(yes foz, I know that is a sole line in a post about sage, b. dolan, cadence weapon and zucchini drive...)
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Support the underground, how bout a free CD?!
Same deal as below...
(yes foz, I know that is a sole line in a post about sage, b. dolan, cadence weapon and zucchini drive...)
(yes foz, I know that is a sole line in a post about sage, b. dolan, cadence weapon and zucchini drive...)
When in Rome...
In the interests of time, but also in the interest of some sort of chronology, I am putting up some pics now before I head out the door, and will come back soon and talk a bit more of my awesome AWESOME time at Ryan and Chiara's wedding in Rome.
But for now, check out where I just was...!
But for now, check out where I just was...!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
One year on, but I feel like the one that got away with something!
It’s been a little while since my last post, sorry mum and dad… *
It’s not like I haven’t wanted to keep you up to date. It isn’t because I have had nothing to report. It’s actually because I have been super busy ticking off (and adding more to) the list of things I set out to achieve as part of this little adventure!
Craig reminded me that it was (or is soon to be?) queens birthday weekend back in Oz, and that it has been a year since our place got robbed. That robbery could aptly be described as the straw that broke the camels back and convinced me I was due for a change of circumstances. I don’t remember just how much I mentioned it to you at the time (less sure about the rest of you reading here), but I was pretty pissed off with my job, and felt in a bit of a rut as far as friendships, relationships etc. Canberra all of a sudden felt a little bit claustrophobic.
Not wanting to sound too precious, all was rolling along fine I guess, but after 4 years in the one job, constantly fighting to justify my existence, with more and more friends moving out of Canberra, and with me and the rest of my circle going about our groundhog-day like routine, smaller and smaller things started getting me down.
You know I’m generally a happy guy, but I was noticing myself getting pissed off and/or a little depressed from time to time, and being pissed off and depressed is something that pisses me off and depresses me (!).
I had a few things that kept me happy and grounded. One was spending the best part of last year hanging out with/getting to know/and living with Craig. He is pretty much the only person I know (in the real, non internet message-board based world) with more or less the same left field musical tastes as me, with a shared interest in abstract and underground/alternative hip-hop. Another was spending countless hours emailing/joking/scheming and musically collaborating with Ryan and Ben from across the globe. We used the internet to form a band, discuss music, write and share lyrics and instrumentation and even coordinate a virtual recording weekend with hopes of putting together a demo/EP. A weekend was settled on where Ryan went to Ben’s in Amsterdam, recorded vocals over some MP3’s of my beats that I sent him, and they emailed them back to me to mix down into the original tracks…
Those vocal tracks were delivered to my inbox at pretty much the exact same time as my computer was dragged from my house through a pile of wreckage that included the 5 or so remaining CD's from my 200 or so strong collection of fairly specific and in parts very rare music, a few left over cables that were once connected to my computer, musical gear, Craig’s TV, stereo amp, Gravy’s (later recovered but pretty beat up) turntables, Chilco’s now scratched up records… and also through blood drips and broken glass.
Enter the camel and pile of straw. I spoke to Ryan via phone at about 1am Oz time, after I’d taken stock of what happened, and heard his voice for the first time in about a year since I was on the holiday where I met him. Our conversation basically involved me throwing my hands up and admitting defeat. I had had it with my circumstances and conceded to what I’m now happy to call a mid youth crisis. I decided I was going to try and move overseas. Since that day and that decision things have gotten better and better pretty much every day, and I don’t know if I’ve ever been this happy!
One year on, still no EP, but definitely no less enthusiasm. Still a lot of distractions for all of us, but mostly good healthy music related distractions! The amount of talk between the 3 of us about music, the recording of vocals already done, the working, fine tuning, learning new software, understanding each other’s strengths and developing our sound, and the attendance of gigs, meeting musicians etc has kept things moving at their same slow and steady pace. But I’m pretty sure once we all get together and record in the same room at the same time (something that hasn’t happened yet), magic may just happen, and minds could quite possibly explode… That, or we will all have another of the “best days of our lives” hanging out doing what we enjoy doing.
More updates from across the continent soon (with Pics).
*Dad, you have asked a few times about my musical aspirations, and I have been meaning to fill you in (still am, just haven’t got to it yet), so hopefully this explains a bit more.
It’s not like I haven’t wanted to keep you up to date. It isn’t because I have had nothing to report. It’s actually because I have been super busy ticking off (and adding more to) the list of things I set out to achieve as part of this little adventure!
Craig reminded me that it was (or is soon to be?) queens birthday weekend back in Oz, and that it has been a year since our place got robbed. That robbery could aptly be described as the straw that broke the camels back and convinced me I was due for a change of circumstances. I don’t remember just how much I mentioned it to you at the time (less sure about the rest of you reading here), but I was pretty pissed off with my job, and felt in a bit of a rut as far as friendships, relationships etc. Canberra all of a sudden felt a little bit claustrophobic.
Not wanting to sound too precious, all was rolling along fine I guess, but after 4 years in the one job, constantly fighting to justify my existence, with more and more friends moving out of Canberra, and with me and the rest of my circle going about our groundhog-day like routine, smaller and smaller things started getting me down.
You know I’m generally a happy guy, but I was noticing myself getting pissed off and/or a little depressed from time to time, and being pissed off and depressed is something that pisses me off and depresses me (!).
I had a few things that kept me happy and grounded. One was spending the best part of last year hanging out with/getting to know/and living with Craig. He is pretty much the only person I know (in the real, non internet message-board based world) with more or less the same left field musical tastes as me, with a shared interest in abstract and underground/alternative hip-hop. Another was spending countless hours emailing/joking/scheming and musically collaborating with Ryan and Ben from across the globe. We used the internet to form a band, discuss music, write and share lyrics and instrumentation and even coordinate a virtual recording weekend with hopes of putting together a demo/EP. A weekend was settled on where Ryan went to Ben’s in Amsterdam, recorded vocals over some MP3’s of my beats that I sent him, and they emailed them back to me to mix down into the original tracks…
Those vocal tracks were delivered to my inbox at pretty much the exact same time as my computer was dragged from my house through a pile of wreckage that included the 5 or so remaining CD's from my 200 or so strong collection of fairly specific and in parts very rare music, a few left over cables that were once connected to my computer, musical gear, Craig’s TV, stereo amp, Gravy’s (later recovered but pretty beat up) turntables, Chilco’s now scratched up records… and also through blood drips and broken glass.
Enter the camel and pile of straw. I spoke to Ryan via phone at about 1am Oz time, after I’d taken stock of what happened, and heard his voice for the first time in about a year since I was on the holiday where I met him. Our conversation basically involved me throwing my hands up and admitting defeat. I had had it with my circumstances and conceded to what I’m now happy to call a mid youth crisis. I decided I was going to try and move overseas. Since that day and that decision things have gotten better and better pretty much every day, and I don’t know if I’ve ever been this happy!
One year on, still no EP, but definitely no less enthusiasm. Still a lot of distractions for all of us, but mostly good healthy music related distractions! The amount of talk between the 3 of us about music, the recording of vocals already done, the working, fine tuning, learning new software, understanding each other’s strengths and developing our sound, and the attendance of gigs, meeting musicians etc has kept things moving at their same slow and steady pace. But I’m pretty sure once we all get together and record in the same room at the same time (something that hasn’t happened yet), magic may just happen, and minds could quite possibly explode… That, or we will all have another of the “best days of our lives” hanging out doing what we enjoy doing.
More updates from across the continent soon (with Pics).
*Dad, you have asked a few times about my musical aspirations, and I have been meaning to fill you in (still am, just haven’t got to it yet), so hopefully this explains a bit more.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Doing it Big, Amsterdam Style!
Last week was pretty much one of THE BEST weeks of my life. Actually, not "pretty much", it WAS one of the best weeks of my life! This post is going to partly for keeping you all up to speed, partly to document some happy times, and partly to act as "a test of memory recall against the odds"... with alcohol playing the part of "the odds".
Saturday 26th April. Went down to Brussels with Ben and Judith to see Ryan's "Power Force". We trained to Den Haag, stopped in with Judith's family and had a nice quick lunch before borrowing their car and driving interstate. (international, but...you know, 2 hours should not count as international). The play was really good. I had already read it numerous times while typesetting, so already had preconceived notions of what each character should look, sound and act like. Even though Stacy did not quite come across right in my mind, Mick and Wayne both far surpassed what the script asked for. The night was padded out by some comedy routines in the form of a guitar trio, some spoken word , some improv sketches, and a lot of drinks. After the play we went to a end of show party and got to work on the next mornings hangovers.
Sunday 27th April. Slow start, then off to breakfast with Ryan, Chiara and Valentina. To the park for a bit of football between sunning, as it was an amazing day. Then back to Amsterdam via an hour or two in Antwerp (an awesome looking place that I'm keen to spend more time in soon), a car drop off in Den Haag and a train ride back to Centraal. Motty was there, waiting to meet me and start his huge week in Amsterdam. We went to Ben's to collect some giant bean bags, aka my new spare bed(s), move them across town on the trams (funny story in itself), and then we enjoyed a few quiet beers at my new local bar I'd been keen to visit for a while but had always been alone this side of town. Of course a few quiet beers still involved being asked very nicely by the barman to please leave and stop being charming to the lovely bar girl, as it is now 2 am.
Monday 28th April. Work shifts this week were 8am - 4:30pm. Not too bad really. With the sun staying up till 9:30pm these days, there is still plenty of daylight to enjoy after work, but a 4:30pm clock off still feels like an early finish. I am getting the hang of the job pretty quickly and had a pretty good few days there, which don't need to be elaborated on in this post. Monday night, met up with a few other new friends, Sanne and Kaja, for a few quiet beers and a catch up. Motty went to a gig a bit later in the eve and I headed home fairly early - about midnight.
Tuesday 29th April. Got woken up at 6am by Motty, who was just back from what sounded like an awesome gig. Being up at that time was fine though, as Gav called Motty from Oz, and I got to talk to him. Nice hearing another voice from back home. 8 hours of work pass. Tuesday eve aka Queens Night (the night before queens day, as opposed to the actual evening of queens day, which is known as queens-day-night.... right?!) started with us heading to a ex-squat house/venue that a rapper I like from Canada may or may not have been playing at... Turns out he wasn't there, but the gig/experience was still kinda cool, hanging out with Amsterdam's relatively unseen crusty punk crowd. After that show we joined in on a cycle into the city with a huge anarchic group of these punks, which was great chaotic fun, as there were not many other way's of cutting through the masses of people heading in all directions across the streets. We caught up with the full crew, including Ben, Judith, Dan, Shelle, Sheila (American, not Aussie), Kaja and her friend, and Dans brother Tom, who is also visiting Europe at the moment. After a few more drinks in the city wide street party we moved to Ben's for an impromptu dance party in his place. Home about hmm.... should we call it, umm... 3?
Wednesday 30th April. QUEENS DAY! Dragged our abused bodies out of bed in order to meet up with Motty's friend Leonie at 10am, as she offered to take us on a boat with her friends, an offer that you just don't pass up on queens day. Too right! Spent 2 or 3 hours cruising through the canals, and it was just the most amazing way to start this amazing day. The boat had about 15 of us on it, 2 kegs of beer, and a great old stereo (not that we needed it, there was music coming from everywhere, especially the thousands of other boats also running around the place. The city really goes absolutely crazy for this day, a mass of orange clothing, hats, wigs and whatever else, along with food, drinks, and 2nd hand "anything" lining LITERALLY every inch of sidewalk not filled with people. I hear the population of Amsterdam doubles over Queens Day, from 7 to about 14 million people? Crazy. Afternoon was easy going for us, up at Dan and Shelles before heading out into the streets for a few hours of walking around soaking up this awesome vibe, and dancing in the streets. Important to note that there was next to no hostility between anyone anywhere we went (bar one dickhead that threw a book that hit Judith. No big deal, and the book turned out to be quite funny, providing a lot more joy than it did pain). I really don't think a city wide drunken party of this scale could ever work in Australia (or many other places) without a lot more alcohol fueled violence. Evening ended after a few more hours dancing up a storm at a hip-hop club with Sanne and Kaja, with others coming and going around about the place. Got home at... hmm... shall we say 4am? This day was a constant smile, and really did reaffirm just how super happy I am to be here, even if it is away from family and friends.
Thursday 1st May. Woke slow, another public holiday, so we just chilled until heading over to Ben's place in the arvo, where we all got involved in a big casual cook up, as it was Dan, Shelle and Tom's last night in Amsterdam for a few weeks. Another chilled perfect day.
Friday 2nd May. Woke. Worked. Beers in the arvo with Leonie which turned in to her cooking us a traditional Dutch meal - Stamppot. It was Lekker! Then we dressed in our best formal wear (my old shirt and tie, and Motty in a suit jacket he found on queens day), as we were attending a gig that Sanne and Kaja were putting on (and I did the poster design for) - the Artsy Farty Patsy Party: Pretty Prom Night. Don't ask. I've found thats the easiest approach to understanding these crazy Europeans! It was a nice interesting gig, but we had to make tracks, as we were off to another gig at the Bimhuis (mentioned in a previous post about Pierre Bastien). This time it was an avant garde electronic dance party, featuring 2 warp records artists - Flying Lotus and Hudson Mohawke, and a local Glitch hop DJ - Cinaman. Awesome music, awesome venue, and awesome company (including Sheila, Judith, and her old/my new friend Neils, from Rotterdam). Got home well after dawn.... about hmm... 6ish?!
Saturday 3rd May. Treated ourselves to a nice sleep in, felt we deserved it. Woke up about 12... Made our way towards the city for brunch (I know... but lets call it that anyway), and then off to the Westerpark for a nice friendly game of 3 on 3 soccer. Physical exercise for the week - check! After an hour or so of that (and a controversial Canberra team win) we made our way to a terrace bar to soak up a few more rays and a few more beers, as our angry livers had at this point become addicted and needed weaning or something...?!? After some delicious Indonesian take away me and Motty headed up to club elf (11) - a nice place to take in sunset and a view of the city from one of the highest vantage points, 11 stories up. After this we strolled back in to town with Leonie, via the red light district - the very same district we all agreed that we dislike English "tourists" a lot more than we dislike English "people". Motty and I, knowing we had an early 5 am start to get him onto a plane back to London, decided we should move towards home, but just popped in to the local bar for one or two more quiet ones before bed...
Sunday 4th May. So......... haha.... With a good 45 minutes sleep under my belt, we rose and rode to Centraal, with AT LEAST a minute to spare before Motty's train made its way out to the airport, and I headed back to sleep for another 5 hours!
Holy heck....
In the words of Mr Andrew Mottram, CRIKEY! What an awesome week. I had such a great time hanging out with friends, both old, newish, and new, and actually, I'm kinda bummed that tonight has been quiet enough to finally catch up on writing this!
Having Motty here all week was so awesome, and once again helped shrug off any lingering feelings of homesickness. I was so glad that he got to share/contribute to all this enjoyment, as all my words really don't do the whole thing a lick of justice.
Saturday 26th April. Went down to Brussels with Ben and Judith to see Ryan's "Power Force". We trained to Den Haag, stopped in with Judith's family and had a nice quick lunch before borrowing their car and driving interstate. (international, but...you know, 2 hours should not count as international). The play was really good. I had already read it numerous times while typesetting, so already had preconceived notions of what each character should look, sound and act like. Even though Stacy did not quite come across right in my mind, Mick and Wayne both far surpassed what the script asked for. The night was padded out by some comedy routines in the form of a guitar trio, some spoken word , some improv sketches, and a lot of drinks. After the play we went to a end of show party and got to work on the next mornings hangovers.
Sunday 27th April. Slow start, then off to breakfast with Ryan, Chiara and Valentina. To the park for a bit of football between sunning, as it was an amazing day. Then back to Amsterdam via an hour or two in Antwerp (an awesome looking place that I'm keen to spend more time in soon), a car drop off in Den Haag and a train ride back to Centraal. Motty was there, waiting to meet me and start his huge week in Amsterdam. We went to Ben's to collect some giant bean bags, aka my new spare bed(s), move them across town on the trams (funny story in itself), and then we enjoyed a few quiet beers at my new local bar I'd been keen to visit for a while but had always been alone this side of town. Of course a few quiet beers still involved being asked very nicely by the barman to please leave and stop being charming to the lovely bar girl, as it is now 2 am.
Monday 28th April. Work shifts this week were 8am - 4:30pm. Not too bad really. With the sun staying up till 9:30pm these days, there is still plenty of daylight to enjoy after work, but a 4:30pm clock off still feels like an early finish. I am getting the hang of the job pretty quickly and had a pretty good few days there, which don't need to be elaborated on in this post. Monday night, met up with a few other new friends, Sanne and Kaja, for a few quiet beers and a catch up. Motty went to a gig a bit later in the eve and I headed home fairly early - about midnight.
Tuesday 29th April. Got woken up at 6am by Motty, who was just back from what sounded like an awesome gig. Being up at that time was fine though, as Gav called Motty from Oz, and I got to talk to him. Nice hearing another voice from back home. 8 hours of work pass. Tuesday eve aka Queens Night (the night before queens day, as opposed to the actual evening of queens day, which is known as queens-day-night.... right?!) started with us heading to a ex-squat house/venue that a rapper I like from Canada may or may not have been playing at... Turns out he wasn't there, but the gig/experience was still kinda cool, hanging out with Amsterdam's relatively unseen crusty punk crowd. After that show we joined in on a cycle into the city with a huge anarchic group of these punks, which was great chaotic fun, as there were not many other way's of cutting through the masses of people heading in all directions across the streets. We caught up with the full crew, including Ben, Judith, Dan, Shelle, Sheila (American, not Aussie), Kaja and her friend, and Dans brother Tom, who is also visiting Europe at the moment. After a few more drinks in the city wide street party we moved to Ben's for an impromptu dance party in his place. Home about hmm.... should we call it, umm... 3?
Wednesday 30th April. QUEENS DAY! Dragged our abused bodies out of bed in order to meet up with Motty's friend Leonie at 10am, as she offered to take us on a boat with her friends, an offer that you just don't pass up on queens day. Too right! Spent 2 or 3 hours cruising through the canals, and it was just the most amazing way to start this amazing day. The boat had about 15 of us on it, 2 kegs of beer, and a great old stereo (not that we needed it, there was music coming from everywhere, especially the thousands of other boats also running around the place. The city really goes absolutely crazy for this day, a mass of orange clothing, hats, wigs and whatever else, along with food, drinks, and 2nd hand "anything" lining LITERALLY every inch of sidewalk not filled with people. I hear the population of Amsterdam doubles over Queens Day, from 7 to about 14 million people? Crazy. Afternoon was easy going for us, up at Dan and Shelles before heading out into the streets for a few hours of walking around soaking up this awesome vibe, and dancing in the streets. Important to note that there was next to no hostility between anyone anywhere we went (bar one dickhead that threw a book that hit Judith. No big deal, and the book turned out to be quite funny, providing a lot more joy than it did pain). I really don't think a city wide drunken party of this scale could ever work in Australia (or many other places) without a lot more alcohol fueled violence. Evening ended after a few more hours dancing up a storm at a hip-hop club with Sanne and Kaja, with others coming and going around about the place. Got home at... hmm... shall we say 4am? This day was a constant smile, and really did reaffirm just how super happy I am to be here, even if it is away from family and friends.
Thursday 1st May. Woke slow, another public holiday, so we just chilled until heading over to Ben's place in the arvo, where we all got involved in a big casual cook up, as it was Dan, Shelle and Tom's last night in Amsterdam for a few weeks. Another chilled perfect day.
Friday 2nd May. Woke. Worked. Beers in the arvo with Leonie which turned in to her cooking us a traditional Dutch meal - Stamppot. It was Lekker! Then we dressed in our best formal wear (my old shirt and tie, and Motty in a suit jacket he found on queens day), as we were attending a gig that Sanne and Kaja were putting on (and I did the poster design for) - the Artsy Farty Patsy Party: Pretty Prom Night. Don't ask. I've found thats the easiest approach to understanding these crazy Europeans! It was a nice interesting gig, but we had to make tracks, as we were off to another gig at the Bimhuis (mentioned in a previous post about Pierre Bastien). This time it was an avant garde electronic dance party, featuring 2 warp records artists - Flying Lotus and Hudson Mohawke, and a local Glitch hop DJ - Cinaman. Awesome music, awesome venue, and awesome company (including Sheila, Judith, and her old/my new friend Neils, from Rotterdam). Got home well after dawn.... about hmm... 6ish?!
Saturday 3rd May. Treated ourselves to a nice sleep in, felt we deserved it. Woke up about 12... Made our way towards the city for brunch (I know... but lets call it that anyway), and then off to the Westerpark for a nice friendly game of 3 on 3 soccer. Physical exercise for the week - check! After an hour or so of that (and a controversial Canberra team win) we made our way to a terrace bar to soak up a few more rays and a few more beers, as our angry livers had at this point become addicted and needed weaning or something...?!? After some delicious Indonesian take away me and Motty headed up to club elf (11) - a nice place to take in sunset and a view of the city from one of the highest vantage points, 11 stories up. After this we strolled back in to town with Leonie, via the red light district - the very same district we all agreed that we dislike English "tourists" a lot more than we dislike English "people". Motty and I, knowing we had an early 5 am start to get him onto a plane back to London, decided we should move towards home, but just popped in to the local bar for one or two more quiet ones before bed...
Sunday 4th May. So......... haha.... With a good 45 minutes sleep under my belt, we rose and rode to Centraal, with AT LEAST a minute to spare before Motty's train made its way out to the airport, and I headed back to sleep for another 5 hours!
Holy heck....
In the words of Mr Andrew Mottram, CRIKEY! What an awesome week. I had such a great time hanging out with friends, both old, newish, and new, and actually, I'm kinda bummed that tonight has been quiet enough to finally catch up on writing this!
Having Motty here all week was so awesome, and once again helped shrug off any lingering feelings of homesickness. I was so glad that he got to share/contribute to all this enjoyment, as all my words really don't do the whole thing a lick of justice.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The TomTom Club
3 and a half months sure have flown by eh.?! Yep. Holidays sure are great! Unfortunately, though, there comes a time in every "intrepid young (and handsome) traveler"s life when he must own up to the guilt of a cruisy lifestyle of 10am wake ups, 3am (+/-) bed times, and no real obligations in between... besides bringing the beer to the next party... or showing up to the gig on time... etc...Yes, alas, It was time to get a job.
But you WILL be pleased to know that I did my usual "not too much" in order to get this job.
I handed my CV to a friend that works there one week, I got a call for an interview the next, and went in for the interview that afternoon (my idea, as I was off to Paris the next morning). It went really well, and talked myself up more than ever before. Yeah, seriously, this intrepid young (and handsome) traveler talked himself up! It was weird and funny and I was impressed with myself all at once. My last interview was pretty average and typical, so I was quite chuffed with my performance this time round. Went something kinda like this (liberal use of 'wank' for effect):
What can you bring to the team?
Well... In my old job I played both the joker, and the voice of reason, sometimes both at once depending on the situation... So I think I could work a bit like a pendulum and help balance the workplace and find that happy medium...
How do you deal with upset clients?
Well, I'm glad you asked. I have never officially studied psychology or counseling techniques, but I feel I have a natural aptitude to read a situation and adjust my tact in order to push my point and achieve a result that suits my purpose, whilst still keeping the client on side...
And so on. Was pretty funny. Also, the interview was definitely not hindered any by the fact that I had already been for a night on the town with one of the interviewing supervisors.
So yeah, I got a call the next day and the job is mine!
At a week and a half of training in so far... so far so good.
Oh yeah, what I'm actually going to be doing is working as a "Customer Support Officer" for the UK team of TomTom - Europe's leading GPS device company. I will be answering calls from confused and/or angry UK citizens that are having trouble with their TomTom, and I will try troubleshoot a fix or organise a repair.
Should be pretty easy, and pretty fun, with plenty of young, cool and multicultural people working there. Everyone seems easygoing and all that. And I'll be working next to the Nordic team, so atleast while I'm stuck in an office for a bit more of my life, I will be constantly reminded that I'm stuck in an office... in Europe.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Paris
Last week was spent in France with my Gran, Mum and Aunty. They are visiting Europe, and it would have been just plain rude of me not to take full advantage of their hospitality and crash on the floor of their apartment for a few nights in the Montmartre area of Paris.
It could have just been just first taste of spring. It could have been some subconscious rekindling of old sights and sounds from my childhood. It could have been all the characters walking straight off the Amelie set (or back on to...). It could have been something else.
But there is something about this part of Paris that I just fell in love with.
I took about 200 photos over the 4 days I was down there, cause, well, a picture DOES tell a thousand words.... As my pictures often get to the point quicker and better than I do, Here are 11,000 words.
View out of one of the apartment windows.
View out of the bathroom. Actually out of the window above the bathtub/shower. Each morning I opened the window and took all this in whilst showering. Thats the Sacré Coeur in the middle there.
Typical view from the area we were in.
Totally sweet french graffiti.
We went to Giverny one day, to Monet's house. His gardens were pretty, um.... pretty.
Yep. Springtime is on its way....finally!
Went to the Moulin Rouge one eve, as it was about 10 mins walk from our place. Unfortunately, as you can see, the best tickets I could afford for this place left me with a fairly limited view of the dancers...
Metro. Lamarck Caulaincourt.
Gran and Mums on the Metro.
View from the Australian Ambassador to France's Apartment, top floor of the Australian Embassy. Yeah thats right. We ran in to an old family friend, who also happens to be the Ambassador's wife, and had been in Paris for only a matter of hours when we ran in to each other in the street... We organised to go in to her place for coffee a few days later. Highrollin'. I lived in the same building and had a similar view when I was 4. Oh yeah, thats the Eiffel Tower in the background there.
Wall.
For anyone that has a newer cannon digital camera, I recommend playing with the extra settings. Most of these were taken using the "foliage" option, and as a result, I have not needed to use photoshop like usual to get the colours looking so vibrant.
It could have just been just first taste of spring. It could have been some subconscious rekindling of old sights and sounds from my childhood. It could have been all the characters walking straight off the Amelie set (or back on to...). It could have been something else.
But there is something about this part of Paris that I just fell in love with.
I took about 200 photos over the 4 days I was down there, cause, well, a picture DOES tell a thousand words.... As my pictures often get to the point quicker and better than I do, Here are 11,000 words.
View out of one of the apartment windows.
View out of the bathroom. Actually out of the window above the bathtub/shower. Each morning I opened the window and took all this in whilst showering. Thats the Sacré Coeur in the middle there.
Typical view from the area we were in.
Totally sweet french graffiti.
We went to Giverny one day, to Monet's house. His gardens were pretty, um.... pretty.
Yep. Springtime is on its way....finally!
Went to the Moulin Rouge one eve, as it was about 10 mins walk from our place. Unfortunately, as you can see, the best tickets I could afford for this place left me with a fairly limited view of the dancers...
Metro. Lamarck Caulaincourt.
Gran and Mums on the Metro.
View from the Australian Ambassador to France's Apartment, top floor of the Australian Embassy. Yeah thats right. We ran in to an old family friend, who also happens to be the Ambassador's wife, and had been in Paris for only a matter of hours when we ran in to each other in the street... We organised to go in to her place for coffee a few days later. Highrollin'. I lived in the same building and had a similar view when I was 4. Oh yeah, thats the Eiffel Tower in the background there.
Wall.For anyone that has a newer cannon digital camera, I recommend playing with the extra settings. Most of these were taken using the "foliage" option, and as a result, I have not needed to use photoshop like usual to get the colours looking so vibrant.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
The Power Force
My "esteemed colleague", Mr Ryan Millar, has written his first award winning* play. It's also the first play he's written. Period. Not bad eh? I've read it. It's good. It's funny.
Over the weekend on my stop in Brussels on my way back from Paris, (whole other post to follow...) I helped Ryan out, as good mates do, with the design and layout of the book, and design of some promo fliers and stickers. These items are the first "physical" fruits to come out of the 'actual and very much real' Maxcap Publishing wing of the Maxcap Media Empire.
Being that I am fortunate enough to currently be living in the northern hemisphere, I am happy to be able to attend and enjoy the play, and also enjoy seeing one of my buddy's passions come to fruition.
*Winner of the American Theatre Company’s One-Act Playwriting Competition 2007
PUNCH YOUR LUNCH:It’s the second day of her internship at MaxCap Publishing and Stacy Jean Gray couldn’t be more excited. However, when the boss shows up with a brand new set of leadership principles to put into force it threatens to ruin the office. Can Stacy draw on her day of experience and help save the office? If you said ‘yes’, you’ve either already read the play, seen it, or have a pretty good handle on how stories generally go.
When you see an opportunity you’ve got to just grab it, and squeeze it, and hit the shit out of it until it cries. In that way you make it yours.
- Useful advice from unpublished self-help manuscript The Power Force, by Charles Bell
Over the weekend on my stop in Brussels on my way back from Paris, (whole other post to follow...) I helped Ryan out, as good mates do, with the design and layout of the book, and design of some promo fliers and stickers. These items are the first "physical" fruits to come out of the 'actual and very much real' Maxcap Publishing wing of the Maxcap Media Empire.
Being that I am fortunate enough to currently be living in the northern hemisphere, I am happy to be able to attend and enjoy the play, and also enjoy seeing one of my buddy's passions come to fruition.
*Winner of the American Theatre Company’s One-Act Playwriting Competition 2007
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The Ghetto's of Alkmaar
Saturday night was one hell of an adventure...
I was excited to hear that one of my favorite underground rappers, MC Epic, was performing in the Netherlands!
I've been in to him for a few years now. At first I kinda liked him for how funny and cheesy his style, delivery and a lot of his lyrics were (like "Straight outta Edmonton like when Gretsky was a rookie / My grandma makes quilts, and bomb-ass cookies"), but as I listened deeper it became apparent to me that hes actually got a lot to say. Slowly but surely I became a big fan.
He is just about as un-hip hop as a rapper can be, stereotypically speaking, from his nerdy voice, straight grey hair and zero interest in "hip hop" brands or commercialism. But his love for the craft and prolificness in the scene is unsurpassed.
He's just a regular guy from the Canadian prairies (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan originally, now living in Edmonton, Alberta), talking about regular things. Things I can actually relate to. Another appeal is his approachability (via the internet). This aspect relates to a lot of my favourite music at the moment.
When I saw on the tree-house (endemik music/clotheshorse records/shadowanimals) forum that Epic, Ancient Mith, Tullie and Pierre the Motionless were playing across Europe I was stoked. For whatever reason the closest gig to Amsterdam was in a small town about 30 K's away, called Alkmaar.
So I checked out the train times, packed a few supplies and headed out in the afternoon to have a look around the town a bit before the gig. Alkmaar is beautiful. Like Amsterdam, but with what felt like a little more order. Wider, cleaner streets, straighter roads and a nice friendly vibe. It was lightly snowing on and off throughout the evening and this added a bit of a fairytale feel.
I made it to the venue as it was opening at 8pm and looked around. It was the only building in a public park, and felt more like a youth drop-in centre than a concert venue. This feeling was based partly on the graffiti everywhere, and partly on all the young "youth centre" type kids hanging around. Oh well, they served beer and there was a stage for the performers, so everything I needed was catered to.
After a few minutes I spotted and introduced myself to a tall, unassuming grey haired chap called Erin (aka Epic). He recognised me as "shortcut kid" from the tree-house forum, and was instantly excited to meet another person there for the music and not just because that's "where everyone else was hangin' ". He was instantly open and talkative and introduced me to the rest of the guy's playing that night, who were also all open and friendly. I played it cool but I was pretty excited to actually be hanging out with people who I look up to musically. Fortunately for me when I get nervous I tend to talk more, not less, so pretty quickly it got comfortable.
I hadn't had dinner, and neither had Erin, so we went for a walk 5 mins back into the city centre and looked for a place to eat. Conversation came easily, mainly revolving around music, Our thoughts on Europe, the appeal of Australia (he's never been) and Canada (I've never been). We opted for a Sri-lankan restaurant, which was some of the best vegetarian I've ever had.
During dinner the weirdest thing happened! A few kids started running up the street out the front of the restaurant... then a few more.... then "holy shiiiii.....!" there were about 30 kids (I'd guess between 16 - 20 years old) having a full on gang fight, like 15 vs 15! Bikes were getting thrown, a shop window got smashed and a few punches and kicks were flying around. It was over (atleast what we could see) as quickly as it started, and police cars were rolling around shortly after, which made the idea of our walk back to the gig a little more appealing. Very strange though! I offered to pay for dinner, which Erin accepted after a bit of hesitation. I have downloaded his music, and while he realises this is how a lot of new fans hear his stuff at all, especially those across the planet, I still felt this was a nice way to pay him back.
On the way back we passed Alkmaar's red light district, which was surprisingly large. Erin had never seen a red light district like Holland is famous for, so we went for a tourist lap around. Funny stuff! He was amazed and I was amused! He couldn't get over the fact that a lot of the girls were attractive, as the stereotype of "women of the night" in the Canadian Prairies is a little rougher, with the districts being referred to more as "truck stops".
Back to the venue, it wasn't long until Pierre the Motionless performed. I had heard a few songs on his myspace page but didn't know too much. He was excellent! Very fast raps. Now I don't claim to be a rapper, but it does aways make me a little bummed when an english-as-a-second-language person just goes ahead and kicks my ass at it! haha! What impressed more was his beats. Talking to him I discovered that he makes a lot of the music and also performs with the group "Motionless", who incorporate a drum machine, a turntable, keys, a trumpet and live visuals. He was also a real nice dude, and I look forward seeing him again in a few weeks when he plays here in Amsterdam (with James P Honey and Thesis Sahib!).
Tullie the Rapper played next and pumped out a few tracks in fairly quick succession. Sort of strange mix of slow raps for the most part, then a blast of fast stuff. Pretty cool. It was kinda cool and funny also that all the music was playing through his mobile phone. Technology, eh?!
Epic was on next, and did his thing. No gimmicks, just him on stage rapping to a backing CD. His style definitely does not appeal to everyone, and those there that were just hanging out quickly decided they were happy sitting up the back or wherever. This didn't seem to bother Epic too much, and it sure didn't bother me, I was up front with Braden (Ancient Myth) singing along, loving it! He played a fairly quick set of about half an hour, but still managed to tick off a few of my favourite tracks - Dave Steib, Another Left Wing Peace Song, Midnight Run, Thought Process - and a few new tracks.
Ancient Mith was last, and dude puts on a hell of a show! All over the stage, up on a beer crate, sitting, laying on an in front of the stage, and even UNDER the stage! He did a good job of getting the crowd into it with a lot of caller-response and sing along choruses. He uses a lot of microphone effects and got me thinking about my own music possibly incorporating some of the same processes.
Overall the evening was great. I picked up Epic's new CD "Aging is What Friends do Together" which is awesome, he has definitely stepped up his quality level and lyrics, and the beats are great as ever. Because I paid for dinner earlier he gave me a copy of "Local Only" as well as a few copies of the new CD. Plus I made a few new friends across the globe, and I am now welcome and have a place to stay whenever I visit Edmonton!
The evening reinforced my love for the underground rap scene, appreciation of the community spirit, and has recharged my musical drive. Yay!
I was excited to hear that one of my favorite underground rappers, MC Epic, was performing in the Netherlands!
I've been in to him for a few years now. At first I kinda liked him for how funny and cheesy his style, delivery and a lot of his lyrics were (like "Straight outta Edmonton like when Gretsky was a rookie / My grandma makes quilts, and bomb-ass cookies"), but as I listened deeper it became apparent to me that hes actually got a lot to say. Slowly but surely I became a big fan.
He is just about as un-hip hop as a rapper can be, stereotypically speaking, from his nerdy voice, straight grey hair and zero interest in "hip hop" brands or commercialism. But his love for the craft and prolificness in the scene is unsurpassed.
He's just a regular guy from the Canadian prairies (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan originally, now living in Edmonton, Alberta), talking about regular things. Things I can actually relate to. Another appeal is his approachability (via the internet). This aspect relates to a lot of my favourite music at the moment.
When I saw on the tree-house (endemik music/clotheshorse records/shadowanimals) forum that Epic, Ancient Mith, Tullie and Pierre the Motionless were playing across Europe I was stoked. For whatever reason the closest gig to Amsterdam was in a small town about 30 K's away, called Alkmaar.
So I checked out the train times, packed a few supplies and headed out in the afternoon to have a look around the town a bit before the gig. Alkmaar is beautiful. Like Amsterdam, but with what felt like a little more order. Wider, cleaner streets, straighter roads and a nice friendly vibe. It was lightly snowing on and off throughout the evening and this added a bit of a fairytale feel.
I made it to the venue as it was opening at 8pm and looked around. It was the only building in a public park, and felt more like a youth drop-in centre than a concert venue. This feeling was based partly on the graffiti everywhere, and partly on all the young "youth centre" type kids hanging around. Oh well, they served beer and there was a stage for the performers, so everything I needed was catered to.
After a few minutes I spotted and introduced myself to a tall, unassuming grey haired chap called Erin (aka Epic). He recognised me as "shortcut kid" from the tree-house forum, and was instantly excited to meet another person there for the music and not just because that's "where everyone else was hangin' ". He was instantly open and talkative and introduced me to the rest of the guy's playing that night, who were also all open and friendly. I played it cool but I was pretty excited to actually be hanging out with people who I look up to musically. Fortunately for me when I get nervous I tend to talk more, not less, so pretty quickly it got comfortable.
I hadn't had dinner, and neither had Erin, so we went for a walk 5 mins back into the city centre and looked for a place to eat. Conversation came easily, mainly revolving around music, Our thoughts on Europe, the appeal of Australia (he's never been) and Canada (I've never been). We opted for a Sri-lankan restaurant, which was some of the best vegetarian I've ever had.
During dinner the weirdest thing happened! A few kids started running up the street out the front of the restaurant... then a few more.... then "holy shiiiii.....!" there were about 30 kids (I'd guess between 16 - 20 years old) having a full on gang fight, like 15 vs 15! Bikes were getting thrown, a shop window got smashed and a few punches and kicks were flying around. It was over (atleast what we could see) as quickly as it started, and police cars were rolling around shortly after, which made the idea of our walk back to the gig a little more appealing. Very strange though! I offered to pay for dinner, which Erin accepted after a bit of hesitation. I have downloaded his music, and while he realises this is how a lot of new fans hear his stuff at all, especially those across the planet, I still felt this was a nice way to pay him back.
On the way back we passed Alkmaar's red light district, which was surprisingly large. Erin had never seen a red light district like Holland is famous for, so we went for a tourist lap around. Funny stuff! He was amazed and I was amused! He couldn't get over the fact that a lot of the girls were attractive, as the stereotype of "women of the night" in the Canadian Prairies is a little rougher, with the districts being referred to more as "truck stops".
Back to the venue, it wasn't long until Pierre the Motionless performed. I had heard a few songs on his myspace page but didn't know too much. He was excellent! Very fast raps. Now I don't claim to be a rapper, but it does aways make me a little bummed when an english-as-a-second-language person just goes ahead and kicks my ass at it! haha! What impressed more was his beats. Talking to him I discovered that he makes a lot of the music and also performs with the group "Motionless", who incorporate a drum machine, a turntable, keys, a trumpet and live visuals. He was also a real nice dude, and I look forward seeing him again in a few weeks when he plays here in Amsterdam (with James P Honey and Thesis Sahib!).
Tullie the Rapper played next and pumped out a few tracks in fairly quick succession. Sort of strange mix of slow raps for the most part, then a blast of fast stuff. Pretty cool. It was kinda cool and funny also that all the music was playing through his mobile phone. Technology, eh?!
Epic was on next, and did his thing. No gimmicks, just him on stage rapping to a backing CD. His style definitely does not appeal to everyone, and those there that were just hanging out quickly decided they were happy sitting up the back or wherever. This didn't seem to bother Epic too much, and it sure didn't bother me, I was up front with Braden (Ancient Myth) singing along, loving it! He played a fairly quick set of about half an hour, but still managed to tick off a few of my favourite tracks - Dave Steib, Another Left Wing Peace Song, Midnight Run, Thought Process - and a few new tracks.
Ancient Mith was last, and dude puts on a hell of a show! All over the stage, up on a beer crate, sitting, laying on an in front of the stage, and even UNDER the stage! He did a good job of getting the crowd into it with a lot of caller-response and sing along choruses. He uses a lot of microphone effects and got me thinking about my own music possibly incorporating some of the same processes.
Overall the evening was great. I picked up Epic's new CD "Aging is What Friends do Together" which is awesome, he has definitely stepped up his quality level and lyrics, and the beats are great as ever. Because I paid for dinner earlier he gave me a copy of "Local Only" as well as a few copies of the new CD. Plus I made a few new friends across the globe, and I am now welcome and have a place to stay whenever I visit Edmonton!
The evening reinforced my love for the underground rap scene, appreciation of the community spirit, and has recharged my musical drive. Yay!
Monday, March 24, 2008
House Hunting
Sorry people, I have been a little distracted from posting lately. For the past few weeks I have been house-hunting.
Ben gets back on April first. When he's back in his place, Dan and Shelle are back in their place, and I'm....
So about a week and a half ago I thought I should start looking. Thought I'd go with the soft approach of emailing anyone I know and asking them to email anyone they know who may have a room. A few days later, no word. I needed to step up my game a bit, and with a bit of advice and help from Dan, I put together some notices for the public noticeboards at various Albert Heijn grocery stores.
The next day *ring ring*! A call from somebody who saw a notice and had a room at the right price and in the right area! Yay! Checked it out. Boo.... What a dive! A mouldy, dirty, gypsy squat-like dive. Oh, and the "2 rooms" I would be getting had a total floor space of about 6 feet x 10 feet or so. Ha, as nice as it all was, I graciously said no thanks.
A few more notices went up around the place but no calls came my way. So I hopped online and searched out a few more places that sounded o.k, and YAY, I got several calls the next morning - all from the real estate companies that apparently put the adds up online disguised as "real people", and that would happily rent me the rooms if I pay them a months rent as a commission for finding the place for me! Thank guys!
Then I came across another website that actually did have real people putting up real adds (strange as it may sound). I went and checked out a place that I found via this site, which would have been fine, if perhaps a bit expensive.
But in the meantime I had placed a free classified in the Amsterdam weekly - The local English language street press. That resulted in a few more calls and I have now agreed to move into a BIG room in an old house off the back of the Vondelpark (huge public park - great place to relax in summer). The room is an ex artists studio, so has a nice creative vibe, and the live-in landlady was very nice. I haven't met the upstairs house-mates yet but I think they will be pretty easygoing hippie types, judging by the incense in the air and the lentils in the fridge.
More about this place no doubt once I move in next week.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
maxcap
Ben, Ryan and Myself have been pretty busy working on some of the initial behind the scenes stuff, in anticipation of setting up a website to house both our joint and individual creative output.
The name of the collective is "maxcap" - a name Ryan came up with I think years ago, but the idea is basically a catchy way to say Maximum Capacity - the level at which we like to work on whatever it is we are working on, and present whatever it is we are presenting...
I will be housing my design there, we will have music up, writing and video production samples, and, well, whatever else we want really.
It's our house. The beginning of our empire!
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