20 years of RAGE...

gee i'm glad i am awake enough to witness this fine bit of music television programming! Bravo RAGE, merry birthday, if ever i can program I would feel honoured.



So what did I do today? Chops came over to make beady things, she helped me finish one and showed me some more knots. I like the way doing something a lil different that you haven't done in a while makes your brain think. I love recreating things. Have finally managed to recycle some of the beads i have kept from things like sandals and broken / stretched bracelets. Destroyed one today to remake a necklace, which doubles as a wrap around bracelet, about 6 loops. Awesome.



I walked in the searing heat down to the bookshop and wondered how I would go camping or something currently. It was HOT. I'm noticing my skin freaking out a bit. Strange for me cos it's always been so good. So I have to be more diligent and protect it some more, and also get a good couple beach trips over summer. Hope to go to Moana Beach in SA for a good body board and swim and muck around.



YEH! She Don't Use Jelly filmclip on now. hehehe.



Anna came over to pool resources and make some dinner. Always enjoyable. She will enjoy living here I think, whenever that may be...



Have some new plans in my brain, got to do a bit of budgeting to work out the next 12 months. I figure I at least have the right to a round the world trip because I will turn 30 in 2008! Actually looking forward to it but there are things i'd like to achieve before reaching that milestone.



"Taaaaaaaangarines...."



So yes, made a beady birthday present for Emma and picked up my copy of Into The Wild which I ordered about 3 weeks back. Bad Macmillan Publishing for giving my local independant bookshop a hard time! They're too nice to get treated that way! bah!



Must go, wash my face, put some moisturiser on and go to bed. Indeed.



Oh, so the vox pop quest from December 1 has been 'how many beady things can I make before xmas?'



This far:



Repaired = 3

Made = 4



Muchos Love to all.

xJ


footnote: Falcon Beach returning to Saturday Morning ABC TV programming today. I was thrilled.
footnote: Falcon Beach also returned to Saturday Morning ABC TV today. I was thrilled.

INTO THE WILD

Jasper and I went to see INTO THE WILD last night.

It was beautiful. We left with red eyes and felt the need to sit and talk for a while.

Thank you Jon Krakauer for the orig narrative in novel form (i'm picking up my copy from the bookshop tomorrow and look forward to devouring it promptly).

Thank you Sean Penn for never letting go of your dream of making this film and creating something spectacular.

Emile Hirsch, you were great at Christopher... i mean Alexander. Supporting cast were also wondeful.

And most of all thank you thank you Christopher McCandless for documenting your journey that allowed all of us to join you... rest in peace.

Please, go and see it. It will change you....

xxJ

Yesterday...

I found out I don't have cancer.

I was relieved.

They also say there is nothing obvious wrong with my leg after having some x-rays and an ultrasound. So I have a referral to a specialist which will probably take several months, and i guess he will send me for an MRI. Excitement plus.

Add sarcasm, stir.

I guess it would just be nice to know exactly what's going on in this here body of mine.

Have a nice day y'all.

xJ

Dub Day Afternoon / Briztronix / Luke Vibert

Oh hello folks, and how are you this fine morning?
me?
well i've got a bodgy hip flexer and stitches, but apart from that, alls well.

so last Saturday i had the pleasure of attending DUB DAY AFTERNOON at the Step Inn. First thing I noticed?! Lots of dreadlocks. I'm a bit fond of them you know (ref. ex-boyfriend idiot extraordinnaire). Also the vibe really was just that everyone seemed chilled and ready to boogie!

Was mainly there to finally see Heavyweight Champion and I wasn't disappointed. It was my first time seeing them (took me long enough). There were some great dub/reggae dj's too and by george the dancing room was H-O-T! Met a few nice folk, had a drink with the boys and had the displeasure of waiting for a taxi at the end of the night. Put out the good karma and shared a cab with someone I'd never met. We talked about how excited we were about the election, even the cabbie.

Can't say I've met anyone really who was disappointed about the election result. I mean there are probably some writhing folk out there (possibly one or two of my workmates). I watched the telecast in an excited state before leaving for the gig. WHOOP WHOOP! About time lil johnny was out of the top job! happy retirement john.

Sunday I went over to Uber for the Briztronix / Luke Vibert gig. Benj was excited that they had new visuals (which were v. interesting by the way). Kiz played some live bass and did a bit of rhyming, however it was mostly instrumental.

*aside* woah, evel knievel died overnight!

So anyhoo, caught up with a lot of folk I hadn't seen in a while and it was just so nice. Lots of the SOOBies and related people. You are all so chilled and nice and supportive of your own kind, and it really was so enjoyable to see you all.

Intended to only go for a few hours with the impending minor surgery the next day, however had too much fun and stayed well later than anticipated. But that's all good, it means I highly enjoyed the whole thing and, let's face it, there's nothing worse than clock watching at a gig because you are bored! And I didn't.

Only caught a bit of Luke Vibert's set (Ninja Tunes label) but he filled the dance-floor very quickly and sounded ace bro!

So that was my lil fun weekend.

The last few days I've been catching up with some of the girls, starting to make beaded things for presents and trying to write a letter to Tank.

Stitches come out tomorrow, they haven't called me to get me in for any results earlier so I am hoping that tests come back negative for anything nasty. So no jumping around at shows for me this weekend. I guess it's Sunday so not much time left anyways!!

Work has been rather stressful of late, and whether or not I can pull another 6 months there I am not sure... we shall see. Just want to save up mad cash before making the final decision about when to go back down South. I will say, though, that I will definatley be in RADs for part of the fringe, and hopefully hopping down to visit some friends in Tasmania as well. Excited about that, it will be my first time in Tassie and I have heard that it is beautiful!

Well y'all have a beautiful day now won't you?!

xxJ

Thank you Australia for making the right choice!!

a few lil points....

ok, so...

1) what's the point in a good economy if the world is going to eat itself in about 40 years or something??
2) can the liberals stop spending my tax dollars on smear campaigning please?!
3) SABRA won the US So You Think You Can Dance! GO SABRA!! Love ya!!
4) I bought a new laptop, it's sweet. Soooo sweet.
5) Jeez, Sims 2 was a big step up from the original (I've had the disc for over 12 months but my old computer wouldn't let me play with it!!)
6) We WALKED AGAINST WARMING... did you?!
7) Seaworld was really fun, LOVE the CorkScrew rollercoaster and they've done a great job with Shark Bay!
8) It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...
9) 2008 should see a trip to Tasmania (FINALLY) and back to the RADelaide Fringe, as well as a lil trip to Asia fer sure!
10) Don't forget to vote on Saturday the 24th November!!!

xxJ

baseball & politics!

GO ROCKIES!!! http://colorado.rockies.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=col

Seems the worm overshadowed the actual debate, i do agree with many that Rudd was much better...
http://au.news.yahoo.com/071021/2/14qa7.html?f=mv

meow meow.
xJ

cigarettes and boredom...

y'hello lil land of bloggies...

my favourite new things:

• my CROCS - they're pink! - WASE & TARD bought them for me, they rock!
• beaded necklace the (newly dubbed) princess sam of the good-vibes made, that people keep commenting on...
• would have been the mirrorball in my backyard, but SdaH took it back! Bah humbug!
• the little tea device claire bought over...
• Bryan Ferry's "Let's Stick Together" and Rodrigeuz' "At His Best" recently acquired on vinyl...
• the fact that blogger now autosaves. whoopeee! man how many times have i lost a big post because my computer at home is shizenhousen?!
• Arrested development (still)...
• having to get all your open shoes out cos it's just too darned hot for closed shoes anymore!

stuff and things. even, things WITH stuff.

thank GOD they called the election. they were taking their sweet time. Rudd pronouncing he will ratify Kyoto sells it all for me. Liberal could say whatever they liked, they would still not get my vote. i know i know you aren't supposed to pick sides with politics and leave it unsaid, but i don't really give a rats, because the majority of folk who will read this and know me would have already assumed the aforementioned anyways.

sugar n spice, xJ

ENROL TO VOTE!!

www.aec.gov.au

That's all i have to say.

xJ

todays issue...

to spend $120 on Cyndi Lauper tickets or not to spend $120 on Cyndi Lauper tickets... THAT is the question??

xJ

save zee water...

http://au.news.yahoo.com/060717/2/zt40.html

well i think the above is almost a wee bit o' horse shite, being from down south it's always been an issue... and i can remember bucketing water out of the bath when we were kids on to the lawn, dad installing drip irrigation all over their property, mulching gardens, installing a water tank (and nearly having my toe cut off by a down pipe whilst we were installing it!), and piping said rain water into our laundry and the bathtub as well...

i don't think just our family thought about that stuff 20 years ago...

beautiful beautiful birthday weekend indeed. thank you to all involved.

xJ

Footy and Politics...

http://au.news.yahoo.com/070928/2/14jjp.html

can't wait to see the Get Up campaign add though...

Merry Friday!

xJ

Ok, so the NSBT folk don't completely suck...

they actually called me back a few times cos they are trying to work out WHICH works are the ones we can hear from ours...

turns out this is what's going on....
down the street and around the corner they are excavating for a storm drain... that should be done soon... that's NSBT stuff...
up the end of the street and over a large wall, the Dept Main Roads are fixing something on the busway...
around the corner in the opposite direction they're digging up the road to put in cables and such for a new set of traffic lights... that will be done in about a month (even though the projected was 'late september')... and is under control of the BCC...
and next to the poor gibbonees is a great big fuck off air shaft.... which is NSBT of course...

hey gibbonees, we could fill in the bottom of my place and make new living quarters, cos if that's what i can hear at night, i'd be hurling bottles over that wall of yours and very loudly telling them to stfu!

oh well haven't heard too much the last few days, maybe it was the excavation of the storm water drain, or maybe i just blocked it out of my head with pain killers... either way, kind of SUCKS!!

Oh, STEREO TOTAL were AWESOME, just AWESOME. I bought their new album Paris/Berlin. It is cool.

Happy Birthday to Choppha for last week and thanks for encouraging me to sing as loudly as I could in your loungeroom - mwa, mwa.

that's all folks.
xxJ

North South Bypass Tunnel

Oh lordy, all I want to know is... WHEN WILL THE LATE NIGHT NOISE STOP!!

It's starting to affect my sleep!

So I rang their Project Office and they say 'well the stormwater drainage should be done in a week and the other works are a month or so...' and they also say they will put something in my letterbox.

Cos you can't do roadworks during the day on a main road obviously... that said, they could always encourage people to use public transport or their legs or their bicycles whilst this is going on, do the roadworks during the day, and let us all get some sleep.

You Gibbonees know what i'm talking about!!

ugh, ugh double ugh.
i feel bad for my neighbour and her new bambino!

xxJ

movies n music...

Today I have a sore chest, probably from too many cigarettes.

Over the weekend I watched a few flicks I hadn’t seen before…

Uno: Fast Food Nation
Dos: The Holiday
Three: In Her Shoes

Ended up with two Cameron Diaz flicks in there, not exactly sure how that happened but never mind.

Anyways, I enjoyed them all, and all for different reasons.

Fast Food Nation – primarily about some of the business culture there and not putting the boot into anyone in particular, but good points about the desperation of people et al, poor working conditions, morals…

The Holiday – for Jack Black’s kooky renditions of film scores and Kate Winslets consistent ballsing up (particularly of phone conversations, you know what I’m talking about)…

In Her Shoes – well, for the shoes, but quite heart wrenching story about sisters as well… want to watch it again before I take it back… very good indeed. Love anything with Toni Collette of course.

I am off to Stereo Total this evening, muchos looking forward to it. Though I do feel rather knackered, and am sure that I will feel even more so later tonight…

xJ

selfish prat...

jebus, i probably am you know!!

oh well, fuck it. it occurs to me though that i really had no people truly be assholes to me in RADelaide.

Is it possible that, in this time of large quantities of technology, (shoopy doo wah wah) that people simply don't have good communication skills anymore?

For example, you hear of random stuff like people breaking up with people by text message. For gods sake people, have some balls.

I myself have taken out some long standing anger on someone via e-mail this week. Not necessarily the best way to do it, however I sometimes find it hard to articulate myself. Besides, blurting out what you're thinking when you're angry is not the best thing.

And so I have to enter some thankyous right here:

thankyou to sparkley panda und the monkey for always letting me ring up and talk crap, and consistently putting up with me ringing and leaving messages like 'can i get me some kitty pie?'

lovely judy-face (when i get to speak to her) for mainly the same reason, except usually my messages to her include some barry manilow renditions... that's probably worse than the kitty pie one come to think of it!!

sal & geeom for the chat a few nights ago, and geeom for the additional kicking of my arse at backgammon...

tard & wase, for generally being excellent, for also being super-fans of SYTYCD, and for having bake-offs regarding cookies. mmm cookies.

maria... for telling me stories, taking me to dinner, and letting me occasionally spoil her, listening to wikkid records and watching stupid television and talking late into the night, keeping some of my sanity in tact.

mummy and daddy, lets just say for absolutely everything up until this point...

all the RADelaideans who drop me the occasional line to see what is going on...

BrisneySam for being a dirty great big spunk, for afternoon drinks in the sun, for watching movies and getting totally smashed on white wine with me... and generally being the nicest person ever.

Kiz... for always saying its nice to see my smiling face, telling me i was helpful with radio and giving me huge hugs...

SdaH, even though he has disappeared off the face of the earth lately! hehe.

pavarotti for his excellent talents, may he rest in peace.

the german club, for fine food and beer.

noi, for much the same reason.

lukey, for being a doppelganger.

stuff, things. it's 4:56, it's friday. back to noi i guess. woo!

xJ

revelations...

Ok so… the following thing have occurred to me (and I can’t guarantee they make any sense as yet)…

1) I built my arts/festival network up in RADelaide and then ran away from it. Why is that?
2) Perhaps it’s just that I have to be more selective and not put my hand up for everything, and besides that, not do it when I have a full-time job as well!!
3) If I surround myself with creative types here in Brisbane, hopefully some of their creative energy will wipe back off onto me…
4) I feel like I want to get back into performing and that is scary as hell… it’s been 13 years I think since I stood on stage. Maybe 12… This is part of the reason Adelaide seems such a promising avenue for me. I think no matter what I come up with creatively down there, someone will be bound to appreciate it. I don’t think the folk of Brisbane are quite as open.
5) Perhaps now that I have a job where I am well respected and well paid I feel like I have conquered the administrative world. It certainly hasn’t been that driven by money because I haven’t done any extra study to validate my skills, just learnt as I have gone along. The money thing seems irrelevant if you’re not that excited about work.
6) That said, I do quite like my job and will miss the people I leave behind if/when I decide to frock off. Seems crazy to move back across the country, but I also feel like if I really put my mind to it, I could achieve great things in Adelaide and Melbourne festival scenes. Even if for every one I just co-ordinate volunteers or something. I loved that with SOOB (Straight Out Of Brisbane)

Does any of this make sense to anyone? It’s kind of starting to make sense to me. Thank god for that!

xxJ

things i have been able to do with my lil extra cash influx...

buy myself a bottle of tuaca... mmm...

get a frame for stu's henry rollins poster...

get shuzzbutt a fry & laurie dvd... and some funky fridge magnets
get the monkey a subscription to 'organic gardener'...

donate some money to the rescue helicoper and the rspca...

get my teeth perdified! hehe.

go for lots of cocktails for BrisneySam's birthday...

buy some new work pants...

oh and a tunic...

xJ

My wall by Kirsty and Satta...

alright already....

so, instead of finishing off this work i figure it will take me all of maybe ten minutes to type up something of note for you few that are still keeping your eyes peeled on 'this space' waiting for me to write something of note....

well... here's a few things.

I HEART Arrested Development (the tv show, and why not the band as well).

I still love Hugh Laurie in the pants. They've released several seasons of Fry & Laurie on DVD now. Oh laughed, i laughed, i laughed.

My body hasn't been quite so sore of late, i'm quite happy about that.

I still can't decide if moving back down South is a wise move or not... comments please.

Finally there is some decent rain here in Brisneyland (South East Queensland). Hooray! Maybe my herbs and pineapple and aloe will rejuvenate somewhat.

I bought a new kettle today. Old school style that you put on the cooktop of a gas stove and it whistles at you when it's ready...

I recently saw MACROMANTICS and WOLF & CUB play (not together, although that would be rather sweet). The next gig I've pre-bought a ticket to is NOT justin timberlake, but STEREO TOTAL from Germany. WOO!!!

I have to start being serious about working out and getting toned up because my joints and body will only suffer more if i dont. Besides, it's a pre-requisite of me doing any moving away from this place.

Need to pee. Sorry!...

I still need to get my camera fixed. Though I would also like a digital SLR - yes when all that money flies out of my butt i might get a decent one. However... think a computer first is probably a more wise purchase.

That's all for now.
mwa mwa.
if you happen to read, leave me a msg.

xJ