Wah...

Hey everyone!

Just a quick one to say: "Our computer is broken!"

Hope to have it fixed soon (abusing Tagg's work resources to type this)

And Chagull, unfortunately I was not at the 'G on the weekend to see the amazing Blue revival - I was at work!! But it was nice to see the two Bombers supporters I work with eating the humble pie. And it was nice to see the WestsTigers get over the line too!

My ideal Easter Monday - Went into Carlton and bought a bottle of scotch, a bottle of muscat, half a kilo of coffee beans and half a kilo of assorted biscuits from Brunettis. Mmmm...

Batchelor Boy meal tip of the week: Spice up your hamburgers!
Get half a kilo of mince, some grated cheese, one egg and packet of taco seasoning.
Mix it all together, add salt and pepper to taste and cook! Presto! A couple of days worth of batchelor burger action. And the kitchen smells Mexi-funky when you re-heat them in the microwave too.

It's not all vegmite and cheese on toast in my kitchen! Hehehe.

J.

The agony and the ecstasy - mainly the agony...

Went to Telstra Dome tonight and watched Carlton get absolutely belted across the park. They lost by 78 points! And I get home to find out the Tigers went down by one point to the Cowboys. Dang it! Sorry Taggs I'm eating my chocolate bunny tonight, I need some cocoa mass/sugar serotonin release. Ahh... and maybe a cigarette.

My highlight for the day is selling Dylan Moran two ukeleles for his kids. He looked like he'd just stepped out of the bookshop except he was not wearing a suit or smelling of wine and cigarettes. He did look very tired and over-it, just like Bernard.

And just to top it all off, I ran out of coffee beans on Good Friday morning - Arghh, having to drink instant coffee! Arghh! And tomorrow is Easter Sunday, so I doubt anything will be open. Arghh! I can't survive without caffeine....

I have now eaten the head off the choc-rabbit. Time for a ciggie!

Toodell-pip,
J.

We are the navy Blues!

Went to my first game of football at the MCG on Sunday evening. I finished work and walked down to the ground, took me about fifteen to twenty minutes. Got inside just at the end of the first quarter. Damn, it's a big ground, deceptively big. There were a lot of spare seats in the top tier, up where I found a spot. So I was thinking there weren't that many people there, until they put the crowd figure up as over 59000 people! I don't think i've ever been anywhere where the crowd was that big. It was a beautiful night with a pinky-orange sky and a fullish moon rising over the ground - and Carlton won! Yay! It looked pretty bad during the third quarter, but the boys got their shit together and ran over the top of Richmond. Was very cool and hearing all of the Carlton supporters singing the team song at the end of the game was great. So my first game at the 'G' was a win - all very good.

And Liverpool ran rampant over Arsenal 4-1. But the poor Wests Tigers lost in extra-time to the Eels. Two out of three ain't bad, but I feel bad for the Tiger boys, they've now lost three in-a-row. That's certainly got to dent the confidence. I hope they can get one over the Cowboys in FNQ.

Looks like I'm going to Sydney for a couple of days in May to go to a Fender seminar for two days - should be fun, at least I hope it will be fun! Maybe they'll give us some freebies? The assistant department manager was supposed to go, but he has family commitments so he nominated me! I must be doing something right at work.

Other than that, I'm just working and hanging out. Hope all you krazy kids in Brisney, FNQ, San Fran and the U.K.-on-their-way-to-Turkey are all well and happy.

And thanks to my Tiger-buddy for the messages the other night, sorry we couldn't get the boys over the line. Keep the faith.

Rock on,
J.

Not quite a roar, but definately not a wimper.

Hey Y'all,

Went down to the graveyard (Melbourne Park) and watched the Tigers take on the Storm. The boys never seem to do too well down here, but tonight wasn't too bad. Yes, the did lose, but nowhere near as badly as last year. We only went down by two points to last year's grand finalists - not a bad result really. The boys played well for a first game, still a few mistakes though - passes going astray and unnecessary penalties given away. There is hope there, but the boys need to start clicking, a few times they really didn't have much direction in attack.

The NAB Cup final is on tomorrow night, going to see how I feel after work then make a decision if I go to the game. This weekend is sport crazy down here - we also have the swimming championships going on and the F1! It's so crazy the local Irish have cancelled their St Paddy's parade 'cause they don't think anyone will show-up.

Take care kids,
J.

Monday, Monday...

Hey all!

Not much to report from the south, other than i've gone full-time at work. Which is pretty cool, particularly from a financial stand-point! Now i've just got to resist the temptation to go wild like a kid in a candy store and actually pay off some bills and the such....dang! Though I may have to consider getting some cable action for two reasons. Firstly our SBS reception is crap! We normally get a lovely snow filled screen, but when the wind blows we get big static hiss and the blue screen of death! Secondly, the football season is soon to start and the coverage of the league down here is non-existant. Plus, I wouldn't mind seeing some of the roundball football action too! Oh and they now have the Sci-fi channel, just for the nerdling in me!
So not much going on really, work, home a couple of thirsty thursdays. I felt like having a rant about little skater-dudes coming in a picking up the $3000+ guitars and thrashing out bad covers for their patient, but overly bored girlfriends. But luckily I have Monday off and I'm feeling calm and relaxed, but maybe after tomorrow's shift....

'til next time!

J.

M.I.A.

Apologies to all for my total lack of bloggage. The blog-juices have not been flowing lately.
So what has happened since this my last post? Hmmm, let's see.....

Christmas day was spent with some Brisney ex-pats at a huge-ass house in Brighton (a very posh suburb). Lots of food, lots of beer, lots of shots, lots of laughs and a rabbit named Peter! I do remember to speaking to some of you northerners on the night. I think we were all pretty drunkard. It was a very cold day, there was even snow in the mountains around the city. I think the temp got up to fifteen degrees. The closest i've been to white christmas! Passed out on a couch in a lounge room that was almost as big as half my house! Woke up in the morning to bacon and eggs and the start of the Boxing day test.

I worked on NYE day and by the time I got home I was completely stuffed, so I decided to be a bit of a hermit and not go out. Had a couple of beers, watched some shitty tv and when midnight rolled around listened to every man and his dog let off fireworks around the neighbourhood (some of that continued for the next few nights as well!) My first sms for the evening came from Mr Sales, pretty much right on midnight. A damn good bit of work on his part, as he was in the UK at the time! Then a bunch of them came through an hour later from the northerners (they're a bit behind up there, hehehe..)

The next major event was the Big Day Out. Festivals are starting to make me feel old - all these kids running around. You look at some of them and think they're only about fifteen years old and then you see they are wearing the over-eighteen-I-can-drink-myself-stupid wrist strap. And all the little emo kids, that you just want to go up to and tell them to cheer up! People who know me from long ago may think of that as being a bit of the pot-kettle-black type action. Those kids will one day do what I do now when I see old photos and go: "what the fuck was I thinking?" I saw a bit of the crazy Mach Pelican, watched the little suburban battler Bob Evans, then Brisney boys The Butterfly Effect, local boys Legends of Motorsport and a bit of Little Birdy. Caught most of the set by Kasabian - was pretty cool, I actually watched Something for Kate and was quite impressed by them (I must be getting old...) Saw a mighty display by the YouAmI's - probably the best I've ever seen or heard any of their live shows. Tim Rogers seemed to be channeling all of the old gods of rock n' roll. I caught up with bits of the Killers and Muse and Tool, But the highlight was the last band on in the big-top (like last year's BDO!), the unassuming, unrock Violent Femmes. It was like being back in high school again! A whole tent of late-twenties/early-thirties type singing along to the songs from our youff! Talk about bringing back memories...

Work has been pretty busy, but good. I've been doing well according to the powers-that-be and they're going to make me full-time when my probation ends in a few weeks. It's pretty cool, as I keep learning new things about guitars and stuff nearly everyday (and get to play a little bit at work too!) I've already started to draw up a list of toys I want to buy when I start getting a real wage... oh, boy... Maybe I should pay off some bills first? I've started to jam with one of the guys from work, hope to go to rehearsal studios next week and see how things go. So maybe i'll be playing again soon! Yay!

Had a thirsty Thursday with Taggs, Geek-boy and some of the other binary bandits for my birthday - and I even got a cake - and a phone call from Boo and...Rusty! I haven't spoken to him for ages, it was great, thanks guys. I did go to work a little seedy the next day though...
Spent the whole week thinking about the rest of you Aqua-nuts, hope you all had/are having a blast - doing it for the air-signs! And thanks to everyone for my messages, makes me feel very special (not in the short bus way...)

To James and Nic-Nic, sorry I won't be up there to help you guys celebrate your engagement, hope you guys have a blast. Big hugs to you both.

OK, I think I'm blogged out for the mo'.

Rock and roll everyone!
J.

'Tis the season...

Hey y'all out there,

My first few days at work has gone well. The days just absolutely fly, bouncing from customer to customer. But I'm really enjoying it and slowly getting to know the rest of the crew. I sold my first guitar on Sunday, to a father for his son (who was with him) - the son's first guitar - he's 8!
Ha Ha, we've started another soul on the road to rack and ruin that is rock and roll...
I won't be back in Brisneyland for the festive season, going to hang-out with some other ex-pats down here and luckily I also have Boxing day off too!
Going to be odd not to be up north at this time of year, hanging out with the people I think of as the "family I choose to have". Going to miss all you krazy katz on that day.

Wah,
J.