things i should never keep in the house

sugarcube/yo la tengo

Yo La Tengo - A Take Away Show - Part 2 from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Yo La Tengo being the understated and gorgeous Yo La Tengo thanks to La Blogoteque and their magnficient "A Take Away Show" series. Swooon.

second chance/liam finn and eliza jane

Liam Finn is a manic genius, a highlight of the Falls Festival. He's come so far since Betchadupa.

secret heart/feist

Over the last few months I have:

- Fallen in love with Feist. Both the music and the woman.
- Actually looked forward to running on a treadmill every afternoon.
- Resumed letter writing.
- Become perilously addicted to coffee.
- Believed that if I brush my hair A LOT every day it will grow faster.
- Listened to far too much Madonna.
- Watched far too much Will and Grace. Correction; watched far too little Will and Grace.
- Wondered what I'll do when I grow up and in turn wondered whether I will ever grow up.
- Lost 6kg. Literally. Think about it... where does it go?
- Considered cutting myself some bangs.
- Not missed the internet as much as I thought I would.
- Realised that women wear unnecessarily ridiculous shoes that make them walk funny.
- Enjoyed spending waaaay too much time with my ever amazing and inspiring - and annoying - sister.
- Enjoyed annoying my sister. Hehe.
- Anticipated my sojourn in Adelaide for the house sitting job I could have only ever dreamt about.

How's this weather? Lovely.

Queen of the Oddballs

"GO FOR IT! Be who you are – FULLY! Be an eccentric, a trail-blazer, somewhat mistrustful of the tasteful and the restrained. Act 45 when you’re 13, and 13 when you’re 45. Travel off the beaten-path. Do things unaccording to plan and, not only embrace your oddballness, but CELEBRATE IT! As long as YOU get yourself, and decide that who you are is freakin’ AWESOME no matter what, then others will think you’re awesome, too." Hillary Carlip

... I need to find this book.

requiem/m.ward

Gorgeous song. Beautiful singer. Genius songwriter. Great video featuring photography. Happy Erin.

6 DAYS TO GO! Silly me, I've been counting the Public Holiday...

hillary 08

Who knew when I made that silly button a couple of years ago after reading her biography that it might actually happen?

During the last few weeks I've become more than a little interested in Politics again, in general, even to the point of getting all fiery and giving my sister an earful of opinionated incredulity about all the unfathomable things that are occuring in the World over fish and chips on Saturday.

I'm particularly interested all of a sudden in the possible candidates for the PoTUS (gotta love that first episode of West Wing).

It seems I'm thawing. I'm having feelings again and even, sometimes, expressing them.

It might be the heat.

More likely the impending sense of liberation.

9 more days to go. The countdown is on.

fizgig

fizgig:

1. A squib: a type of firework made with damp power that makes a hissing sound when exploding.

2. A kind of top spun by pulling a string wound around it.

3. A flirty, frivolous girl.

4. A kind of harpoon with barbs for spearing fish.

5. A police informer.

Who knew it was an actual WORD with definitions and such?!

I love Google Word of the Day.

(photo by sissypants taken from her tv set, commissioned by me; broken camera lady)

Triple J Hottest 100

I voted! And the songs are (in no particular order):

Bertie Blackman - Hold Me Close
Dan Kelly & The Alpha Males - I Will Release Myself (Unto You)
Devoted Few - Don't Listen To Us
Gotye - Hearts A Mess
Ground Components/Macromantics - Coming In From All Angles
Holly Throsby - Making A Fire
Howling Bells - Low Happening
Mia Dyson - I Meant Something To You Once
Panda Band - Lovely Shoulders
Sarah Blasko - Explain

I picked a whole bunch and then wheedled it down to the Australian songs that were total ear worms for me during 2006. The other songs that made my shortlist but were not Australian, so didn't get voted for (because I'm patriotic that way), were:

Camille - Ta Douleur
Cat Power - The Greatest
Elbow - Leaders Of The Free World
Futureheads - Skip To The End
Gnarls Barkley - Just A Thought
Gossip - Jealous Girls
Hidden Cameras – Awoo
Joan As Police Woman - I Defy
Kimya Dawson - I Like Giants
The Knife - Silent Shout
Lady Sovereign - Love Me Or Hate Me
Lily Allen – Alfie
M Ward - Chinese Translation
Mates Of State - Like U Crazy
My Latest Novel - The Reputation Of Ross Francis
Pony Up! - The Truth About Cats & Dogs (Is That They Die)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Turn Into

Please don't remind me that I forgot to vote for Darren Hanlon's 'People Who Wave at Trains'. I will just cry.

Slow Down Week 14-20 January 2007

Watch the animation from Adbusters

flickr fave wednesday

originally uploaded by lets take your car.

bananas

I had my first banana in over 12 months last Saturday. On a buckwheat pancake with a lemon, sour cream saucey thing that I made from a cookbook. Oh, yeah. I cooked while I was away. It is so much more satisfying cooking for others. Particularly if it is your Mum and Dad and they have a brand new oven that guffaws in the face of the one in your rented flat.

Eating that banana brought forth this memory from one of the many filing cabinets full of memories I seem to have in my cavernous brain:

I'm sitting at my Uncle's dining table eating a banana. He has brought me inside (from playing totem tennis I don't doubt) and sat me down me to listen to a song. I listen and realise it is someone covering Ugly Kid Joe's AWESOME song "Cats in the Cradle".

"Oh, no, no, no!" my Uncle exclaims, "this isn't a COVER, this is the ORIGINAL!"

I pause incredulously at the thought. "Is it Cat Stevens?" I ask.

"No, it's Harry Chapin!"

"WHO?"


My brain worries me sometimes.

january designated self portrait day

(The words written above are from the film "Empire Falls".)

I wrote down some words that kept coming to mind in my awake/asleep state while suspended above the clouds aboard a plane in the early hours of this morning. The words were; motivation, momentum, gratitude, optimism, generosity, meaning and awareness. These are things I want to develop more of in my character.

I also want to develop more photographs.

christmas time is here/vince guaraldi trio

Christmas Time Is Here by the Vince Guaraldi Trio is the least cheesiest, cheesy Christmas song I know. I actually listen to it when it's not Christmas. Yeah, go figure.

This Christmas I'm feeling more Christmas-ey than ever even though I have to admit I am at my most cynical. But an afternoon watching Elf with friends and (sort of) helping them prepare for their Christmas (plus a jog/walk that drove home my horrendously unfit state) filled me up and made me realise that if I don't start paying attention I'll miss it (whatever 'it' is). I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas present... and seeing as I wasn't asking, it was the best.

Merry Christmas.

(This post was proudly sponsored by the word 'Christmas'. Tell me exactly how many times it was used and I WILL send you a prize in the New Year. Bonus prize for who can tell me which two movie soundtracks you can find the song on.)

strange fruit/billie holiday

scars

After a couple of days at work where staff members have accidentally cut body parts with knives or slicers both in and outside of work we all ended up gathered in the office this afternoon for an impromptu scar sharing conversation. There was a wrist drilling scar, a missing pinky finger tip and a face plant scar on a nose. I showed my predominately hand centric scars and the one on my ear (as a three year old I stood on my sisters rocking chair and ROCKED until I could take no more and fell ear first onto the corner of a coffee table). I looked to the next person in anticipation of their scar stories (I love scars) thinking I was completely finished with showing my scars when one of the girls said "don't forget the one on your neck!", then another says "yeah, I think it's really interesting, it adds to your mystery". I responded with my usual flippant sarcasm; "I just thought it made me a hormonally imbalanced teenager." Then I responded to my first instinct and reached up and ran my finger along it.

I'd completely forgotten about that scar.

Speaking of scars and things that are interesting and mysterious I was in a store today and a guy walked past me in quite a rush carrying boxes. In big cursive black writing from elbow to wrist was the word "Queenslander...." with silver shading (yes, the '....' was part of it). I had to ask. So as he passed me I pointed to his arm and asked; "Is that... real?!" and he replied proudly; "It sure is!" I then suffered a rare involuntary verbal thought vomit because I grinned and said, "Wow! That's cah-ray-zy!" He looked back at me very briefly and blankly saying "Why is it crazy?"

He was too far past me for me to try and explain to him that, well, if it were me, it would say "South Australian...."

leaders of the free world/elbow

Elbow are a great British band with a huge lush sound that I love. The singer has a big warm strong voice. I heard "Leaders of the Free World" a couple of times on the radio and, without listening to the words, thought it was some kind of political statement (the chorus I heard well enough; "the leaders of the free world are just little boys throwing stones and it's easy to ignore until their knocking on the door of your homes" and then there is the line; "passing the gun from father to feckless son") but when I got the CD home I kept playing it over and over. Once I got myself comfortable with the lyrics unfolded in front of me I realised why I liked it so much. There is still a political nature to it, but the first few lines were exactly how I was feeling at the time.

A friend just told me a story about helping her Grandmother move into her parents house. Her Grandmother had been living independently for over 20 years but this year her health has deteriorated to the point where she can no longer live alone. When my friend and her husband arrived at her Grandmothers house to help pack and move they found her moving packed boxes into the hallway. She had already packed up her things. By herself. All but one thing which she gave to my friend. Here's what her Grandmother told her:

"The neighbours gave it to me. They are lovely people and I'm grateful, but really! What is a ninety-four year old woman going to do with a set of tea cups and saucers? I'd much prefer a Mars Bar."

Is it wrong that I feel that way and I'm only twenty-eight?

Last weekend while wandering West End in the dusky late afternoon I spotted someone playing an accordion in the local Laundromat. I really wanted to ask him if I could take his photograph but, being the complete coward I am, I just walked straight home. In the wee hours of the next morning I woke up to the softest most beautiful little accordion sounds drifting down my street. They were obviously playing as quietly as they could because of the time of day it was. I didn't even hop up to peer out of my window because I was in that sleepy inbetween dream and wake state of being and could barely believe what I was hearing. I wish I could have seen them walking down the street playing. I bet it was the same guy.

On Friday morning I found myself driving most of the way to work behind a big covered ute. In the back of the ute was a sandy coloured greyhound that kept wandering from side to side and sticking its head out of the windows. Then I noticed that every time he stuck his head out of a window he would lick his chops and giants globs of doggy drool would fly kamaze into my windshield. I could not stop laughing.

When I make a movie, that will definitely make up part of a driving scene.

the ride/joan as police woman

Does anyone remember the early/mid 90's band The Dambuilders? Well they had a violinist. Her name was Joan Wasser. Early 00's she toured a lot with Antony & the Johnsons and Rufus Wainwright. They kick serious booty and I love them. She put out a solo album this year under the name Joan as Police Woman. It kicks some serious booty. It's booty-ful. Her website says "beauty is the new punk rock". I didn't get it at first, but now I do.

Finally we sisters caught up. A Sunday photo stroll around Bardon and Paddington (with my new camera which is pictured being held so childlike by my sissypants above). A number of vintage clothing and antique shops where you automatically wished you had money to throw around (then you remember you just threw money at a digital SLR camera, then you hear your Dad shouting "YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE, DINGY!") and a lithe body to put those fetching clothes upon. A delicious iced mocha at the Java Lounge. Plus an early evening changing my flat tyre. Which the above photograph was taken just after.

why doesn't whitney have a greatest hits record?

Yes, I:

a) know enough to know Whitney Houston doesn't have a greatest hits record.

b) did a search for performances by her on YouTube.

poor boy, minor key/m. ward

Poor Boy, Minor Key has this beautiful rambling old rag time piano introduction that leans into a sweetly distorted guitar line and M. Ward's incomparable warble. Then before you know it the song is over. I love this song so much and I actually wish it never ended. Or at least that it was over three and a half minutes long. Sometimes I feel that way about Sonic Youth songs too.

I had such a super weekend. It feels like Tuesday today. Yet the week has been long. So I'm writing about my weekend just when another is about to start. Oh well.

On Saturday night I fell in love (with The Globe Theatre and) all over again with Mr Darren Hanlon and his considerable wit and charm. Not only does he have considerable wit and charm he is also a genius wordsmith and the writer of a growing catalogue of melodic gems. Don't ask me to pick a favourite. I really can't. I also really believe that, as much as I would go to see Dazza if he was singing a cappella on a street corner, part of the appeal of seeing him play live is in seeing and hearing Bree play those drums. The girl can ROCK. It's not just me with a crush on Bree, let's admit it.

On Sunday night I spent an evening with an old friend. A friend that I miss as soon as I see her. She was here for the weekend for a course and had Sunday night free. We wandered the City and talked about music and work and fear and life and feeling insane and not knowing and jumped in my car to head for the Palace Centro where I'd just found out that all tickets were $7 during October and just made it for a screening of Little Miss Sunshine. Perfect. Next time I have popcorn I'm trying that tongue thing. Then we shared these insanely good vegetable fritters and a roasted vegetable salad and peppermint tea for dinner at this kind of fancy place across from the cinema. Then we found a wall covered in stencil art and took stacks of photos. Then she mentioned that she's been looking everywhere for a CD and wondered if I knew of it. That she'd heard some of it in a bookshop and had asked who the artist was. "It's was someone called M. Ward,"she said, "the title is something about 'Vincent'?" "THE TRANSFIGURATION OF VINCENT!" I exclaimed. "I knew you'd know it!" she laughed. I couldn't let her search unsuccessfully any longer for such a great album. So I took her to see my house and to give her the CD. Which means I now have a visitor Polaroid of her holding the CD. I loved the whole evening. The best part was it didn't feel strange at all for her to be in Brisbane. It felt ordinary. The kind of ordinary that is beautiful.

I've been slowly working my way through the entire series of Six Feet Under and tonight I watched the last episode ever. The smallest things were making me weep. Ruth asking David if he wants his cereal in his yellow bowl. Out of context that sounds ridiculous and maybe it is. It was the subversive nature of the show that sucked me in. It's like nothing else that's been on TV. Intense. Confronting. Confusing. Distressing. Beautiful. Sad. I mean really, it is set in a family owned funeral home and every episode starts with the death of someone who is taken care of by Fisher & Sons.

In the middle of watching the final episode my phone rang. It was AC Nielsen. I was asked a number of questions about how serious I think the effects of Global Warming are and how I rate the response of the Government to it. It felt kind of liberating saying the words "extremely serious" and "disapprove" as if my opinion in a poll would sway the Government in some way to ACT.

Then they started asking me about what types of beverages I drink...