Guitar Party Tricks

For those of you who can't watch the YouTube (sorry Dive) here's brief idea: Harmonics being played with the nose and tongue, and five people playing one guitar all at once. Worth a watch!

Also worth checking out on YouTube is Andy McKee. The pieces I've seen him do involve two hand tapping on an acoustic guitar, as well as incorporating a tapped drum beat. It's amazing to think about the melody and rhythm parts interlocking and have both represented so well.

I was intrigued by Andy McKee's style and decided that since I've never really freed up my right arm enough to tap the body of the guitar while I'm playing, I might as well have a go and learn now. It can only be good for me! So I was mucking around yesterday with the idea while a student was about to arrive. He walked in to me bashing out a basic rock beat on the guitar body with my right hand and tapping out Smoke on the Water with my left. Raised eyebrows.

And all this time I thought I was Vic!

You are Amelia Earhart Adventurous and boundary breaking. You believe that you can do anything, and do not hesitate to take risks to achieve a big goal. You like to problem solve, when a problem comes up. Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

via Rootietoot at Because It's Personal.

New student guitar piece

Well, I've finally started composing again. It isn't earth shattering stuff, but I want to do a heap of student pieces that look at different tecniques.

So this one is a fingerstyle blues type thing called Fishin' Trip. I bashed it out on the coast a couple of weeks ago, but have been procrastinating on doing a presentable copy. It keeps the right hand thumb steady on open bass strings, swapping to a melodic role and then settling back into driving bass notes again. It should have enough interest in it to push a student who is just starting out with this style of playing.

I'll aim to put something up regularly in the future, if only to prove to myself that I can keep at it.

So... If you download this piece, let me know. My email is on the second page of the sheet music, or just leave a comment. If you play it and have and coments/suggestions/criticisms definately let me know. If you're not into guitar and you've read this far anyway, cheers for sticking it out and just be happy that I'm actually getting my life into gear and doing something I'm proud of and want to do.

The Monday Melee

Welcome back to The Monday Melee, a project by fracas which has provided me with great relief the last couple of Mondays since I don't have to think of what to post.


1. The Misanthtropic: Name something you absolutely hate.
Poor spelling in newspapers. Such a publications should be setting an example.

2. The Meretricious: Expose something or someone that’s phony, fraudulent or bogus.The Centrelink government handout benefit system. I applied for a payment to help me get enrolled in Uni again and because I voluntarily left work I had to write a statement, subject to review, saying why I left my last job. The standard procedure is that if you cease work voluntarily, you have to wait for an eight-week period before you can receive a payment. If you get your arse sacked for being an incompetent idiot you can have money straight away. But if you have a good enough reason in your statement of why you left voluntarily they will waive the eight-week waiting period. What's really phony about all this? I wrote my statement over four weeks ago and had a phone interview about it on Friday just gone. All the phone interview meant was that they could proceed with reviewing my statement. Hello fuckers! The eight weeks will be over anyway. No need to waive it - it's gone already! [I can rant about Centrelink all day...]

3. The Malcontent: Name something you’re unhappy with.
The fact that I've not received a Centrelink payment yet, and have to tell them I don't need to receive a payment because I got my old fruit shop job back. No thanks to them.

4. The Meritorious: Give someone credit for something and name it if you can.
Kate and Dive, for commenting on virtually every post I've written. You're both amazing, and it makes my day to see your comments.

5. The Mirror: See something good about yourself and name it.
The tattoo on my shoulder. It's a statement of what I want to do and a constant reminder of my direction.

6. The Make-Believe: Name something you wish for.
Someone that I'm comfortable and relaxed around to give me a foot massage.

Two text messages and half a day later

Recieved 4am this morning:

I am really sorry. sorry for expecting u to be there no matter what. i have been such an ass. and it makes me sad to think that this is the first time i've realised it. i hope ur not to mad at me.

Recieved at 11:30am this morning, same author:

Sorry bout that. u know how i get when in drunk. i fully intend to stop harassing u. i would delete ur number so i couldn't send anymore random msg but i know it so that wouldn't work. anyways have a good weekend and yeah. good times.

Bugger it. No, don't delete my number. Don't tell me you didn't mean the first message because that was so nice to hear.

It's all about the music, take two

In an earlier post I wrote about Madame xPod, a somewhat tasteful adult photography site featuring women and iPods. Now I find what must be so good about the iPod...

This particular accessory, the OhMiBod, vibrates in different ways depending upon the music that you're listening to, and the intensity of the vibrations are adjustable using the volume dial. You can accessorise your OhMiBod with a pink garter belt and a pink soft-skin sleeve.

Guiness... Marmite?

I might be able to overcome the taste of Marmite to satisfy my curiosity, but I don't think they'll be available over here. There's only 300,000 jars available. At the Guiness Blog they say that the darker colour paste combined with the white lid are supposed to represent a pint of Guiness. Uhuh. I've never seen a pint that looks like a mini fishbowl.

Some things are just wrong.

I'm all for different perspectives. I'm all for pushing boundaries. This is why I love street art and contempory art in general. Just push the limits a bit further... and a bit more... until we can all approach life as art and view the world as a canvas.

Welcome to idealistic Vic. The one that walks around like tourist with her eyes wide open and thinking of all the possibilities for expression that exist around me. I have a personal policy when it comes to what I'd like to create and of course, since I mentioned it, I'll give the details. If I were to create art in this very public way it would have to be 1) bemusing or 2) funny. Hmm. What am I trying to say there? I don't want to create ineffectual art. I want to create art that either makes people think "What the? but that's pretty cool" or "that's so nice". I've written a few things around the place with those responses in my mind. Or just making people laugh. I guess that means I want to make a small, but positive impact on those who see it. Like smiling at people you don't know in the street.

Mostly.

Sometimes, not often, but it certainly happens, I'm a traditionalist. Down to the core. It's really odd things that I take this stance on, too. Classical guitars, for instance. I don't mind the cutaway, in fact I embrace the idea as sensible. But change the colour? It should be woodgrain. Dammit. Slapping paint on it destroys the tone but destroys the, I guess, the seriousness of the instrument. Yes it's appealing to kids. I don't care. You can get coloured violins, too. And flutes, clarinets, trumpets etc. I don't care. I think that it might help some kids with desire to practise and play - "I love my guitar, it's pink." - but to me that's the wrong reason. It should be about wanting to play, rather than wanting to touch the pretty pink thing.

And this is where I started on today's brainfart post. A pink car kit. The contents of the kit are listed here.

Tools are another thing that in my opinion should stay traditional colours. Again, because making them a pretty colour takes the seriousness away from them. I laugh every time I see a dusty purple backhoe. They look like they come out of a kid's cartoon. You want to do serious work in that? Hardy-frickin' ha.

Head Explosion

Due to a lack of proper sleep lately, my brain is fried. So I thought I'd post a pic of a head exploding and hit the sack. But Google Images served me this wonder instead:



They are available for $3000 each and are accompanied by a priceless (in the completely useless sense) rant on a page that appears not to have a link from the woman's poorly designed main site. The rant is worth a read and is located at http://www.poetsadiesworld.com/new_page_2.htm

And here's the disclaimer: I don't like taking a political stance because I don't feel that I possess enough information to do so. The pics are here because I like them - not because I'm being political.

Valentine's

Did I have some secret lover reveal themselves to me?
No.

Did I have some secret lover alert me their presence but not reveal themselves to me?
No again.

Did anyone say any thing about it at all, apart from "Oh yeah, it's Valentine's Day"?
No, frickin' hell no, and no again.

Did I wake up with a girl beside me who I had the chance to shag and decided not to?
Yes.


I believe that I might have induced some bad karma for the rest of the day with that one.

Nightmare movie challenge

Sassy has posed a challenge: Nightmare Movie. In Nightmare Movie, the players create the worst movie they can think of.

I suck monumentally at naming actors and celebrities in general, but I'll do my best.

Plot: An adaptation of a playstation game.
Director: I don't know much about who directed what. Um... the person responsible for Scream 3?
Leading Actor: Hugh Grant
Supporting Actor: Jean-Claude van Damme
Leading Actress: Nicole Kidman
Supporting Actress: Olivia Newton-John (remember Xanadu?)
Bit Players: Billy Crystal, old mate from the Naked Gun movies (I can't remember his name and can't be bothered googling it) and that kid from the Home Alone movies.

Some serious guitar bashing.

Here's Tommy Emmanuel playing Mombasa (with an extended percussion section).

And then there's what I think is the definitive delay piece - Initiation. This one has an intro that lasts until two thirds (at least) through. Live, the sound just pumps through you.

It's all in the name

Excerpt from a reply to an email I recieved from a colleague addressed to "Vicky"

...[blah, snip]...
And now for something completely different... I prefer to be called Vic, VB or plain Victoria if you want to be formal about it. Simple reason, picture me - do I really look like a Vicky type person?

But I'll settle for Groover.

On something Australian

Vegemite. Marmite and Promite are not an option. Not even close.

Vegemite on toast.

On crumpets. I have a friend who fills uses Vegemite on his crumpets like gap filler - he fills the holes right up and levels it off. That's a little too hardcore for me, but I like the philosophy.

Cheese and Vegemite sandwiches. Bakery chain Baker's Delight make a "Cheeseymite" scroll and I noticed yesterday (bringing on this post) that they now make a wholemeal version of the same idea.

Or just plain sandwiches. On really fresh white bread, cut into quarters and no crusts.

If I don't have bread - which is often, I don't use enough to justify buying a loaf - I opt for the cheese sandwich. Two slices of cheese with vegemite spread between. Sadly, this works particularly well with processed cheese. Kraft even made (I don't recall if they still do) Vegemite Singles - slices of processed cheese with a Vegemite flavour. I avoided these, but embraced the concept.

I use Vegemite as a beef stock booster.

My sister had it in her bottle as a child - some parenting fad that faded out before I was born. I think it's funny, though, to be literally raised on Vegemite.

And of course on Vita-Wheats. These incredibly hard and pretty damn boring biscuits have only one saving factor - you can load up the butter and Vegemite in between two of these suckers and press them together just to make little Vegemite worms come out the holes. You're still left with two boring hard biscuits, but the process is fun.

The Monday Melee

1. The Misanthtropic: Name something you absolutely hate.
Mice. Not in a girly "ew" way. Because the little bastards have invaded my living space, and it's just not on. This far, no further. Die suckers.

2. The Meretricious: Expose something or someone that’s phony, fraudulent or bogus.
The size of the pockets of pool tables in pubs. Close your eyes and bunt the ball in the general direction of a pocket and it's in. Five minutes later you're $2 down and it's game over and "Well that was quick. Want to play again?" It's a shameless rort, and takes some of the enjoyment out of a good pub game in the name of profit.

3. The Malcontent: Name something you’re unhappy with.
The man from the real estate, for charging $40 to come out and do pest control. What's so bad about that? He put two handfuls of mouse pellets out, one under the stove, one under the kitchen cupboards, and that was it. I went to the supermarket and spent $3.50 to get twice as much as he put out, because the little buggers have eaten all the lot he put out.

4. The Meritorious: Give someone credit for something and name it if you can.
The fantastic admin assistant at the primary school who made sure I knew where the female staff toilet was and what times to avoid using it.

5. The Mirror: See something good about yourself and name it.
I'm a groover. I'll move to almost anything.

6. The Make-Believe: Name something you wish for.
My application to be a volunteer at the Blues and Roots Festival to be accepted. 5 days of work as a volunteer within the Festival in exchange for seven hours of free range. I hope I'm in.

Quote of the Day

(belated entry for Friday)

- from a student who I taught a few years ago when he was in early primary school. I stopped teaching for a while, so he got in with another teacher, and then stopped lessons for a bit. I see his mother about the place fairly often and at the beginning of this year she organised for him to have lessons with me again. The first of these was Friday just gone.

So he comes in, sits down and tells me that he's had two other teachers.

"Alright. Cool." says me. "Who were your other teachers?"

[and here's the quote]
"I had Lloyd and another Vic."

Oh dear. Buddy, that was me. I stopped being a heifer with long hair and the poor kid couldn't make the connection.

Dieting Innovation!

The Anti-Eating Mouth Cage

Another damn quiz.

via Hedonistic Pleasureseeker I took this test to see if I could pick the difference between baby toys and sex toys.

9 out of 15.

It's all about the music.

There is a niche for everything. It's all too appropriate to stumble across this concept when I've been talking/writing a lot about music and have been completely lacking in the love department. What is it? Madame xPod appears to be where women love their music. I gotta get me one of those.

Digging out the bad poetry.

Rich talked about discovering old poetry. And then Kate posted one of her poems. I'd still like to do a designated day for airing out the bad poetry, but until then, here's one. There's a bandwagon and I'm on it.

So yes, this one's terrible, but I was in love and in complete awe of the emotion. Isn't that about the only time poetry gets written? When you're in love or depressed? Or both?


There is a candle, me and an image of you.
A dim yellow pool to write by in this quiet opressiveness,
     - Or is it liberation?
and the never-expanding walls of this room.
     so often a confine

Lit candle, walls, me, image of you.
All the ponderous equations that could derive life itself are here
     - This defines me
yet the image of you becomes the ony solid form
     nothing else holds significance.

Darkness, me, and an image of you.

Lyrically Speaking

So the assignment is "List five lyrics and their significance to you"...

This is a difficult one. A lot of lyrics I more enjoy the way they are sung, rather than the actual words. But here goes, in no particular order.

1. Dam at Otter Creek - Live from Throwing Copper

when all that's left to do is
reflect on what's been done
this is where sadness breathes
the sadness of everyone

just like when the guys
built the dam at otter creek
and all the water backed up
deep enough to dive...

So this one is from teenagerdom. The song at the beginning of Throwing Copper that most people skip. But I think it says a lot about being on the edge of things.


2.Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall from Eye to the Telescope

...She fills up every corner like she's born in black and white
Makes you feel warmer when you're trying to remember
What you heard
She likes to leave you hanging on her word

Suddenly I see (Suddenly I see)
This is what I wanna be...

The recent car favourite - top of my lungs. Played with vigour after giving notice at the Wholesalers job in favour of teaching and being 100% musician.


3. Slide - Ani Difranco from Evolve

...after that she just followed her nose
and fate is not just whose cooking smells good
but which way the wind blows

she laid down in her party dress and never got up
needless to say she missed the party
she just got sad
then she got stuck

.....

cuz when i look at you i squint
you are that beautiful
and my pussy is a tractor
and this is a tractor pull
i'm haunted by my illicit, explicit dreams
and i can't really wake up
so i just drift in between
thinking the glass is half empty
and thinking it's not quite full...

I almost included the entire song.


4. Pigs on the Wing (Part One) - Pink Floyd from Animals

If you didn't care what happened to me,
And I didn't care for you,
We would zig zag our way through the boredom and pain
Occasionally glancing up through the rain.
Wondering which of the buggars to blame
And watching for pigs on the wing.

This is the entire song (well, part one any way).


5. Philosophy - Ben Folds Five from Whatever & Ever Amen

...Wont you look at me
Im crazy
But I get the job done
Yeah Im crazy
But I get the job done

Go ahead you can
Laugh all you want
I got my philosophy
Keeps my feet on the ground...

Also a hit from the years of teenagerdom. But it's one I revisit regularly, and it's a bit of a personal reminder just to be me.


Which brings me to....

This was such a difficult post to write. There's so many songs that when I listen to them, I think I love that line. But stuffed if I know what they are when I'm not hearing them. And there's lyrics that aren't particularly brilliant, but I love to just belt out at the top of my lungs. And there's the looking back over the post and thinking that maybe I should have included something else in favour of some of those choices. And it really depends upon the mood. And there's a teeny voice in my mind that says I'm going to judged as a tragic pop lush, but stuff it. I'm the person in the pub with the pool cue in hand, singing along to the jukebox.

It was a moment of weakness

Teaching, playing Big Band charts at the boys boarding school (nothing makes teenage redneck boys pick up their guitar-playing act better than being outplayed by a girl) and then getting plunged into the deep end with the City Band drum parts once again. Every week I hope that new drummer will turn up and stop me from havingto learn to play kit, allowing me to return to my Timpani/Auxiliary percussion role. Then I stop myself from hoping that way, because I think the deep end is the best way to learn in a lot of situations, and I'd be mad to miss this oppotunity. In an ideal world, there'd be someone about the same level as me and we could share the roles and learn together. Ha.

Anyway, I find it hard to get my right leg to operate the kick on anything but the beat. I've been tapping the beat with that for how many years? Now it has to be more independant. I can do it, but it's not automatic at all yet. Intellectually, I read all the music, follow the conductor and I can hear how it should go in my head as I read it. Just occasionally I'll be able to settle in and be comfortable, but then something'll go wrong, or we'll stop to fix something up. Anyway, it's stimulating and I'm learning in a suportive environment, which is why I love community music so much, however... I'm exhausted because it takes so much concentration.

And so, in a moment of weakness... I threw the entire budgetising, weight-watching fitness program out the window and instead of the planned fresh-made salad when I got home after rehearsals ...not only did I invest in two packets of the finest flavoured chips that I could find (that's crisps, to any limeys who can't translate), but I went through the McDonald's drive through as well. Mmmm. Deep fried goodness to match the brain-fry I'm experiencing.

From the listening lab...

Medeski, Scofield, Martin and Wood - Out Louder

In particular I'm enjoying Tequila and Chocolate for the fantastic free bass intro that leads into the groove. It's got this great latin feel. I'm a sucker for a good groove. That's why I love playing bass.

And I can't go past a title like Tootie Mama Is A Big Fine Thing, even though as a piece it's a little happy clappy, it gets me doing a goon dance every time I hear it. Complete with raised eyebrows for the responses in the call and response with the melody. This is typical of what I think of as Summer Music. I'm far more likely to listen to it in the summer with sun shining, when I'm warm and happy.

I believe that the music you listen to is often reflective of mood and optimism, which in turn are affected by the seasons. Of course there's a bucketload of other factors, but I'm not going there. Just look at the songs that are almost excessively major in their chord structure, and they're more likely to be popular in summer. Also songs that have a lot of space in them, i.e. not too many layers and actually valuing the use of silence, I see as Summer Music.

This isn't to say that I will only listen to certain types of music depending upon the season. I've got fairly eclectic taste for one thing, and there's also so many other factors. But I'm sticking to the Summer Music theory. Think about it. I think also that the music crave in the winter months is like the food I crave at that time of year - a little more stodgey. Heavier in texture, usually a bit more complex.

That's my story, anyway.

Yes, I finally used the scanner.

Found in Bristol: Nov. '05:

And in North Wales (near Llangollen somewhere). This sign says "Please take your litter home" and "Please do not feed the sheep."

I promised dive that one day I would get my bum into gear and post some pics of the Chihuly glass at Kew Gardens. Here's one. And yep, that's me - fifteen kilos heavier at that point and still with long hair.

And then just because I'm looking through UK photos, here's the foyer of Tate Modern at the time. What a great thing. This was like a world of giant sugar cubes. You could just walk around in it. They were stacked up the walls in some spots.

I wish I could take credit for this idea, but I can't. It's actually from the sketchbook section on the Banksy website. It's one of those things that just makes me smile and think: so true. It's been my desktop picture for some time.

What type of lesbian am I? test results

You scored as The Magic Earring Ken Dyke. You're tough, mysterious and extremely butch. But you love who you are and often consider it a compliment when someone thinks you're a male. The Magic Earring Ken Dyke 55% The Stud 45% The Femme Fatale 40% The Pretty-Boi Dyke 30% The Surprise! Dyke 25% The Granola Dyke 25% The Little-Boy Dyke 25% The Sprightly Elfin Femme 20% The Quasi-Gothic Femme 15% The Student Dyke 15% The Bohemian Dyke 10% The Vaginal-Reference-Making Dyke 0% The Hipster Dyke 0% What Type of Lesbian Are You? (Inspired by Curve Mag.) created with QuizFarm.com

Monday Melee

Here it is, appearig for the first time on this blog, The Monday Melee, a project by fracas that's been adopted by a few others who I like reading - so I thought I should join in. Delayed by a week, but on the right day...

1. The Misanthtropic: Name something you absolutely hate.
Not being prepared. Yet I allow myself to be unprepared constantly.

2. The Meretricious: Expose something or someone that’s phony, fraudulent or bogus.
Insurance. At the stupid accident I was in/following I asked: "What do I need to do for an insurance claim?" Answer: "Oh, here's our policy number. Just get your smash repairs to send a quote." BULLSHIT! I have wad of forms arrive in the mail out of the blue asking me where exactly the accident took place (did someone tell me I needed to write down the fucking cross-streets?) and draw a picture. I just want to write in that box - imagine the arse end of a works truck poking out of a shop window. You'll get closer than anything I can draw.

3. The Malcontent: Name something you’re unhappy with.
The fact that I've run out of milk, and have only had one coffee this morning.

4. The Meritorious: Give someone credit for something and name it if you can.
My cat, for sleeping through most of the night and all the morning. Finally.

5. The Mirror: See something good about yourself and name it.
My brown eyes.
6. The Make-Believe: Name something you wish for.
A washing machine that wasn't busted and worth the price of another to fix.

I love her to pieces, but enough already!

Dear Juno,

Let me start by saying I that I think you are the cutest animal alive. When you deign to sit on my lap and have me pat you I actually feel honoured. You've been my companion and my playmate through four different houses and several other cat companions and I wouldn't dream of life without you.

But why the hell have you decided now, after being my cat for more than two years, why is it just now that you have to wake me up to come to your food bowl with you in the morning? And why does this especially have to happen on weekends, where late nights are far more likely to have been had?

I know you're not a complete fan of the different brand of biscuits I'm feeding you, you've voiced your opinion loudly and often and I won't be buying that particular brand ever again. But I don't have to be there when you take your first mouthful in the morning. You're a big girl.

And why the hell do you refuse to sleep through the night? There was a time when you slept at my feet from the time I went to bed to the time I got up and did not move in between. Now you insist on skidding into the room, launching yourself at my bedside table and knocking all manner of crap onto the floor before coming onto the bed to clean yourself at god knows what hour.

I'm just not coping with the different behaviour you're showing right now, Juno. Is there something going on that I should know about? Are you all right? You're not in trouble are you?

Your loving owner,
Vic

Saturday linkfest

So I'm drinking coffee, eating cold pizza and following links in eight different windows. I'm an impatient little snot, so if a page doesn't load straight away I just open a new window.

Today's linkfest takes the meandering direction of urban art, with the first direction being clean graffiti. This is like writing "Wash Me" on the back of cars. I came across two artists in particular who are scraping soot from exhausts off tunnel walls and things to create their images.

Firstly, there's Alexandre Orion's fantastic work on a tunnel in Sao Paulo, lining it with skulls. The article is here on BLDG BLOG.

Also found along the way is Leeds artist Paul Curtis aka Moose creating the question of whether it's illegal to clean up, creating art in the process. There's a little news article about it here.

So then I somehow find an a thing about this artist called Roadworth, who recieved a permit from the city of montreal to paint a bike path that stretches for about a kilometre. He says:

"The surreal feeling of spray painting the street with the aid of pilons provided by the City of Montreal while police cruisers passed by unblinkinglywas heightened by the presence of a growing group of on-lookers who soo turned the event into a bit of a street party, complete with beer and pizza."

My 'first' was

Just because Ms. Viragobrat from The Dyke Dispatch asked, or politely gave "the opportunity to be forthcoming"...

Okay, a girl from the all-girl boarding school I went to.

Quote of the Day

Today marks the first day back for the term, teaching guitar at the local boy's boarding school. So far the list has one new student (organised/excited/officous mother?) and the rest are continuing from last year.

Today's quote comes courtesy of Newboy. He sits down, back straight and looking around the room like a meerkat. I chat to him a little to get to know a bit about him:

What year are you in, Newboy?
Year Six. [This makes him around 11-12 years old.]

And you're a boarder? What brings you here? [Note: I expect an answer here along the lines of... "my Mum and Dad both work overseas a lot", but...]
It's just something I've always been... drawn to.

So right about now I do a double take. A What the fuck? moment.

So, Newboy, what makes you interested in bass guitar?
Oh, I've played a bit of guitar before, and flute, and clarinet, and ... [lists a few others that honestly I can't remember clearly because of this next bit...] I just want to try a lot of different instruments before I commit to buying one.

Okay. Either I've got a potential billionaire investment marvel or he's a total fruitcake.
I'm a cynic, so I'll give him three weeks before he stops showing up.

Yes, I'm late with my rent again

But unlike this one, my landlord can spell.

Anti-rant

I can rant about "unfriendly" music shops and the people in them until the cows come home, get fed, mill around and leave again. But instead of launching into a full-blown missile-launching stream of nastiness... I'm going to have a say about my local shop.

I love these guys. There's two guys, sometimes three, but it's very rare that they're all working at the same time. They are the type of music shop that lets the parents know that they can get away with their child learning on a budget classical guitar for quite a while. They're honest about quality. They maintain a list of local teacher's numbers and give teacher numbers out when they sell an instrument. They know which books the local teachers prefer to use, and make sure there's a good stock of them at this time of year, when school is starting again and a lot of parents are taking the my child should learn an instrument path.

So you have to hassle them for some things. They know me well now. I stop in, hassle, have a chat and come back again a couple of days later to hassle again. I recently had to do this with my bass amp. For a total of two replacement models after the first purchase, they rang Behringer to find out what was going on every time I dropped in. But they probably wouldn't have if I didn't remind them by dropping by.

And while I'm on equipment - they're more than happy to let me take an amp to a gig to try it out. Or just borrow one. I done play much electric guitar in public, so I've only got a little practise amp at home - getting bass amps has been a higher priority, since that's where the gigs are - but when I've needed a guitar amp I've been able to ask them.

They run a good, customer based business, and that's the way it should be.

One of those iTunes random things

Lame, I know. But I just wanted to see what would come out.
The first ten songs that play when I put iTunes on random just now...

1. Please Forgive Me - David Gray from White Ladder
Definately not skippable. I like the little guitar riff that comes in, except that it's just a little too repetetive. And what a brilliant line - "I got half a mind to scream out loud". When I first heard this song I was disappointed because the drum beat is so... dance music? Like the producers tried to make it club friendly. But it's grown on me now.

2. I Wanna Ride You - Medeski, Martin and Wood from Uninvisible
Oh yes, funky. A really nice bluesey intro, and then into a great organ riff interlocking with some really cool bass. I first realised I liked these guys when they did an album with John Scofield called A Go Go.

3.Company I. = 96 - Kronos Quartet
Okay, lulling. It doesn't fit into my listening repertoire very often. Not now. Skip.

4. Hard to Handle - The Black Crowes
A cover, which my band does a cover of. It's funny that you can go through years of playing these songs, but still enjoy hearing them. I feel like I know the song more intimately.

5. How You Remind Me (acoustic) - Nickelback
Now here's an example of an acoustic version that doesn't work very well. Skip.

6. Dirty Cash (Money Talks) (Dirty South Remix) - Mind Electric from Ministry of Sound 2007 Annual
This also doesn't fit into my listening repertoire very often. Mostly I like the Ministry of Sound annuals for cleaning to, or pumping up for going out. I'm a fan of the chillout albums a lot more than this style.

7. Four Seasons In One Day - Crowded House from Recurring Dream
It's hard to go wrong with a Crowded House tune. This one fascinates me since it has a canonic solo section. It's just cool that they thought to do it.

8. Mary Jane - Alanis Morissette from Jagged Little Pill Acoustic
I think Jagged Little Pill has been played so much that I know every song backwards, so now it's really nice to hear this album played differently. I could have a rant about riding on the one succesful album she had, but it doesn't beat the fact that I enjoy both versions.

9.This Love - The Magic Numbers
I have a bizarre liking for this band. They're just different to most of the stuff you here. My sister introduced me to them after she heard them support U2. It's pretty, but slow, this one, and I don't know it as well the last song. Skip.

10. Night Time is the Right Time - John Scofield plays Ray Charles from That's What I Say
Just some really effortless playing, not my most favourite from this album, but I still love his playing. My favourite from this album would have to be Unchain My Heart (Part 1) because the way he plays the vocal line is brilliant, falling off the notes, just holding back a bit. Mmm. And the bass line is just funky cruisey stuff.


And now I'm satisfied that I've done it.

A bit o' pussy

Tagged by the Cap'n

Well, must obey orders then.

5 things you don’t know about me (one of which be not true):

1. I own a piano accordion, and want to learn to play it.
2. I'm half Bermudian.
3. I like to eat raw beef.
4. It takes me six months to go through a cask of wine.
5. I feel out of sorts if my music collection isn't categorised or alphabetised, but go through a constant dilemma of categorisation over alphabetisation especially where fusion music is concerned.

So, which one isn't true?

I guess I'd better tag a few also: eb, Sassy Sundry, and Dive

"The world would be a better place if ________. "

Well. Here goes:

The world would be a better place if:
- couples were subjected to an IQ test before being permitted to breed.
- slow workers did not exist.
- cockroaches were eradicated.
- ditto mosquitoes.
- small businesses were more supported by the public.
- I wasn't hung over.
- I could find a girlfriend.

What happens on Australia Day?

Our national public holiday. Tanslates to: Day Off. Where we do what we do best: BBQ and drink.

Okay, there's a little more to it than that. Some places have parades, my parent's town had raft races last year. Tamworth (self-proclaimed country music capital) has a parade where they try to do the world's longest line dance. There's speeches, people getting citizenship certificates and Australian of the Year awards as well as the downright fun stuff. My town, well, for the second year running we had camel races.

The City Band (yes, a brass band) played for the ceremony stuff. Here's a pic of myself trying not to be shitscared that I need a lot more time practising before I should be playing in public. Thank goodness we didn't have to wear our godawful blue jackets. It's a horror uniform when you're sitting in the sun at about 38°C. Funny, though, the uniforms look really good when the band is all together.

Then the camel races were started and the band I play bass in was meant to play for two hours. We started late because the ceremony stuff went overtime, and then we had to stop every time they even thought about having a race, or a lolly scramble, and listen to the announcer bloke carry on for the most part unintelligbly except for saying 'bloody' far too many times for a family event. So in total we played about ten songs, and were getting paid $400, so that works out about ten bucks each, per song. $400 is a fairly rough price for a good band to be paid, but it's a community event. I like pub gigs so much better. No faffing about, just play your set, take a break, play another, and so on. Yeah, you get idiots, but you don't get idiots that try to organise you and want you to stop and start playing at the drop of a hat. Anyway, here's another of me and my bass. It's a Yamaha 5-string which I dearly love even though it's in dire need of a set-up and a set of new strings. No that anyone needed to know that.

Then, of course, I went to the pub. Drank far too much and walked home.

I missed out on playing goon of fortune. That's my regret for the day. A friend only recently told me about this game, and that they play it for Australia Day. What it is: a goon bag (the sack thing out of a cheap cask of wine) on a hill's hoist (rotary clothesline). Everyone stands around it and then you spin the clothesline. Whoever it lands on drinks. Beats the hell out of swinging from the clothesline.

Happy Australia Day!

List for the future:

1. Organize the teaching studio - this weekend - like most work spaces this gets progressively worse until the major clean-up happens. Then there's a few weeks of ultra-organised bliss followed by a long, slow downhill run. Repeat cycle.

2. Plan and start the vege garden - this evening, continuing into next week, ongoing - it's time to implement the semi-self-sufficiency plan. I no longer get paid to work with vegetables, entitling me to a discount, so I need to make them very cheap.

3. Get the drum kit fixed up - near future, temper and expertise permitting - I have a kit minus cymbals on extended loan from a friend who doesn't have the space to store it. This friend is also the drummer in the City Band, where I play percussion. He's recently undergone medical nastiness and two other percussionists have gone AWOL - leaving me and a boy who hardly comes up to my elbow as the only contenders. He and I both started playing percussion last year, but I think he's a little small to reach all the bits on the kit yet, so this drum kit parts have fallen to me. Crap! I need something to practise on.

4. Start posting my compositions - this month - mostly they're student-oriented, and I'm a bit nervous to put them up for judgement, but I'll get over it. Just need to write more and record them.

5. Build a wood-fired pizza oven - long term, before October - the aim is to have a pizza party in October, where everyone has to bring a weird topping along. Then they can mix and match and cook their own. By then there should be plenty of home brew to go with it.

Stories of today: II

I will endeavour to post pics of this event if the newspaper man ever decides to email them to me...


I'm about forty minutes into a 3 and a 1/2 hr - 4hr drive home from the coast when the works truck that I'm following just up and crashes.

There seemed to be no reason. I was following this truck that was laden with stop/go signs, traffic hazard signs, witches hat and other goodies that 19 year old party throwers like to steal for their own backyards..., thinking about when the next overtaking lane might be so I could get past this slow monster. Suddenly he veers off the road - I actually thought hell, you're pulling over real quick, there - but then he crashed into a couple of wheelie bins, swerved about a bit and then veered off the road again. He merrily smashed through what used to be a service station awning and into the shopfront of the old service station, which is (was, now?) an antiques shop.

So while he's causing merry hell to buildings, because I'm directly behind him I'm swerving to avoid stuff that's been jolted out of his vehicle. I saw bits coming toward me but I don't remember hearing anything hit me. I pulled over straight away and the first thing I did was go to check on the guys in the truck. Someone else beat me to it, and they were all right.

Checked my car later on and I had a bit of panel damage, but that's okay. The company's insurance will take care of it.

Mini rant: The car directly behind me did not stop. The one after did (gold star for them in my mind). How could you not stop after seeing that happen? They had more time than I did to register the fact that this truck was half buried in a shopfront. Assholes! I was on my way home to attend a fairly important appointment, but to me it was far more important to at least check on the driver and make a statement of what I saw. I see it as a sense of community. If we don't get together in situations like that what hope do we have? I hope those people are one day involved in an accident and have nobody stop for them. What goes around comes around.

So I was in there, giving the people my nice little stash of cold water because they deserved it more. There a was big selfish part of me that wanted to be the person that helped them cope, but also that sense of community thing was there. I was directly behind, honorarily involved, and I wanted to help out. Someone showing the same kindenesses toward me if I'm ever in that situation would help ease me through it, but if I don't behave in that manner how can I wish to be treated the same way?

Stories of today: I

My sister finally gets the replacement keys for her hire car.


The story goes like this:

Family Christmas was postponed so that Sis and Sis's husband SurfMan would be able to join mum, dad and myself as a stop on their abridged world tour. So Sis and SurfMan hire a car when they hit the country so they can go surfing in the mornings and also get away when Mr. Easily Angered Parent raises his ugly head...

So Sis and SurfMan go to the beach and the keys to the hire car end up in the surf. On a Friday. After many, many phone calls they organise for overnight delivery of replacement keys on Monday - if they gor it AirExpress on the weekend it was going to be something like $150 compared to $22. Then the parcel gets lost. Nightmare.

It was a nice little car until it got stuck in the parking lot of a secluded beach for four nights. Luckily it isn't damaged by vandals.


Moral: Rather than saying "Remind me to remove the keys from the pocket of my board shorts" do it while you're thinking about it.

Addendum to Moral: Upon hearing "Remind me to ...", make sure the atsk is immediately taken care of....

Glorious day, take two

Back at Byron Bay for the afternoon. The surf was crap near the shore and really big out back, so I didn't have a go on the board again. Had a go yesterday and got creamed. Not only did I get creamed, but I scored a suspected blue bottle sting across my belly which ended the session pretty abruptly for me. Caught some beauties today just bodysurfing, though. Cleared the sinuses again, but it didn't burn so much this time. Maybe the nostrils are getting immune to it.

After a fair thrashing in the water, I decided that rather than spend my whole time alternating between lying on the beach sopping it up and battling whatever the waves wanted to throw at me, I should do some in between stuff. We hadn't brought the frisbee, so I turned to a bit of sand doodling. What started as a large scribble turned into a mass excavation, and well over an hour later I was finally done. A few kids had taken up the idea as well and a mermaid had popped up near the shoreline, as well as one girl with a mass amount of sand sketches - if she went on the excavation run she would have been there for days.

In hindsight, I should have faced the entire project the other way - just so it's the right way up in this photo.

Wildlife

A not-critter thing sighted yesterday,

along with a whistling kite and several pods of dolphins.

Critters

There's something about the coast, especially in summertime, that brings critters.

Mosquitoes: 2 bites so far thanks to a bucketload of repellant and a mozzie mat thingy next to my bed at night.


Other bugs: Things just land on you all night. Especially if you happen to have been indulging in a little pre-sleep reading.

Spiders: After doing odd bits for my father doing yard work and clearing out sheds I didn't think there was a type of spider I hadn't seen or had crawl on me. Then we went bushwalking. It was a vale of spiders. The trees arched over the pathway and there were webs everywhere. There was one particular tree that had a huge mother spider and four other minions around it. No thanks. Normally they don't scare me, but I felt well into their territory and quite out of my depth...





Frogs: Green frogs. In the bathroom. Last night there were seven. Tonight one. Next time who knows... Apparently there's a whole family who live there but the little buggers haven't worked out how the toilet roll works yet. They jump on the thing, which of course rolls over and sends them spilling off into space. Then the freak and try to jump up the sheets that are spilling off, causing it to go faster. Every now and then one will jump onto my bedroom window with a splat. It's a pretty funny thing to see a frog from underneath.

Snakes: Only seen one - a baby, thank goodness. Was on my way out to lock up the sheds, barefoot, and there it was. A baby brown snake. I looked at him. He slithered. I stood still. He slithered more. I stayed until he went.

Comet sighted

I missed Halley's Comet back in the 80s. I had my family telling me where to look [above the clothesline, a little to the left] and stuffed if I could see it. I was young and the binoculars were crap, but the rest of the family saw it.

So tonight I'm sitting on the back patio with a guitar and a beer, just playing and chilling out a bit. For a bit of background this area is pretty open and has an awesome night sky. I look over at the horizon and think what the hell is that??? Comet McNaught was really bright, with a huge tail that if you hold your hand up it stretches for the length of it. Amazing.

Ahh, redeemed. The first in the family to spot this one! Apparently it's the brightest comet in 40 years, but still.

I didn't actually take this photo - it's by a member of the North Casino bushwalk group (Casino is about a half hour from where I'm staying) and was posted on an Ice In Space forum.

Jack n' the Cap'n did it.

Your Inner European is Dutch!

Open minded and tolerant.You're up for just about anything.

Who's" Your Inner European?

Cat blogging

This is one of my parents' cats - actually my sister's before she moved overseas. Now they consider it theirs until they want to hold it against her.

The washing basket, however, is mine. She was desperately trying to make herself comfortable, but it didn't end up working out for her. She left the basket with a look of disgust toward the idiot with the camera.

I eat more when I'm bored.

That's it. I really do.

And it's not exciting food, or food I'm really bothered to prepare and put thought into - it's open the fridge, scrounge for a leftover, and then go back and look at the same scene five minutes later.

I could be doing something constructive, but no. Not today.

Glorious Day

Spent the day today at the beach. I'm still staying at my parents' place on the coast, and every time I'm over here I make an effort to get to Byron Bay. It's the most easterly point of the mainland, and has this gorgeous bay that has probably the best learner surfer beach in the country, The Pass, where the waves actually roll along the beach rather than crash straight into it. It's really laid back, easy surf in a really laid back, easy town.

I grew up on the coast. My parents have not moved since well before I was born and aren't planning to. So growing up I was ten minutes from the beach and right on the river. A water kid. Mum and my sister would be there baking away on the beach and I'd be in the water looking at them thinking you pair of boring losers! Pretty much because I wanted someone to play with, but also because my main approach to sunbaking is to lie there and let the board shorts dry off.

So I've been an amateur bodysurfer for a long time. I can pick a wave and stick my arms out and have a pretty decent ride. But I've never been on a board. Hang on, not till today. My sister and her husband were there and they're both keen learner surfers.

Next thing, I'm on a board to have a go. These things, you watch surfer kids who've been in it all their lives and these things are a natural extension of their body. I fought this board for the right to even stay on it. Any time I paddled on one side, I tipped in that direction. I didn't fall off (redeeming factor) and I got the hang of it eventually.

Then came trying to ride a wave.

I'd already been warned away from attempting to stand up. I'll leave that for another day. So I just rode the thing like a boogie board all the way up the beach. Loved it. Fast, no water rushing through your ears like body surfing and you could have a bit of a look around. Getting back out there was not so easy since there was a really strong current to go against.

And then my sister tried to help me. She pushed from behind the board I was on (hers) to get me a head start on a wave. I had my weight too far forward on it, I think because the nose of the boardwent underwater and started diving. So it digs it's nose in, the tail end gets flipped forward in the direction of the wave and so do I. Then, somehow, I am under the wave and being carried forward.

I now know of a fantastic sinus-clearing treatment. Charge a bucketload of money and drag people underwater through the surf. My nostrils burned for hours but I'm still working on all clear.

But the funny thing? It hurt, it was hard work, AND I LOVED IT.

Local Man Decapitated

I go away from town and this happens!

Mark Hutchinson, 82, who served against the Japanese with the 2/12 Field Regiment in Borneo and New Guinea, was discovered on Saturday afternoon by his cousin.
As family and friends sought to come to terms with the murder, police confirmed that Mr Hutchinson's head was lying beside his body and that they would pursue several lines of inquiry, including his past.

Divers were yesterday searching a creek near Mr Hutchinson's home for the weapon used in his slaying. Detectives from Strike Force Penfold want to speak to anyone who was at the northern end of Markham Street, Armidale, or nearby parkland, between 5.30pm on Thursday and 2pm on Saturday.

The rest is here (even though all the other papers seem to have said that he was found by his nephew, rather than his cousin) but they really don't seem to know much yet. I used to live a few blocks away from there. It's not that big a town, anyway. Scary stuff.

How can someone do that?

Because it seems to be the cool thing to do

Do your own here.

The Ride-on, The Push Mower and The Line Trimmer

Once upon a time, Mr. Push Mower was difficult to start. Once this was achieved, after soliciting the help of Mr. Easily Angered Parent, it proved to grow to be a difficult thing to repeatedly drag Mr. Push Mower up an embankment. Then Mr. Push Mower ran out of fuel halfway through the job. Not wanting to disturb Mr. Easily Angered Parent, Blogger Vic decides to do the rest of the mowing with Mr. Ride-On and surf the embankment at the end of the run.

So Mr. Ride-On goes fine. Five hours, yes, five whole hours with a few stops to fuel him up again. And then...

Blogger Vic is tackling the nature strip, which is totally overgrown. Blogger Vic knows there is a drain in there somewhere, but is taking her chances. Yep, Mr. Ride-On found it for her. He was on an angle, she was looking down at the water. His front end was bogged. So, still avoiding Mr. Easily Angered Parent, Blogger Vic wades into the drain to push the thing out without soliciting help. Holy hell this guy was heavy!

Then he throws a front tyre. Mr. Easily Angered Parent really does have to be told this time. Oh crap.

So we give up as a lost cause. Move on to the last conquest for the day, Mr. Line Trimmer. Blogger Vic has never swung the Line Trimmer way before but he seemed a likely fellow... But he's caused a break in the fairy lights (snip, whizz, tell Mrs. Understanding Parent and avoid Mr. Easily Angered Parent) and a flaring of the RSI in Blogger Vic's right wrist. His date was cut short and he was unceremoniously dumped in the garden shed.

A long two weeks...

Been at the parents' house less than 12 hours (including seven of that asleep) and already dad is giving me the cranks. He has a worse temper than I do and doesn't seem to bother even trying to control it.

Since I have no income at the moment, I'm doing yard work and odd jobs for them to earn some cash. This seems like I'm ripping them off - daughterly duty to help and all that - but I was actually planning to find some fruit picking work while I was over here, and they talked me out of it. They'd rather pay to have me around. They don't realise that I need to find at least twenty hours work for them to pay my rent for the next two weeks. Preferably thirty. Ha.

So today is lawn mowing and garden work. Thank goodness it's cloudy.

Travel

Had to drive 'home' to mum and dad's place today. It's three and a half hours of really nice driving. Between me (tablelands) and them (coast) is a mountain range which goes in a belt for pretty much the entire state, cutting me off from the coast. Not that I mind. I like a good rally drive so winding my way through the mountains at full pelt is good fun.

I love to drive in this country. I went through three herds of cattle and 28km of unfenced road. I've never come across that much roadside grazing before and it's a bit of a pain, but there's something so frankly rural about it that I identify with it. I'm not a country girl by any means, but I love the values. I love the little two fingers lifted off the steering wheel wave that you give to the drovers and anyone you meet on the road. It kinda says howyagoin? and thanks, mate all in one. A childhood friend and I used to practice it. There was (acually, still is) a single lane wooden bridge where we grew up and it's just the thing you do when you go past the other car waiting at the other end. Etiquettte.

No more wholesalers.

I finished my regular day job on Saturday. I ordered and maintained the fresh produce for a small retail outlet at a food wholesalers. Basically a mini-market built around a butcher shop. I also ordered shelf stock, worked the deli, stocked fridges and freezers and menned the tills. There's only ever two staff to run the shop and another two to pack and run the meat section. I've worked in both ends of the operation.

Things I will miss:
- Nice customers
- Working with vegetables. I love fresh produce. I like making displays. It's high maintenance, but a good fresh display is so appetising. I love it!
- The people. Some of them shat me but when you're working with one other person all day, you're bound to get to know them. Scottos, especially, is one person I took ages to work well with. He carries on all day if you give him the chance and it's all crap. But we bonded over perving at the women that came in. I'd get "Vic! Halfway down on the left" as an alert. Or there was a classic day where he looked like a Meerkat when I told him there was a g-string alert. He popped his head up, straightened right up and scanned the room in short jerks of the head. Just like a meerkat.
- Helping myself to the fruit. Oh crap, that one's got a patch of rot on one side! Can't sell that...
- Racing the clock packing sausages in the meat section. For the record my best was five bags a minute.

Things I won't miss:
- Getting paid the same wage as slack staff who refuse to think and stand around talking. And then being told that I have to make those staff work harder.
- Working around dead things. It can be really depressing if you allow yourself to think about it.
- Customers who phrase questions as a statement. Nothing pisses me off more than You don't have [insert highly visible item here]. No question mark. No raised pitch at the end of the sentence suggesting it might be a question. And it's always just spat out at you like an accusation.


Now here's where I go into a bit of a rant. Skip the rest of this post if you don't want to hear it.

Why do people feel they can treat shop staff with contempt? I often get people making the assumption that I am a lower form of idiot because I help them from behind a counter. Or openly discussing pricing in front of me. I often feel like butting and going look, lady. $2.25 is not expensive for onions. Your local big name supermarket has them for $3.98 this week.

I know my stock and I can give you advice on how to prepare it, how to make it last longer. I resent being treated as though I was born yesterday by people who specifically enter my work space for service. How can you expect good service if you act like an asshole?

Best Lesbian Blog Awards!

The folks at The Lebian Lifestyle are taking nominations for the first annual best lesbian blog awards. Nominations close at the end of this month, and voting begins on the 2nd of February.

I'm planning to watch this closely. I think it's a good way to find other like-minded people (blog-minded?) out there, get informed, have a laugh or a few and also a chance to get in and be supportive of each other as a community.

This makes me think about what kind of blog I like. It varies - and I can't guarantee that my preferences won't drastically change in the future - but for now, the blogger has to exert a strong personality over their blog. I'm not hugely into political activism, unless it's humorous or informative. I like rants if they're well written. I like posts about the random bits of oddness people come across. I like thoughts and personal frustrations. I like lists because they say something about the blogger's personality.

As a blogger I aim to express a small portion of my life in words and pictures. Whatever I post is at least attempting to be a good expression of myself, rather than a censored and crafted projection of something I think that others will like. I'd prefer to know that those reading my posts regularly get an appreciation for me as the person I am.

Hope that makes sense.

I was going to post about something else, but...

OkCupid! lovingly sent me another list of new people in my area! that are actually nowhere near me. But I read them anyway, as you do, and came across this little gem:

"headjobs. its like, my natural, like talent! My Mum says that if there was a competition for BEST HEADJOBS she would enter me in one straight away."

Like, I don't like, know or anything, but like, isn't there like, something really like wrong here?

As per request o' me Cap'n

Yep, short back and sides.

There ye go.

Kiruna, Sweden

How's this for focused on your local industry!

Sweden's northernmost town of Kiruna will move its centre a few kilometres away to save it from sinking into the ground due to underground cracks created by iron ore mining, officials said on Tuesday.

In order to continue to operate the lucrative mine, in the next few decades, the town centre will need to be moved, including all major buildings, the railroad, the railroad station, the terminal, the newly-built highway, homes, water and sewage systems and electrical systems.

Greater Kiruna has 23,500 inhabitants.

...

But here's the bit that I find funny/disturbing/heartless:

"The railway is the most important thing since it is closest to the mine. It is a prerequisite for the mine to be able to continue its work, since iron ore traffic makes up 90 percent of transport on the railway," Hannu said.
Read the rest of the article here.

It is the biggest iron ore mine in the world, which started as an open-pit mine but went underground in the 1960s. It is also the most modern mine. It seems they've known about the cracks for a while, as it was predicted in 2004 that within 20 years the city would disappear into the mine. It just seems to be a lot about industry and very little about planning.

Here's another bit, from mining-technology.com

LKAB has invested some $50 million to dewater part of Lake Luossajärvi in order to access 100Mt of ore beneath it. The KUJ2000 haulage level has been extended to the area, and mining began in early 2003. The former lake bed has been forested in order to prevent dust emissions from the dried bed silt.

- Dammit! There seems to be a lake in the way. What do we do?
- Well that's easy, mate. Get rid of the lake.

Home Cookin'

Made some awesome lamb dishes the last couple of days. I had a leg that I boned out and just chopped into bits. It needed to be used and I really didn't feel like a roast even though I'd spent a couple of days defrosting it.


From it I've made:

- a rolled fetta and olive stuffed portion which turned out pretty nice but the cold cuts off it are disappointing.

- a curry which I had Sunday. I'd worked in the yard all day, so I might have just been really hungry, but hell it was good. I marinated the chunks in a rogan josh paste overnight and then threw everything else in. Very glad that there was enough left for two portions for the freezer.

- made a stock out of the bones and roasted the other bits with garlic cloves. Then last night, which is the real reason for this post, I made my first ever Shepherd's Pie.

I've read that Shepherd's Pie is really designed to use up leftover lamb, so I've never really had the chance to do it before. I'll be making sure there's plenty left in future though.

Looked up the recipe in Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall's The River Cottage Meat Book and used it, as the man advised, as a rough guide.

Here 'tis.

500g [cooked]lamb, chopped into pea-size chunks
1-2 onions, chopped
1-2 carrots, chopped
garlic (mine was chopped in with the lamb)
leftover gravy or stock (I used the stock I'd made from the bones, which was reduced down so much that it set into a jelly when it cooled)
1/2 glass red wine (which I misread as half a cup - well, bugger it, that's a big glass!)
1 tbsp tomato ketchup (which I "interpreted" as a splurt of tomato sauce and a little bit of tomato relish)
1-2 tsp Worcestershire sauce (Nah..., bit more...)

1kg mashed potato


Fry off the onion, garlic and carrot until the carrot softens. Add the meat and do the same. Add the rest and taste it!!! Adjust amounts of the sauces if need be. Simmer for about half an hour. Pile it all in a dish, pile the mashed potato on top and bake for about another half hour.

I baked up a huge dish of this stuff and served myself a decent portion. It was so good - actually somewhat sweet tasting - that I made a total guts of myself and ate another huge portion later on. Couldn't get enough.

Breakfast is served!

Stolen from http://www.schultes-art.com/.

Haircut

Got a new haircut Saturday. Short, I mean really short, back and sides with a little bit of length on top and at the front. Basically dykey boyish. It's not really new, I gues, because I did it last time, but this time I went a fair bit shorter.

I like it. I have to style it, which in general isn't my cup of tea - I don't own a hairdryer or a straightening iron - but overall I like it. I can slap some gel in and be pretty decent within a short amount of time.

But two things have happened so far with it. The first is that I worked in the yard all day yesterday with a cap on and now the previously hair-protected back of my neck has copped a massive sunburn because I simply didn't think about that bit! The second is that I washed it before I went to bed last night. I got up this morning and near wet myself looking in the bathroom mirror. I look like Sonic the Hedgehog. Except I'm not blue. And I'm not wearing gloves.

Flash Games

I've discovered that I suck at Destroying the World. We'll have to leave that for talented little freaks with lightning reflexes and great left-right arrow combinations. All I did was get smashed by missiles while aimlessly slamming my spacebar hoping to hit something.

I want one

A Digital Piggy Bank. It has an LCD screen with a guy on it that thrives when you put more money in. Sad, but somewhat cool. It's like Tamagotchi but you actually have to nurture it with real funds.

I'd find it incredibly frustrating. What happens when you raid the piggy bank? Does old mate call the Police to report the theft? Does he get to put in an insurance claim?

Guitar Pieces

Currently I'm working on:

1) A piece called Partita by Australian composer Roland Chadwick. It's fairly easy going and fits under your fingers nicely, so I'm about two thirds of the way through - of course leaving the beasty bits until last. It's listed as an AMusA piece by the http://www.ameb.edu.au/about/about.htm">AMEB, but I think it shouldn't be graded as that difficult. Maybe there are some nasty little nuances that I'm skipping in learning it.

2) Midnight by Joe Satriani. For anyone who skipped out on the eighties guitar god thing, this is from the definitive album Surfing with the Alien. It's all done by tapping the strings and isn't that difficult except for the speed. I've never really bothered with it before and thought I'd do it now just for the hell of it.

A Total Shambles

How did NYE go?

1. Drank far too much.

2. Made a very bad, drunk move on Z. Got abused for it. Tried to walk home after feeling very humiliated and in a way totally unbeknownst to me ended up doing a full circle back to the original pub. One minute I was walking home, the next I looked up and clearly thought "Hello? Another one?" But it was the same one. Copped another round from Z.


How did NYD go?

1. Text message from co-worker at 7:30 in the morning. It's like once these people have children they forget what sleeping in is all about.

2. Completely abused body wouldn't let me get out of until after ten, and then that was far too early. Tossing and turning thinking what a mess I made and how I'm not actually sure what went down, but pretty sure that any sort of friendship I had just got ruined.

3. A phone call from Z to see if I got home okay. What the hell? So I say sorry and she says not to apologise. Again, what the hell?

4. Ate Black Eyed Peas and hoped to feel better tomorrow.


The usual: Resolutions

1. Don't necessarily drink less, but binge less.

2. Become more self-sufficient. Start home brewing and set up the garden to be a viable thing. Reduce the cost of living a bit.

3. Spend some of the money saved playing more pool.

4. Have more sex than last year.