28.03.08 - 31.03.08

The Month ended with a new moon and a crisp cold fulfilling air of creativity.

I have focused on organizing myself, I had a couple of days sick in bed with a flu, which was a nice break from everything, lovely to lie in bed and watch television without thinking, worrying, planning. This last weekend I spent the friday night with Milo in my room, he had stuff to get off his chest and I was tuned into his feelings, I felt like a psychologist sitting in my ball chair, sipping tea 'tell me more'.. ahem. He thanked me, said he felt a bit of sanity after talking. A lot of the time people just need to talk and have someone actually listen, they know it, you feel it, its out, processed. I felt like Momo.

Saturday I spent in my room working on my stuff, Milo and Jesse showed and we went to a Bike gig at the velodrome in the park behind Zoes. There was bike races and a great band called Crayon Fields played in the hall as we drunk beer and ate biscuits. Zoe invited me out to a comedy festival show, I was hesitant because it was a puppet show but Im glad I went. It was called 'Sammy J and the Forest of Dreams', honestly it was hilarious, perverted puppets but with such an innocent and cheeky delivery. I needed to pee so bad afterwards I ran out the second the lights went out and met up with the crew again. Kieran and Claire and her boyfriend. Zoe had to leave, it's weird, when i'm around her I still like her.. well it's not that weird, it's just silly how things are. We went to a bar to meet with Megs and her best friend Julz, watched some acoustic bands in a dimly lit bar, drunk red wine and laughed. Got a kebab and came home for a lovely night of sleep.

Sunday I did so much, I called my grandmother in mexico, i miss her, she's having trouble with her back, i hope god helps her, she believes in him, he better believe in her, and that she can wait another year for me to visit. I went out shopping and did my washing, took some photos of the hilarious laundry notebook and flicked through shirts in the vintage store nextdoor whilst chatting with the lady 'oh i need some blue shirts, im sick of wearing green!, you know how you go through color phases?' 'i do, i do!'. I bought some spray paints and a street art mag, then came home to do an hours work for Milan.

I visited Jesse at that magnificent warehouse in Hope street, they're such lovely people there, I jammed on guitar and drums with the crew, a cute girl called Kat told me i was reall good. 'me?! really?'. She said we should jam. She's going out with Marco who is an intense man, but I really like him for it. We smoked a J, jesse was tired but he came to 696's one year anniversary. 696 is a boutique street art shop, they had free beers and dj's. Ah I love melbourne, now that the cold is back i feel like im getting to know its wonders again.. I was absolutely blown away by one of the pieces of art for sale. An old school desk grade 6 made of wood and metal covered in bright scribbles and smiley faces. I loved it, the colors and textures.. $250.. I really wanted it.. I couldnt get it out of my head.. Im not an art guy but this.. is wondrous..

I came home to eat with Nick and Megs, i told them about the art desk and went to bed.

I dreamt about it all night. this morning I called to say I was buying it! $250 is a lot to me, but not much when it comes to art. I know in two weeks I'll forget it cost anything, and i'll have a lovely desk to work on and treasure! I'm picking it up this Wednesday! Will post pics.

Mixtape Monday - The Work Mix

Damn the man! this week brings the ultimate Work Mix!

My friend Steve says a job is nothing but work. I think he's right.

But I need some money to pay for my wild cocaine habit and boat repayments, and how is one supposed to do that without a job? Boy I've worked some crap jobs.. (*cough*.. Virgin Mobile Call Centre)..

So last week my boss gave me all sorts of trouble. I yelled at him and then he yelled at me and then I yelled at him some more and then he gave me a raise.

It inspired me to put together this mix, with all the best songs about money, working, the pros and the cons, beginning with the most classic of all work songs, 'Sixteen Tons' by Tennesse Ernie Ford.

Michael is in there, Yoko, even Beck. (Avoid pumping the Beck song while your boss is around!)

Enjoy!


http://www.mediafire.com/?fhynkxxbmzy

1. Tennesse Ernie Ford - Sixteen Tons
2. Pink Floyd - Money
3. BTO - Taking Care Of Business
4. Michael Jackson - Working Day and Night
5. Bobby Bird - If You Don't Work You Can't Eat
6. Yoko Ono - Money (That's What I Want)
7. Cibo Matto - Working For Vacation
8. Beastie Boys - Funky Boss
9. Beck - Soul Suckin Jerk
10. Johny Cash - Sixteen Tons

Russian - Mnier Nravitza Abiziame Y Sir

French - Jem Le Sange E Le Froimage

Japanese - Watashiwa Cheez To Saru Daiski

Hebrew - Ani Ohev Kofim Ve Gvina

Spanish - Me Gustan Los Changos Y El Queso

English - I Like Monkeys And Cheese

The Only Sentence You'll Ever Need:

Russian - Mnier Nravitza Abiziame Y Sir

French - Jem Le Sange E Le Froimage

Japanese - Watashiwa Cheez To Saru Daiski

Hebrew - Ani Ohev Kofim Ve Gvina

Spanish - Me Gustan Los Changos Y El Queso

English - I Like Monkeys And Cheese

I have found out that there ain't no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them
- Mark Twain

Sophie sent me a package!


(address blurred out to deter potential stalkers)

It was a fat package, so i opened it, and inside..



another package!

.. so i opened it.. and inside..

A letter!

and inside...



The Miso Soup!!

Finally.

It's been a long time coming but my email address is finally up for sponsorship.

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In return you will receive a positive signature with your name at the bottom of all my correspondence. This can be a your own messages or one of our crack (literally) marketing teams creations.

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As a high level email user with a database of hundreds this is a not to miss opportunity. I am subscribed to 3 mailing lists, and send out an average of 20 personal emails per day. This is the kind of exposure only money can buy.

For $3 a week we will include a flattering photo of yourself also. $5 gets you the ultimate package consisting of Photo and Big Colorful Text!

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---------------

This email comes to you thanks to Megan
She's loud, she's talented, she's wonderful! It's Megan Micallef!

(Sponsor Pablo's Emails for as Little as $1 Per Week. Prosperity Awaits. For More Details Follow This Link)

I have a dream of starting a band called Mesa Cosa.

Thats why I came here to Melbourne, that's what I told myself anyway.. but it seems like I came here to do everything but start a band.

I tried jamming with some guys but they were too standard, stock rock stuff... I want to make something fresh and spontaneous, a little quirky, original.. I have so many ideas, but when it comes to the crunch I do nothing.. I have half songs and half ideas and half lyrics (quarter lyrics).. and I think.. who am i? who am i to sing about anything with some sort of authority? what stories do i know?..

I wish i could make music and not think about it, worry about it.. there's so much bad stuff, i know i could write a cute song in five minutes that's better than much of the junk out there.. but i dont. And i keep on not.. maybe its because im on my own.

If i had someone to play with.. just someone to anchor me down, who shared my vision and brought enthusiasm to the table, who could spend all day jamming ditties on my bedroom floor, we could spend the day recording our favorite bits, and laughing at the happy mistakes..

I know the music is in me, i need the right setting, and so far I haven't found it. On my own im confused, lost, over analytical, perfectionist, messy. With someone to lay with i'm driven, creative, assertive, excited..

I miss my old band.. when I think of them, and when I hear our old practices and recording, I remember my musical self, a little dominating and loud, but creative, and productive. It's like an old girlfriend that had to go not for lack of love, but because we were heading separate ways.. and sometimes I miss her, and I get sad.. and I'm just waiting for the new one to come along.

I need a musical buddy, i'm getting lonely now.

My Ode To Soph



Sophie is an awesome friend.

She has no last name, she had her name changed to Sophie, Just Sophie. She is known to public and private institutions as Sophie No Last Name or Sophie Just Sophie, which are great surnames.

She's amazing because she's too smart for them. The lot of them. She beats them. The bosses, the institutions, the wannabes, the jerks. No one can touch her.

Rachel, my other best friend, told me she realized Sophie was super smart when soph was only 15 and we had all gone to a protest in the city. When Rachel asked her why she hadn't come, she replied 'Well.. does anyone know what they're protesting about?".. which of course, most didn't. (I did!).

She has a streak of independence and willpower, and a command of the english language which is unsurpassed. She uses lovely words like 'exquisite', 'wonderful', 'sterling', and 'precisely'.

She also sends me packages. Letters typewritten on textured paper and lovingly sealed with personalized labels. She's like that, she likes the beauty and grace of a personal touch and keeps these vanishing traditions alive, because they are ever so important.

She's fair and can see other points of view, she's righteous, but I can't disagree with her because her righteousness is based on common sense and a fair assessment of any situation. She's open minded and ready to hang with the boys without being crude.

Most of all, she's a classy lady.

Everyone needs to know a Sophie.

Even if just to get lovely letters in the mail!!!

"It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission" - Grace Hopper

It's Mixtape Monday on Tuesday!

Beginning with the grace of Camille and leading down a tunnel of dulcet tones and feminine wonders!

I've always been a big fan of female singers. I think it started with my love of the B52's when I was young (The B52's are sorely missing from this comp due to itunes DRM, which doesnt allow me to make mp3's from purchased music. Thanks a lot Mr.Jobs.).

For some reason lyrics by girls always stick to my head. Don't be surprised to see me on the street singing at the top of my lungs 'I thought he was a man but he was just a little boy!'.. I can't help it!



http://rapidshare.com/files/102149163/Chickmix.zip

1. Camille - Ta Douleur
2. Bjork - I Miss You
3. Eddie Brickell - What I Am
4. Kahimi Karie - Good Morning World
5. Hole - Violet
6. Jewel - Who Will Save Your Soul
7. Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl
8. Coco Rosie - Terrible Angels
9. Los Abandoned - Ojos
10. Cibo Matto - Artichoke

"Shes like the most beautiful girl, we all love her and its nice to see her shining like a cupcake'
'Did you see her'
'Yeah, i think she's real happy'
'Thats the heart of the adventure, the love story, it fills up, yeah!'
'''Call rachel' is in the outbok' aww!'
''Call milo' is in the outbox too! Where's Call caroline?! im not even in the inbox let alone in the outbox'!'
'Just jump in a little box'
'WOO STOP'
'Dont we all wish?'
'Do you reckon she'll move down there?'
'I hope she does'
'But thats the thing ben said he might not even stay for that long'
'The thing with Ben is that he's just always gotta keep moving, you never know where he's gonna be and thats wonderful, thats great'
'He's like a box of colors'
'He's like a box of colors and i just wish he'd.. i dont know how to put it into words.. megs, ben.. i wish..'
'You know, that they were able to just.. have that little moment.. for a prolonged period of time'
'Did you know Jesse's goin to have 8 babies?'
'..4 Boys 4 girls'
'Man you're pushing it!'
'I won't be pushing it! She'll be the one pushing it!'

Megan works at a school and she brought these home. They're from a boy who got in trouble from another teacher because when she asked him how he was, he said 'Bad'. (He'd already been in trouble earlier). Megan was annoyed that the boy got in trouble for telling the truth. I guess this is where it starts. :(

(But isn't it cute!) :)

Im using a new system to get my life in order and to actually finish the things that I start (the bane of my existence).

I stumbled upon this approach called GTD - Get Things Done. Which is basically a common sense bunch of tips written by a guy called David Allen which has taken the net by storm.

Think of it as the meme of the moment for the productivity obsessed netfolk and geeks..

Which is right up my alley! The basics of it are this.

1. Get every thought, idea, and reminder out of your head and onto paper.
2. Place all these bits of paper inside an 'inbox'.
3. Sort these out to one of three categories - allocate, delegate or postpone.

Input - Process - Output

SO you have a box, with all your ideas and actions in it, now there's no need for them to take up energy in your head.

You then sort these out to lists such as 'phone', 'home', 'out' etc. Now whenever you have some spare time and a phone near you, you can look at your phone list and see all the calls you have to make. It enables you to use all life contexts and times productively.

It's actually a lot deeper than this and I would recommend checking it out if you have a lot of stuff on your mind. So far it has worked quite well for me. Now I just need to stick to it.
--------

There's one Quote David Allen makes in one of his talks which I found rather profound. It is this..

"There are only two problems in life,

1. You know what you want but you don't know how to get it.
2. You don't know what you want."

It's true!!

"Life is worth living just to see what surprises it throws at you"

MIX TAPE MONDAY

This week we have the 'Grunge Mix'

Relive all those bongs hits in the back of the science room to this succulent selection of angst laden tracks.

Feel the break up, the afternoon detention, the school camp, the flannies, the acoustic sing alongs, taste the Passion! (Pop)




http://rapidshare.com/files/100231287/Grungemix.zip.html

1. Smashing Pumpkins - Cherub Rock
2. Soundgarden -Pretty Noose
3. Alice In Chains - Man In The Box
4. Nirvana - All Apologies
5. Mudhoney - Touch Me I'm Sick
6. L7 - Pretend We're Dead
7. Pearl Jam -Even Flow
8. Tool -Sober
9. Butthole Surfers -Pepper
10. Nada Surf - Popular
11. Veruca Salt - Get Back
12. Days Of The New - Touch, Peel & Stand
13. Stone Temple Pilots - Plush
14. Foo Fighters - This is a Call
15. Alice In Chains - Rooster
16. King Missile - Detachable Penis

Weekend 14.03.08 - 16.03.08

Friday - Milo came over with the rest of the crew,k the guitar came out and it turned into Grunge Karaoke night. We played and sung to all the classics, 'Whats going on', 'Blister in the sun', 'Alive', 'Rooster', even Milo sung along. Caroline went crazy, megs sung at the top of her lungs while JEsse gave a moving rendition of Eddie Veddr. We finished with the 'woofs' at the end of 'Asshole' by Dennis Leary andwent to a Burlesque show with Pixie in the city. Megan came too! It was really a lot of fun! We saw a midget woman dance and she was SO sexy it was out of control. Full of confidence and attitude, the way she moved her body had such grace and drive. I was hypnotized. Afterwards I felt like a dork for not being a midget . (But Caroline assures me that I am so there's nothing to worry about). We got very drunk and joked about starting Ginos Grunge Bar Car Cafe!

The next day we bounced around, I went to a zine workshop, didnt talk to Babushka much but had fun listening to De La Soul and trying up zines. Came home and headed out to a random party where we didnt know anyone but the beer was free so i proceeded to get very, very drunk. I couldnt even talk and i was seeing double. Crashed at Carolines. Next morning had Pancakes.

It was SO hot. 37 degrees id say. In Autumn! So we went for a swim, it was hard to get out to the river, but a saying that sticks to my mind is 'It's always worth jumpin in the water' or something like that. It was lovely. Indigo and Z had a great time. I got dropped off at home feeling fresh and got my shit together because I work Mondays now. Isaac got fired for taking it a bit 'too easy' from home. Now I have to pickup all the slack. They pay for $30 per afternoon hour which is good. But stressful!

End.

Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.
- Sir Arthur Eddington

Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.
- Andre Gide

'Cloud City'
(my next graf piece - you can click on it and download as a desktop background!)

---

'Satin Black'
(Found by the sidewalk on my way to work. I love the texture and stains.)

Krakatoa

"Uh oh.."

I made the ultimate Mix Cd!

1. Supreme Beings Of Leisure - 0 -
2. Morcheeba - The Sea -
3. Slightly Stoopid - Closer To the Sun -
4. Slightly Stoopid - Everything You Need -
5. Sublime - What I Got -
6. G Love & Special Sauce - Baby's Got Sauce -
7. Jamie Cullum - Get Your Way -
8. De la Soul - The Magic Number -
9. A Tribe Called Quest - Check The Rhyme -
10. One Self - Bluebird -
11. People Under The Stairs - Acid Raindrops -
12. G Love & Special Sauce - Love -
13. Eddie Vedder - Hard Sun -
14. Ani Difranco Hat Shaped Hat -

You Can Download It Here:
http://rapidshare.com/files/98965530/Super_Mix.zip.html

"To me, making a tape is like writing a letter — there's a lot of erasing and rethinking and starting again. A good compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do. You've got to kick off with a corker, to hold the attention (I started with "Got to Get You Off My Mind", but then realized that she might not get any further than track one, side one if I delivered what she wanted straightaway, so I buried it in the middle of side two), and then you've got to up it a notch, or cool it a notch, and you can't have white music and black music together, unless the white music sounds like black music, and you can't have two tracks by the same artist side by side, unless you've done the whole thing in pairs and...oh, there are loads of rules." - High Fidelity

Temporal Zeitgeist -

Sausage Tacos, Pash with Mash, Ginos Birthday, Love Festival at the Beach, Boombox Beats, Steve's Comedy Gig, Dominca's Laughing Disorder, Acid Jazz & Rory, Picnic in the Park, Graf & Tag, Mix Cd's, Cupping, Acupuncture, Herbs, Boss in China, Closer To The Sun, Megs in Adelaide Festival, Too Many Doobs, Graphic Novels, Unbalance, Misdirection, Thailand, Music, Game On, Jesse, Signal Periodical Zine.

---

Relevant Quotes:

"Remember please, that certain things matter less than you might think."

"The less you push, the more things happen. The less you worry about things and trying to force them, the easier it gets. The less you battle with things, the smoother your life goes. The less you try to do those little old hocus pocus things like imagination and mantras and verbalizations and mind games, the easier things become. You could simply make choices in your life and you could enjoy your life and watch how everything comes to you. It manifests."

"Life is also what happens to us while we are busy watching other people. And the more energy we give their stories, the less time we have for our own. THAT'S what you need to watch.."

"The harder you try,
less you succeed,
don't try at all and get everything you need"

Babushka -

Zine girl, we met at a zine fair, she asked me my age and I thought she liked me.
Zine girls, they're cute and they smart, why not I say, I say.

Coffee and Mix Cd's, we shared and we swapped.
An Ice cream on the grass, we laughed and we laughed.
Movie and snacks, a kiss on the bridge,
A pash more or like, I felt quite elated.

We met one more time for a picnic in the park.

"Is this a date?" I asked
"You think it is", she said.
I knew what was coming.
"I need time alone, blah blah blah blah, ex boyfriend and blah, single blah blah."
Right out of the textbook.

"Let's be friends!" she said, all chirpy and sweet.
"I don't need any friends, I have plenty as is!"

..and then she was mad.

But why should I care? The rejection was mutual.
I wanted to kiss her but my efforts were futile.

It took me three hours, but then I got over it.
Smoked J's with my crew to which she was never to meet.
Just as well because she wouldn't have fit.
I barked up the wrong tree just to kiss something sweet.

But to 'friends' I say never!

God didn't give me this thing for nothing.

This here is a very inspiring and brilliant post by a man called Kevin Kelly who speaks about the idea of creating '1000 fans' as your sole form of livelihood. In that, once 1000 true fans have been made, you can easily live and create off that base.

It is a memorable post that has infiltrated my thinking lately.

http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/03/1000_true_fans.php