "The Way Than I Found You"; the hit-hungry crowd only literally shakes up into action when the glorious analog synth strains of the indie smash "Seventeen" hit the airspace. Following the rendition of the aforementioned 2002 dancefloor anthem, Ladytron walk offstage, only to return for an encore concluded by their finest moment, an impeccably sinister and affecting "Destroy Everything You Touch". The lights go back on and the awed punters begin seeping out of the venue, taking their Ladytron T-shirts and memories of an undoubtedly special night home with them.

...and it feels awesome! Looking forward to Eskil from Covenant's answers to my Qs :)

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/25/2374162.htm
Forward Russia! 8-)

P.S. I've subbed this and found the pic & audio

http://tallrussian.journalspace.com/

Nothing particularly groundbreaking, but still makes a change from subediting:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/23/2372030.htm

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/23/2371562.htm

And isn't it a fucking sad song too...

Your sorry eyes, they cut through bone.
They make it hard to leave you alone.
Leave you here wearing your wounds,
Waving your guns at somebody new.

Baby I'm lost
Baby I'm lost
Baby I'm a lost cause.

There's too many people you used to know,
They see you coming, they see you go.
They know your secrets and you know theirs
This town is crazy, but nobody cares.

Baby I'm lost
Baby I'm lost
Baby I'm a lost cause.
I'm tired of fighting
I'm tired of fighting
Fighting for a lost cause.

There's a place where you are going
You ain't never been before
There's no one laughing at your back now,
No one standing at your door
Is that what you thought love was for?

Baby I'm lost
Baby I'm lost
Baby I'm a lost cause
I'm tired of fighting
I'm tired of fighting
Fighting for a lost cause.

-Beck

Today I've interviewed John Birmingham after his talk session with Jim Frenkel at the Brisbane Writers Festival. Not only did he give plenty of great quote, he was also kind enough to autograph my copies of "Felafel" and "The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco" :D Feels good to know that one of Australia's best writers is also a champion bloke! Good on ya, John :)

http://blogs.brisbanetimes.com.au/bluntinstrument/archives/2008/09/warning_strong.html

The Postal Service - Such Great Heights (Iron & wine cover, featured in Garden State)

What.A.Massive.Saturday! *headache, queasy stomach, dehydration, fatigue

My big networking day started with me frantically driving around the city in vain search of a parking spot near the QUT; eventually I parked in a loading zone across the road from the QUT 5 minutes before our panel took to the table, having figured that even if I get a fine, I still get a free ticket to the awards dinner. Luckily I was just in time for our panel to get mic-ed up and take the stage. "Plug In: The Future of Journalism" kicked off in fine style as me and 2 girls from my class, Amy and Tran delivered our respective speeches and fielded questions from the audience (media professionals) and the discussion coordinator (John Taylor, ABC's "Stateline" presenter and a great bloke). Following our talk, we hung around for several other panels, had free lunch and propped some questions at the media figures. I can safely say it was hugely interesting to hear different opinions on the evolution/digitalisation of journalism and while the general consensus among the big shots was "you guys are the future of journalism but we know better with all our newspaper/radio/TV experience", I felt I was welcome at the conference and it was nice to know that Griffith Uni is a journalistic force to be reckoned with. Avoiding a parking ticket capped everything off nicely; I jetted back home to get changed for the QLD Media Awards dinner and bussed to Sebel & Citigate - ticketless, naturally, and as last-minute as ever. My course convenor who was supposed to have spare tickets on him didn't show up but that didn't stop me from getting in -it was after all my lucky day! And so the free alcohol-fuelled "night of all nights" begun...

Conference and awards night highlights:

-meeting David Higgins (News Digital Media/news.com.au editor) and asking him how important he thought celebrity stories and gossip were in increasing his website's popularity (classic response: "I don't mind Paris Hilton drawing readers to my site")
-getting 4 business cards (technically 3, but Amy said she'll email me David Higgins's one)
-meeting Hedley Thomas (a former investigative journalist, last year's Gold Walkley Award winner and the person who broke the story on Dr Haneef)
-catching up with all the familiar faces from ABC and the Courier Mail - my Feature Writing teacher Fiona Purdon was one of the awards finalists;
-getting told by Dan Koch (sports writer for the Australian I first met last week) he could get me a ticket to the next Broncos game at Suncorp
-meeting Peter McCutcheon from the 7.30 Report
-copious amounts of free food and alcohol
-watching John Taylor nearly get into a scrap with some bloke over his wife (onya John!)
-requesting "Funkytown" from the DJ who duly blasted it and busting some seriously 80s moves on the dancefloor
-feeling like I belong and loving every second of it

Lowlights:

-drunk rugby fans/dickheads (same thing) at KG Bar downstairs (freaking Bledisloe Cup!)
-waking up
-massive hangover and tiredness this morning

*skips dinner due to having demolished a hearty all-day breakfast designed to kill my hangover