Moving.

Gayman and I are moving today. We gather with us on the way our new household member, Cruiseydyke.

Prayers to the Gods of patience that I last the day without yelling at someone because they can't pack a car efficiently.

Why are some people born without any concept of how to stack boxes? Even how to pack them so that they'll stack in the first place? Instead they take three hundred trips over to the new place in the car with bugger all each time and wonder why they're stuffed at the end of the day. You people - and I know you're out there, I'm living with one now and I wanted to marry one (thank christ she left, I couldn't cope) - you people need to go to a place where you have to fit an entire set-up for a concert band into a bus trailer on your own. You need to get that entire fucking thing packed up and on the trailer within an hour - and that's being generous. You need to store your entire house in a 2m x 1m storage shed and understand the concept of up and realise that every gap represents an opportunity. You need to learn and value the concept of the masterpack.

I'm back.

It's been busy. I looked forward to school holidays, but I've crammed so much into them that I think I'm more happy to be back!

Here's some pics from my travels:



From the top of a huge tree in Lamington National Park.



Yours truly with a male King Parrot at a fantastic guest house. These birds just hang out waiting to be fed - I held out my hand to this little guy and he hopped on. Later on I had a couple of them fighting over who got to be on my hand.



After going on a guided walk and learning about trapdoor spiders, here is the home of a leaf trapdoor. They kind of make a spiral funnel out of leaves but this one had some extra bits involved - a bit of a home decorator.



Yours truly on the giant swing at the guest house. The cranked it up just for me - you normally have to share with about twenty other people and take turns. But I got six in a row. I even conned the guy into letting me drop back wards. This thing hurt my lower back so bad! You get winched up and then you just drop (the harness only holds your crotch and lower waist - ow!) until the swing cuts in. It's painful but absolutely brilliant. I ended up hanging upside down for a couple of swings. Awesome.

Thanks to all who missed me. It's a really warm fuzzy feeling to know that someone you haven't met is wondering where you've got to. I've resolved to make May the month of blogging. Daily posts, no excuses.And at least weekly posts on my other blog. I've missed everyone and reading all the blogs I like to read. But now I'm back.

Bitten by the boredom bug.

For me, long weekend means cram as much as possible in. I just can't sit around. I'm planning to hit a muso's BBQ this evening which means a shitload of alcohol will be consumed. Then I plan to ignore the hangover and head off somewhere for fishing Sunday/Monday.

Yesterday, after starting the day of almost certainly still drunk, we piled into the trusty Vic wagon and off to a National Park for a hike.

Cathedral Rocks has a three hour return walk with 'a 400m scramble track to the summit'. What a crock. If that track was only four hundred metres I'll give up sex forever.



We started out walking through scrub with lots of Banksia. They were in bloom, which was pretty cool - these yellow comb-like thiongs everywhere. There'd been a fire through some time ago and it was interesting to see the way the dead banksias were falling apart. The trunks were still there, but there was a litter all around them as the pieces were slowly falling off.

I like approach these hikes as a fitness thing, but not take it to any extremes. Primarily the walks are there to see and experience, so I don't want to miss anything important by going too fast. But it isn't just an opportunity for a slow stroll. Until you factor in your walking buddies for the day: an asthmatic who has a fear of heights and an overweight Gayman. On the ascent we were stopping every five minutes for a ten minute rest. But they both got there and loved it when they did - so that's something.







At the very top there is a natural seat, like a throne in the rock. You can perch yourself in it and contemplate the amazing full circle veiw that nature has laid out for you, and appreciate the effort and achievement of getting there.

My Celebrity Look-alikes

My cool celebrity look-alike collage from MyHeritage.com. Get one for yourself.

From the listening lab

This week I've been exposing myself to Dave Matthews Band - Everyday. I had a partner that was right into Dave Matthews Band and of the albums she listened to I liked a few, but not many. But it's been a while since she's been around and since I've listened to any. So I thought I'd try out an album I'd never heard.

Mostly I like this CD. The highlights for me (in order, of course) are:

Track #5 - So Right
This is just funky. I'm not such a fan of the chorus, or the synth part in the second half of the verse... but the introduction and the rhythms in the verses just wipe all that away. And who can go past a bari sax?

Track #4 - Dreams of Our Fathers
Again I am in love with the rhythm in the verses of this track, specifically the guitar rhythm. It's funny in a way, but the last aspect of a song that I really pay attention to is the actual content of the lyrics. With this one I've tried to listen to the words, but I catch myself grooving along to the guitar line before I know it.

Track #2 - When the World Ends
After saying the lyrics are usually the last thing I listen to, here's a rare one. I guess it's because there's far less going on in the verse. Great first line:When the world ends/collect your things, you're coming with me

Typically I haven't spent as much time with the tail end of the album. I tend to put new music on so that I can listen from the start - get through the first couple of songs while I'm working on something and then get distracted and walk away to do some housework or something like that. I leave it going, but the I'm not as focused. I guess a way to fix this would be to start the album from the middle and listen to the end first. But... I've got these three favourites and weakly I just keep going back to them now.

Which famous guitarist are you?

Which famous guitarist are you? Your Result: Jimi Hendrix You are all about jamming and just making music. You are born for making music. When you make music, you like to be with people you know well so you have a feel for them. You are in the spotlight all the time. Cut your hair, hippie!
David Gilmour
Tom Delonge
Synyster Gates
Adam Jones
Jimmy Page
Dimebag Darrell
Which famous guitarist are you?

The Monday Melee

Now let us all gather here on this lovely fine Autumn day to celebrate the Monday Melee for another week.

1. The Misanthtropic: Name something you absolutely hate.
Councils that leave seemingly all their roadworks until this part of the year, and then make sure that they’ve spent their entire budget before the end of the financial year. The usual allotment of time to get somewhere in this town has to be doubled because you’re sent on a meandering backtrack of detours and one-way sections of road.

2. The Meretricious: Expose something or someone that’s phony, fraudulent or bogus.
”Fresh” produce. Some of the stock I sell comes from South Australia or further. It’s then transported to a fruit market in Brisbane, stored and then sold to the people I work for, who transport it for a further day back to the shop. It goes on the shelves the next day, and is stored for at least another three days until the next delivery. I love selling and dealing with produce – but real fresh food is another world entirely.

3. The Malcontent: Name something you’re unhappy with.
Little Groover’s state of flea infestation. We thought we’d got rid of a lot of them from when we picked her up but the poor thing has become a breeding ground, meaning the entire house has to be bombed and she’s going to get daily kitty baths until they’re eradicated once and for all. The poor, ugly kitty got washed yesterday and quite of her awful freeloading occupants decided to bail out and find better homes within our house. Not cool.

4. The Meritorious: Give someone credit for something and name it if you can.
Gayman takes the cake yet again. I can bitch about him sometimes but the gorgeous lad met all my students at the gate last Thursday and told them I was too sick to teach. He made sure he got hold of them before the parents drove off so that they wouldn’t be left outside waiting for half an hour in our somewhat dubious neighbourhood. All I had the energy to do was leave a note on the door, and it really wasn’t his responsibility to do anything. Absolutely gorgeous. He also wanted to clean out my bedside bucket, but like it was going to get that personal.

5. The Mirror: See something good about yourself and name it.
I love the ‘boylook’ thing. I really do. I believe I carry on a lot about it here, but hell I don’t have to read about it, I just write it. A photographer on the weekend got someone to get in the shot while I was drumming with a just get right in close behind him. He came up after the piece was finished to get my name and I said Vic. He asked if it was short for Victor and I said No, just Vic.

6. The Make-Believe: Name something you wish for.
Intravenous coffee.

My last few days.

Some highlights include:

Being told by my doctor that no, I couldn't work. "Unless you want to leave a trail of shit after you." Priceless.

Having to play the last ever gig with the disco band drummer who sucks - meant to be a positive farewell experience. But there I am sitting crumpled on a milk crate just trying to get the notes out.

Doing a street march with the City Band for Autumn festival. It should have been a rush - block after block lined with people and me drumming all the way. But I was doped up on painkillers to get through and all I took in was a little shiver of pride when the announcer went nuts at "Our very own City Band marching past".

Not even being able to stomach a whole light beer after the march. Life sucks.


On a better note... Today started with me feeling a little more rested and a bit better so Gayman and I kidnapped the girl and went for a picnic and a bushwalk.



Kat (click the link, there's some awesome photos there) will remember this spot because we went swimming above the falls there before I graduated from highschool. It's part of one of the gorges in the area. It's great here for that - you can go through miles of sheep territory, rolling hills and scrubbiness and then there's just this big gash in the earth. It's just so rugged.

So we walked for far too long. I get all excited about seeing new things and just want to keep going. After the whole sickness thing that wasn't the best idea. We had a huge rest and photo taking session at a place called McDirty's lookout, which was right out on a spur. Awesome. But then we had to get back. It was a slow old journey for me, holding my cramping stomach and trying to do a reverse moonwalk in order to avoid the pains that the shocks from walking were causing in my abdominal area. Yay.
But I sound like a whinger. Sorry. I'll be nice tomorrow.