Stop! ... Payten Time

Pearl Jam - 27 Nov - Mt Smart - Auckland, New Zealand

2009-11-30T14:26:00.015+11:00

Notes:

Shared a top gig with some great peeps - Madz, Tim, Eff + Andrew (NZ) and Darren (UK) - then two bottles of Jim Beam with fellow 10c'er Darren (Vic)... massive gig... massive night... massive hangover :-/

Only 60 people from the front of the 10c line... ended up 2nd row in front of Stone! Lucky to have some great peeps around me for this one - really enjoyed it!

Wowee... throw back to the the gig I went to in '98 - intense moshpit thanks to all the pumped (gassed) up kiwis - a handful of violent douches made the pit quite unpleasant.. esp the dude who pushed his way to front barrier then scored a tambourine...

All the guys were worried about the crowd in front of Stone - stopped the gig several times to have a word - Eddie tried to be the stern headmaster... but didn't really work ; ) Security - Epic Fail.

Setlist highlights - Hail Hail, Faithful, Hold On, Love Reign Over Me and Neil Finn joining Liam and Ed for a cover of Not Given Lightly

Madi made a sign - "Play Leash | You Pussies" with a 2nd "Pussies No More"... needless to say they didn't play - however Ed did give Andrew and Madi a massive heads up when he saw the sign... then a massive sigh... they were stoked with that.

I hope this exchange is captured on the boot:

Eddie (to crowd): "If you ever see me on the street, come say Hi and I'll buy you a beer!"
Eddie (off mic to Jeff): "Hehe ... you'll never see me"
Jeff: "lolz"

Got to Bawley Point after Qantas served up a 4 hour delay in Auckland plus lost my luggage.. somehow made the last train to Kiama and then drove down to Bawely arriving at 3am Sunday morning! That said, rode some of the funnest waves of my life on Sunday! Now know why they call it No Toes - had my fins dragging along the reef and kneedeep throughout!

Sweet Fender Custom Shop '57 Precision... *bass-envy*

Mike and Jeff looking a little worried about the crowd in front of Stone... i.e. us!

l-r: Andrew, Madi, Eff, Tim, Me, Darren

Pearl Jam - 22 Nov - SFS - Sydney, Australia

2009-11-30T14:07:00.008+11:00

Notes:

40 degrees! Sooo hot - didn't even try to line up with 10c - ended up standing just on the back edge of Mike's front section

Ed had the flu and was definitely struggling - pushed through and did he's darndest to pump it out - the band was obviously rallying behind him and they pumped out impressive versions of Garden, MFC, SOLAT and Last Exit - plus also gave Stone the chance to knock out Mankind - awesomeness

Had a great PJ possie for the gig - Madz + Amez, Kristie and Row + Tim, Eff, Sandy and co + Liam, Josh and co

ooooo check out Jeff's new Mike Lull Custom Thunderbird bass! *bass-envy*

Pearl Jam - 20 Nov - Etihad Stadium - Melbourne, Australia

2009-11-30T13:55:00.006+11:00

Only took a few shots that came out well here...

Ben joining PJ to do Red Mosquito:

Mike:

Hightlights:

Great setlist including Oceans, Present Tense, Brother, Needle and the Damage Done and Glorified G... plus most of 10!

Hanging with Madz, Amez and George

Catching up with Dougie and Liam - even though we couldn't get into any club in the CBD (too many dicks!) was totally awesome ; )

South Coast, NSW

2009-04-11T17:34:00.008+10:00

Picture from the latest surf mission - No-Toes rolling in very nicely:

Japan - Hirafu #6

2009-02-25T01:52:00.010+11:00

My time in Hirafu, Niseko has come to an end. Thankfully we had a few good days leading up to the weekend - and a great day riding on the Sunday.

Here are some more action pics:

Shan busting through the trees at Hanazono:

Lil carving a lot of powder:

Me trying to look cool:

Conrad looking cool - check the sneaky tail stand ; )

Shan and I are now on a quick fire JR rail trip around Kansai. We're currently staying in Nikko just outside of Tokyo - lots of onsens and temples surrounded by amazing mountains and forests.

Aiming for Kyoto tomorrow and then hope to spend a night at Koya-san for a night in a temple in the mountains ; )

Spent this morning with Shiho and Sophie - just in time for Sophie's 1st birthday! Soooo cute - かわいいね！

Japan - Hirafu #5

2009-02-18T19:49:00.005+11:00

Still snowing... hit the King and Ace courses with Mitzy this morning... here's some highlights:

Me doing a sweeet tail stand ala Conrad on the King run (with about 20cm+ powder on top!) :

Soooo many Mitz's... carving down the King groomed run:

Mitz chopping up some deep powder down the Ace run:

Um... Well... Mitz becoming a little too friendly with one of the floodlights...

Japan - Hirafu #4 - I am actually here...

2009-02-16T16:43:00.007+11:00

After two pretty disappointing days on the mountain, it's snowing again... and then some. We've had over 15cm and it hasn't even looked like stopping yet.

Today was somebody else's turn to get their hands cold and take some photos : )

Here's some action shots of me... see... I was actually riding here in Niseko!

Japan - My new dream car ; )

2009-02-15T15:11:00.002+11:00

Toyota bB... I want one... 4WD... and sooo gangsta.

Japan - Hirafu #3 - Conrad's Birthday

2009-02-15T14:42:00.003+11:00

Last week was Conrad's birthday - so we spent a day off the slopes and pursued a series of non-snowboarding activities... mostly...

The first activity on the list was a great snowshoe through the wilderness across the base of the Mt Yotei to an iced crater-style lake. The crew prepares (some boards were brought along for a mini-backcountry experience):

Apparently the lake was well frozen - >4ft thick... with tonnes of snow laying on top... in retrospect it didn't seem like a great idea to cut around on top of it : / Here Conrad and Lil bury their transponders to test their avalanche emergency skills:

Here's a compilation of Carl dropping down the side of the crater to the shore of the lake.

The afternoon was spent at an out of town onsen followed by dinner at a great Okonomiyaki restaurant and then drinks amongst the village.

In honour of the birthday boy, Mitz, Shan and I attempted to build our own shrine/snow sculpture... turned out pretty cool... unfortunately it rained all yesterday and melted it to nothing : /

Japan - Hirafu #2

2009-02-09T21:57:00.005+11:00

Had the most amazing ride last night. The entire top of the mountain was closed all day due to heavy snow and high winds... but they opened the runs at around 6pm as night skiing began! This meant completely untracked runs with upwards to 3ft of powder stacked in places with knee high snow on the groomed runs! Conrad described it as heli-skiing... We were too busy riding to take many photos - but here's one of me in the distance:

After such an epic evening the night before, the skies cleared up today leaving blue skies and fluffy powder up top. Here's a compilation of Shan dropping into the trees at the top of the hooded triple chair:

Mitz, Kayz and Sam celebrating the great conditions:

Sapporo Ice Festival

2009-02-07T20:00:00.005+11:00

Just got back from 3 days in Sapporo where we all checked out the Ice Festival - some amazing snow and ice sculptures and freezing temperatures! Snowed on and off the entire time we were there - was especially cold last night - was already -4 deg at around 10pm!

Some of the crew posing - Clockwise from top-left: Lil, Carl, Mitz, Conrad, Shan, Me, Pip, Izz, Lorna.

A snow sculpture of the Sapporo Government building... I think...

It basically snowed the entire time we were there... this'll give you an idea of how much it was dumping:

The view from the Tokyu Inn hotel where we stayed - simple and sooooooo expensive... but at least we had a sweet view ; )

We retreated from the cold in some of the game parlours - here's Mitz and Shan hitting it out for queen of the japanese drums:

Probably the best snow sculpture we came across - this was later on and shows some the workers blowing the fallen snow from the sculpture.

The ice sculptures we really quite amazing - such precise carvings- unfortunately it was a little too cold to chill out and enjoy each one for too long!

Japan - Hirafu #1

2009-02-04T22:01:00.005+11:00

A little too tired for a serious blog...

Powder. Powder. Powder.

We've had 3 days of sweet powder - yesterday it snowed 10cm during the day - made for some super nice night boarding where floodlights allow riding down most of the lower mountain.

Heading to Sapporo tomorrow for the Ice Festival.

Here's some photos:

- Waiting for the resort bus - huge Mt Yotei in the background

- Mitzy shredding Hanazono

- Jed shredding Hanazono

- Shan shredding

- Shan contemplates which powder turns to make

More to come peeps : )

Pearl Jam - 19 Nov - Entertainment Centre - Newcastle, Australia

2006-11-20T18:32:00.000+11:00

Main Set: Alive, Life Wasted, Severed Hand, Save You, Insignificance, Unemployable, Brain Of J., Red Mosquito, Given To Fly, Last Exit, Hail Hail, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Better Man, Daughter(War), Whipping, Leatherman, Down, Do The Evolution, Undone, Rearviewmirror
Encore 1: Thumbing My Way, Masters Of War, Footsteps, Crown Of Thorns, Alone, Even Flow
Encore 2: Corduroy, Fuckin' Up, Rockin' In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter/Little Wing

Um... yeah... well Madi and I are lucky bitches. Looks like we witnessed one of the best sets of the world tour... word on the newsgroups is that this set is up there with Gorge 1, Marseille and Madrid... 5th row... just left of centre... infront of Jeff and Ed. Fuck me.

The band made up the setlist as they were going along (they had a group huddle at the end of each song!)... with help from Mark Richards who was hanging on the side.

Well they played Alive first!... also Brain of J... Red Mosquito... Leatherman... Down... Undone... Alone... Masters of War... Footsteps... Crown of Thorns... shit. Serisouly.

Unfortunately had the wrong ISO setting on my camera... so photos are a little grainy... (after talking to some PJammers, it looks like the Canon G7 is the 10c pick for gigs).

Madi is pretty happy about the 10c seats...

Ed comes out and plays with KoL!!!

Red Mosquito... omg...

Hail Hail...

Betterman...

Ed talks... before Thumbing My Way...

Crown of Thorns!

Evenflow

Ed makes MR chug!

Jeff - Fuckin' Up

Jeff (despeckled) - Fuckin' Up

Stone - Fuckin' Up

Mike and Matt - Rockin' in the Free World

Well I've seen 4 of my 5 favourite songs during this tour - I Got Id, Black, SoLaT and Alone - the only song I didn't see over this tour that I really wanted was In My Tree... and they played that at the soundcheck for this gig... dammit.

That's it... no more PJ for me... for now... fingers crossed that this doesn't spell the end for them... (talk amongst 10c ppl wasn't too positive... everyone's a little paranoid about the future).

I got memories. I got PJ.

... and I've also lost my voice ; )

Pearl Jam - 13 Nov - Rod Laver Arena - Melbourne, Australia

2006-11-14T20:05:00.000+11:00

Main Set: Wasted Reprise, Life Wasted, Animal, Spin The Black Circle, Corduroy, Severed Hand, Jeremy, Given To Fly, Marker In The Sand, Even Flow, Insignificance, Army Reserve, Daughter / (Another Brick In The Wall Part 2), Leatherman, Do The Evolution, Better Man / (Save It For Later), Rearviewmirror

1st Encore: Inside Job, Once, Come Back, Black, Alive

2nd Encore: Dead Man, State Of Love And Trust, Comatose, Why Go, Rockin' In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter / Little Wing

Some highlights:

6th row... closer to centre this time... infront of Stone. But this time Stone actually moved around a bit! He was smiling and interacting with a the crowd... a little.

Hit Melbz and the gig with Amy, Lottie and Row. Was Amy's and Row's first PJ gigs...

Ed talks about how the band saw an interview with John Howard where he placed the blame for Aus' flailing economy (or something alone those lines) on the cost of bananas - Ed proceeded to say "Well I've got a banana" while grabbing his crutch... went on to mumble about how JH should get his hands off his own banana... and while he was at it, also get his hands off GWB's banana. The bootleg will soon clear all this up!

State of Love and Trust... say no more.

Ed throws the mic into the crowd at the end of SoLaT... this dude catches it and belts out the outro!! Sounds pretty good too... he gets kudos from the band

Ed started off Betterman... but as he started to sing he pulled back... the crowd was really into it. We sang the first verse/chorus before Ed jumped in.

Inside Job... the crowd went really quiet... not sure if it was because not all knew it (hard to believe) or just because it was deserved of a chilled response... it was good nevertheless

In the encore, a roadie went to throw Ed a new tambourine... but he wasn't looking and it hit Stone in the head! Jeff stopped playing and jokingly frisbeed the tambourine straight back into the guitar tech area only to miss the roadie by inches... mucho laughs on stage.

Security guard gives Ed the finger after Ed has a go at him for wrestling a cigarette off a dude in the bleaches... Ed gets really riled up and looks like he might kick his ass... but seems to settle down... although straight after Ed whispers in Mike's ear and Little Wing pipes up and the band rockets into it... Ed whispers again into Mike's ear and YL cruises to the end...

Not really a highlight... but Warney was spotted in the crowd... ironically just behind the dude the security guys were hassling - apparently had a couple of ladies with him... also, Tim Robbins was also seen rocking out next to the side of the stage... all this comes secondhand from a drunk guy that wouldn't stop talking at me while I was inline for drinks at the Cookie Bar...

Kings of Leon:

Jeff's gear:

Spin the Black Circle (check out Stone! Facing up to the crowd... what?):

Better Man:

RVM:

Inside Job:

Rockin in the Free World:

End of 10minute Rockin in the Free World marathon... and in need of a rest:

Yellow Ledbetter... Mike...:

Just downloading the bootleg for the Sydney #1 show - decided to try out the FLAC versions - see if they sound better... we'll see...

Pearl Jam - 7 Nov - Acer Arena - Sydney, Australia

2006-11-08T19:21:00.000+11:00

Madi and I made a mid-week mission to Sydney yesterday to make good on two PJ fanclub tickets for their first show in Australia on the last leg of the world tour. PJ never cease to amaze. Frickin awesome set (official setlist) ... maybe a little conservative... but good warm up show for Aussie leg me thinks.

We scored 5th row seats - to the right of the stage and Stone.

Some photos:

Even Flow (not listed on official setlist though - pretty sure I didn't dream it).

Matt's solo in Even Flow.

Ed wanders over to side of stage.

A first - Stone moves around the stage! And we got to see Mike for a bit.

Oh Ooooh... Madi's got a blog

2006-08-07T21:57:00.000+10:00

http://madaboutmadi.blogspot.com/

Portugal

2006-08-07T19:52:00.000+10:00

On my way to Portugal I stopped in Seville. Here I checked out the amazing Cathedral that towers above the main centre. A pic of inside the cathedral just to the side of the tomb of Christopher Columbus.

After a spot of shopping and a final hit of tapas and sangria I jumped on a bus headed for Portugal. After a short journey through the south-east of Portugal, which reminded me remarkably of the Australian bushland, I met up with my cousin Tiago, his mum and Tiago's uncle Ze in a seaside town Lagoa (next to Portimao).

I was to be staying at the family farmhouse about 15 minutes inland from Portimao. But before I crashed there, Tiago and I cruised up to Averio (on the coast between Lisbon and Porto) to visit one of his friends (Tiago number 2) for a 3 day mission. This was my first taste of the amazing coastline and beaches Portugal have - you can see why soo many Europeans make Portugal their summer retreat. We stayed at Tiago's (2) aunty's house in the countryside - an older couple live here and maintain an amazing fruit and vege garden - never tasted a more juicier and delicious peach - taken straight from the tree... brilliant.

Built for the 2004 Euro cup, there's this bizarre looking football stadium that we drove past a few times - looks more like the circus is in town!

Back in the Algarve it was time for chilling, beach, food, beers and chilling. We spent half of pretty much every day kicking around the beaches in the area - the water was soooo good - apparently the northern currents from Africa had kicked in just in time for my arrival. A definite highlight was been taken out on the family boat for a trip up and down the coastline, stopping occasionally to take a dip. Coming from Australia, we're not usually partial to jumping so far out in the ocean... sharks come to mind... but I was assured that this was the safest place to swim and that there was nothing in the water that could bite my legs off - here's a pic of one spot we jumped in.

Back at the farmhouse - Ze had packed the fridge with enough food to feed an army! and enough beer to satisfy at least a dozen Aussies... I tried my best... but I couldn't finish all the food ; ) Here's a few pics of the farmhouse.

I've been really lucky to have experienced such great hospitality throughout my trip - the Portuguese really know how to make a weary Aussie traveler feel welcome - and throw a good spread : ) Mucho props to Tiago, Ze and all the families I hung out with - I had an awesome time.

Ok - quick comment... the combination of Portuguese and automobiles shouldn't be allowed - these cats are the craziest drivers in the world!!! Absolutely insane...

Cordoba

2006-07-25T21:55:00.000+10:00

After Madrid I jumped on a fast train down to Cordoba. If I thought Madrid was hot, then Cordoba was nasty crazy hot. Easily up in the 30's before midday, then still in the 40's around 8pm... crazy... this is where I really made the most of the siesta! ... and the sangria ; )

I stayed at a hostel just 3 minutes from the Mezquita - the beautiful mosque dates back to around 785AD and has evolved many times throughout the years... including the addition of a massive cathedral in the centre of the mosque added during the crusades during the 13th Century. A photo of the original mosque section (the cathedral is to the left).

Another magnificent sight was the Royal palace and gardens (Jardines del Alcazar) - we actually were fortunate enough to see a gig in these gardens by jazz musician Pat Metheny.

Rupert was staying on the other side of the Mezquita with Jacob and Dan - all in town for a rather impressive guitar festival. The town seemed to be full of guitarists... dudes walking around with guitar cases everywhere. On the first night they took me along to a lute performance - it was really good - never seen live lute before. The next night was BB King! He was amazing - and the gig was in a Plaza de Toros no less (bullfighting arena!). Looking really old (hitting 80 years of age this year), but still able to hit those massive reverberating notes! His band was absolute class - feel very priveledged to have seen him live.

Spent the next 3 days chilling with Rupert, Jacob and Dan - hitting various tapas bars and staying up late drinking sangria in the main plaza under a clear sky with full-ish moon. Good times.

Rupert and Jacob both entered into the classical guitar competition - winner taking home a guitar valued at 6000Euro! Unfortunately Rupert missed out on the final - it was left up to Jacob to bring home the winnings - and up against two local guitarists Jacob convincingly won the comp... not bad for a days work ; ) Here's a pic of Rupert practicing before his qualification round.

From Cordoba I continued to Seville, before jumping on a bus to Lagoa in Portugal! Some stories in my next blog.

Hope everyone is well ; ) Still kicking around London! Went to the Tate modern yesterday - was great. Also went and saw the new Superman movie at the IMAX theatre - huge... literally. Movie was alright... not fantastic... the 3D scenes were crazy!

Madrid

2006-07-20T01:30:00.000+10:00

Hi - it's been a while : ) Haven't had internet for the past week and bit... have been in Portugal for just on a week, staying in a relative's country farmhouse. Was in Cordoba before that. Good times. More about that another time I guess.

Firstly, from Prague I arrived in Madrid and was welcomed with a sweltering 36 degrees celsius... bloody hot. At least the train cars in the metro where somewhat air-conditioned... it would have been nasty otherwise. My hostel was in the Bilbao area of Madrid. Up with all the funky stores and tapas bars... was pretty good... except I hadn't yet learned at world of Spanish!! Luckily I was able to tag along with an Aussie and an American lass I met at the hostel. They were both studying Spanish over in Barcelona... so it was good to learn a few basics.

Here's a pic of me and Molly/Pip rowing around the big pond in the middle of the Retiro Part (formally only open to royalty I think - they used to recreate old navel battles on the pond to entertain the royals).

Only spent a few days in Madrid, so didn't have too much time to hit all the Museums and galleries... however I made time to visit the Reina Sofia Modern art museum - had a great exhibition of Picasso on (although it didn't quite match up to Picasso's own collection I was fortunate to see when I was in Paris).

Also went to the home of football team Real Madrid - the Bernebau - it was massive - went on the tour so I had a chance to sit in the player's bench seats (like sports car seats) and also checked out the away team's locker room - plush! had a massive spa bath and ornate tiles everywhere. The highlight was probably seeing all the trophies they've won... although none of them were from too recent a year ; )

Spent a lot of time lounging around in parks - there are some beautiful parks and courts all through Madrid... made for a great place to rest up for the afternoon siesta - a past-time I hope to make mandatory when I get back home me thinks.

Took me a few days to get into Madrid... didn't like it at first - had a touch of the flu and the heat was pretty nasty... but after a few days it started to grow on me a little... there were sooo many cool little clothing shops, sweet outdoor cafe/tapa bars and plenty of museums/galleries to checkout.

Currently I'm back in London for a bit of rest before I head over to Poland with Tim and Sean. Will let you know how Cordoba was in the next day or so ; )

Prague

2006-07-03T17:25:00.000+10:00

Well I've spent the last 4 days kicking around Prague... and it's one groovy city. I traveled to Prague via overnight train from Frankfurt... it was ass! Soooo hot and uncomfortable. I made the journey with Nathan and Pete and we kicked around the city together with Adam, Michael and Mish (three other Canberrans and friends of Nath and Pete over here for the WC).

Won't blab too much - just will say we went to the Castle and up to the top of the black tower (in the Chapel), hung out in Wenceslas Square, hit the Communist Museum, partied till the sun came up at a 4 story dance club right next to Charles Bridge... and other random stuff : ) The most memorable times probably revolved around the heated and hotly contested games of BlackBitch we played every other night... intense stuff people.

Some pix.

View from the Black Tower (up the cathedral in the Castle):

Apparently he looks like me...

Cards... heavy stuff:

View of the castle from Charles bridge:

Sitting in the airport just outside Prague at the moment... about to board a flight to Madrid! It's gonna be soooo goddamn hot... over 36 apparently... shit. Will spend 3 nights there and then it's down to Cordoba to rendezvous with Rupert and to check out the guitar festival (including a BB King gig!!!!!)... massive.

Hope everyone is fantastic.

Really looking forward to coming home and kicking it out with you all ; )

Payten

...

2006-06-27T23:03:00.000+10:00

For one of the my most amazing experiences ever... I never thought I'd feel soooo shit. The atmosphere was amazing - fans everywhere - entire K-Town (Kaiserslautern) was packed to rim with Aussies, Germans in Aussie shirts... and a few Italians...

It really was a brilliant atmosphere - I hope the TV coverage captured some of it. The result however was a kick in the guts... all the Aussies over here were devastated... Cheated... robbed... lots of tears and looks of dismay... but like any good Aussie - everyone seems pretty up considering.

Some flicks from my seat - was amongst all the Aussie fans - we didn't stop singing the whole time - was unbelievable!

Off to Prague with Nath and Pete for a week - time to get ourselves back together and chill out a little. Also gives us a chance to save some $$$ on accommodation... always good : ) I then fly to Madrid early July...

Anywayz - hope you're all well : )

Reporting from the World Cup

2006-06-24T22:46:00.000+10:00

Well... I'm in Frankfurt, Germany. It's going absolutely insane here! Parties everywhere, bands playing on the street, food stalls and cheap beer aplenty!!! Crazy times.

Caught the train up from Paris - it was going ok until the damn train broke down... I was almost 2 hours late getting into Frankfurt and that's after two transfers I shouldn't have had to make... efficient my ass.

Crazy story... I booked into my hostel, knowing that Nathan and Peter would be booking in either that day or the day after. After booking in I asked the dude if he'd checked them in... he said their names weren't on the list... so I walk into my hostel room to drop off my crap... there's three dudes sleeping so I try to be pretty quiet... I look at one of them and recognise a big curly mop... on the bunk above is a dude in a Ben Folds tee that also looks too familiar... just at that moment Nathan sat up and looked around - brilliant.

We watched the France game on the big screen erected in the middle of the Main river along with (reportedly) 60,000 other people... shit... tonight's the Germany game - people are going nuts!!!

One more story before I pass out...

The FFA announced yesterday that they were releasing 1500 tickets to the Aussie Italy game on Monday... this was to happen at a undisclosed location somewhere in Stuttgart...

My mission began with a dream... I'm in Germany... it's the World Cup... the Aussies are still kicking... no brainer...

I woke up this morning at around 6am and caught the train directly to Stuttgart... 2 hours... damn... good thing was I was able to avoid the ticket dudes on both the way there and back - free ride (would've cost 80Euro return...). Arrived at the station and sat down with around 20 other Aussies... all eagerly awaiting the secret location... I had my laptop out.. as did a few other cats... we decided we'd get into a cab and I'd hang the window near the wireless hotspot and when the page refreshed we'd go go go... well... there were about 15 cabs full of Aussies by this point. The page refreshed and bang we had our destination... we told the cabby (who was freaking out and couldn't speak English!!) - bang... we were off - it was just like the Amazing Race: Stuttgart. We were quite close to hotel where we needed to go - you could tell by the dudes in Aussie jerseys running along the street!! We bailed on the cab - threw the driver some Euros - and sprinted towards the hostel... what we saw almost made us cry... there was already (what looked like) 1000~ people lining up... all this less than 5min after the location was revealed on the net... there must have been a leak...

After lining up for over 2 hours it became more and more positive that we'd get tickets... and yes... it was hot... I was sweating like a bitch... but it was worth it!! A Category 3 ticket to the Round of 16 clash between the Socceroos and Italy... this thinking about it makes me feel all excited... yeeeessss....

Enough about that... bring on Monday and bring on a good Aussie performance!!! Woooo You Know It!

Wooooo Yeeeeeaaaaahhhh... Woooooooooo

2006-06-23T08:55:00.000+10:00

We did it!!!! FUCKIN YOU KNOW IT!!!!

Just got back from Cafe Oz - an aussie bar in Paris... massive peoples... maybe the most massive achievement in Aussie sporting history... shit...

When we won I may have danced around singing "Land Down Under"... also may have pashed two girls on the way to the bar... also may have downed two shots of random (free) booze at the bar...also may have then downed a 16euro jug of FOSTERS!!! Wooo yeah Aussies Yeah Wooooo YEAH WOOOOOO!

Next stop Germany!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Here are some cool pics of some brilliant peeps we met at the biggest result EVER!

Row, me, and Alanya (firend of Row - living in Paris from Sydney):

Row, Patrick, Alanya, me and Dan (Perth):

Paris... magnifique!

2006-06-21T20:34:00.000+10:00

I'm currently kicking around Paris - it's a fantastic city - around every corner there's something spectacular to look at or someplace interesting to visit! Staying with Row - she's got cool little top floor apartment in the NW area of Paris - very chilled out area... heaps of cool little stores and places to buy nice bread, cheese and pastries... yup... food over here is the shiz... I can't stop eating... one of my favourite cheeses "Boursin" with pepper is only 2euros... it's awesome... in fact I'm eating it right now ; )

Basically I've done a lot of walking! On my first day I walked from the Jardin du Carrousel all the way up the Avenue des Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe... then down to the Tour Eiffel... then back to the Seine and over to the Louvre!! Spent around 4 hours cruising around inside the Louvre... sooooooo much to see... checked out the Mona Lisa... or should I say she checked me out ; )

The next day was devoted to football... yup... Aussies... you may have seen my previous post... it was sad... but it'll sort itself out ; )

Another day of walking loomed... went to the Saint Sulpice, tried to get into the Ste-Chapelle, just down of Notre Dame... but they wouldn't let me in... couldn't understand a word the dude was saying... such a tourist... so went inside the Notre Dame... all the churches over here have such mind blowing architecture and artwork! Didn't quite have time to confess... maybe next time. Then cruised to the Picasso museum - now that was good... sooo much of his work spanning his entire career... good stuff.

Notre Dame:

Seine and Ile Saint Louis:

Yesterday, Row and I set on a mission to find the Lizard King's grave... Jim Morrison grave was rather inconspicuous compared to the massive tombs and headstones packed in to the Le Pere Lachaise cemetery. After chilling and listening to a few Doors tracks (and also trying to avoid some loud Americans...) we went and tracked down the graves for Oscar Wilde, Moliere, Bourdieu, Proust and finally Chopin - later that night we scored 6euro tickets to a ballet at Place de l'Opera - of which all the music was by Chopin... random - Place de l'Opera is magnificent amphitheatre with sooo much bling! We scored sans visibilite tickets... i.e. you can't see shit... but the two nice lasses in our booth thing allowed us to sit at the front for the second act.

Previous to this, we went to the John Lennon Unfinished Music exhibition at the Musee de la Musique... lots of memorabilia from his youth, Beatles days and Yoko days. Also on show was a lot of Yoko's art work - including the ladder, magnifying glass piece with "Yes" on the roof... the one that hooked old Johnny boy. Fave was reading some of his report cards and childhood school work! Had such a good sense of humour (with a touch of cynicism) even at the age of 12!

Chilling a little today - Row's back at the library doing some final info gathering before she heads to England at the end of the month - and I'm off to the Musee d'Orsay to check out some Impressionist art... you know... me and culture... yup...

London innit

2006-06-21T19:41:00.000+10:00

After Amsterdam, we all crashed at Tim, Lucy and Sean's pad in Willesden Green. Our first few days were filled with touristy type activities.. I guess we wanted to get them out of the way before the world cup started up ; ) Damn the weather was good!! Who ever said it always rained over here? Seriously sunny and HOT.

What I've been up to: free London pass and bus tour around London (thanks to Tim's sweet hookups); we hit Buckingham Palace, the London Tower, caught glimpses of MI5/MI6/Scotland Yard, sat in on the House of Commons, thought of Princess Di at Westminster Abbey, grooved around Camden markets, walked up and down and eventually across Abbey Road, went to an outdoor Shakespear producation - Midsummer Nights Dream (which was rained out!! there's the weather we know and love), scoffed at Stamford Bridge... well that's a bit out of place really. We went in search of the Premier League trophy... coz it doesn't look like leaving Chelsea after some of their massive buys this summer... but the museum was closed... and the trophy was at the FA for the day! We just love Chelski... scum...

Some happysnaps from around London...

Then came the World Cup... aaahhh... happytimes ; ) Love being the timezone... have hardly missed any games.. well early on I was watching each game... Julian, Tim, Sean and I randomly cruised around and watched the games in different parts London - as London is a very multicultural city, there's a bar, pub, cafe or tapa bar for almost every culture you can think of... this makes it brilliant for watching games with people from the respective countries! We watched the Portugal game with over a thousand screaming Portugese that had spilled out on the street; watched the Tunisa game in a shish cafe; watched the Spain game in a tapa bar; watched the Ecuador game in a the South American district; and of course... the aussie game at the Walkabout in Shepards Bush... massive... what a frikkin game!!! There was despair, anger, jumping around, drinking, beer thrown, singing along to "We come from a land downunder", hugging, laughing, drinking, relief, booking of a hostel in Germany for the second round... yup... caught up in it all I was ; )

Tim and Julian (a surrogate aussie for the day)... enjoying the 3-1 win to Japan... and wishing the dude on the second balcony had drunk more of his beer instead of throwing onto the crowd below!

London was a blast. Will be heading back there before I cruise back home - soooo much more to see! Mucho props to Tim, Lucy, Sean and the crew at Willesden Green - thanks for putting up with me ; ) I had a brilliant time!

Tim and Lucy:

Sean:

Dave and Sabine:

Hard Rock Hallelujah

2006-06-20T08:10:00.000+10:00

OMG... Row just showed me the winner of this years Eurovision song contest... shit... I'm sorry I missed it... no really...

Watch the video here... sorry... had to post... it's flippin insane!

Almost cried... but there is still hope...

2006-06-19T07:05:00.000+10:00

Such a gallant effort by the lads... but nothing to show for it... Brazil scored the crucial goals, but they are far from cup favourites in their current form me thinks... this is Row and I with Patrick - an Englishman teaching english in Paris we met at the bar of all places ; )

Me... after the game... what a sorry sight... but there's always hope... and Croatia will need to be on their game if they're to deny us a possie in the final 16!!!

Paris has been fantastic! Will put together a decent post tomorrow. But now it's back to drowning my sorrows etc...

Look out world... here comes Sunny!

2006-06-18T05:50:00.000+10:00

Hold On E.P. available now though iTunes and CDBaby . Check it out peoples!

Also have a geez at Sunny's website

Congrats to Sunny and Don - great to see your hard work has come to fruition : )

They're crazy in Amsterdam...

2006-06-18T05:16:00.000+10:00

Arrived in Heathrow early… well the plane was late but it was pretty early in the morning. Had to rush my ass through passport control to catch a my next flight to Amsterdam – after sweet talking (… including pleading/begging…) an airport official I was sent through the first class lane… brilliant : ) Record time me thinks. Met Tim Skinner, Nathan Gilson and Pete Lusted on the side… all in good time for our flight to Holland!

Nath and Pete had arrived earlier the same morning – fresh for their FFA tour of Germany and tickets to all the bloody Aussie games… bastards! Tim now lives and studies over here in London, and it was Tim who organised this trip to Amsterdam and Rotterdam to see the Australians play again Holland in a pre-World Cup friendly… We were working on a tight schedule… needed to catch a particular flight, then catch a particular train and then find the stadium… Phase 1 was complete – we were all checked in and ready to board in time… and after knocking down three shots of free Pims served in one of the dutyfree places by, low and behold, an Aussie – we were damn excited! Aussie jerseys - check… loud Australian accents - check… lack of sleep – check… free booze - check… we were ready to go…

… well… here’s where KLM screwed us in the ass…

After boarding flight KL1016 we were somewhat lazily told that one of the engines of the plane was bung and they were missing a part they couldn’t source anywhere in the London area… the funny thing was that all the hosties were soooo damn relaxed (and tall… and mostly hot)! A taste of things to come in Amsterdam… we were screwed… no football for us… the shit thing was that KLM made us line up again at Passport Control… the bastards!!! No begging this time round… straight in the “special needs” line and quickly through… TIP - if you look like you know what you’re doing nobody seems to notice.

So, we all got a later flight that allowed us to arrive at the airport as the game kicked off. We were pissed of… but a quick trip to the dutyfree shop before takeoff numbed the pain a little.

Welcome to Amsterdam – the airport was brilliant – no lines – straight through passport control and straight to the nearest pub – which was directly outside of arrivals. One of the Dutch passport dudes recognised our jerseys and promptly mentioned that Ruud had put the Orange Army ahead 1-0. Bastard.

Well the game finished 1-1 thanks to Cahill… and Dukes missing another penalty ; ) But the most eventful occurrence in the game was the chance meeting with one of Holland’s weirdest and freaky dudes ever… Wouter… I don’t want to talk too much about it as Nathan has covered him a fair bit in his blog - but this cat was nuts and should probably be committed.

Amsterdam is a pretty beautiful city – canals lined with boats, cobbled lanes, tall trees and hot lasses riding bicycles.

Amsterdam was full of fun – checked out the Van Gogh museum… and more importantly the sex museum… yup… it was nasty… also cruised the red light district as only four red blooded aussies can do… interesting… poked our heads inside a “café”… bizarre… played a few games of two-on-two games of football in the main park in in the centre of town… drank a lot of Dutch brew… the lads tested out chips with mayonaise… not sure if that went down too well.

Sooooo many bizarre stories for such a short trip – good times peoples… good times : )

Quote of the Day #2

2006-06-15T09:03:00.000+10:00

Sean Parker, 22 years of age.
"By the time you get to 25, all the girls are either spoken for, or lesbians"

Well that's just brilliant...

My New Mac

2006-06-13T21:39:00.000+10:00

Yep... I couldn't wait.. while in New York, Rupert and I made a few excursions to the new Apple store on 5th Avenue - it was fantastic!!! Well for a couple of Mac nerds anyway ; )

The second time we headed there... at 1am... this place is open 24/7/365... I bought myself a new black MacBook... sexy... yup... me nerd...

This little puppy has an inbuilt camera... and wherever I've been we've been taking some brilliant photos - some I'll share with y'all : )

My fave...

The Big Apple #3

2006-06-13T21:03:00.001+10:00

Well... what next... Billy Connelly!!! This old boy still has it going. I wasn't "crying" with laughter... but I didn't stop for the entire 1.5hours!! Hardly anybody I spoke to in the US knew who he was... but the show still sold out and he received a good show from the crowd. However, there were a few drunken Irishmen who continued to shout out incomprehensible blab - Billy handled it well and had soon turned the entire audience against them... brilliant. He said he "still does adlib, but you now need to give me 3 months notice... you fuckers".

Rupert and Val took me to numerous vegetarian restaurants and great bars/venues around town... but I've forgotten the names of most of them. I do remember going to "Teany" - Moby's vegan place - cool little restaurant that has 96 teas available from all around the world!! Heaven. After the Billy Connelly gig, Rupert and Val took Julian and I to a place in Greenwich Village that sold 1 litre steins... well... Julian reckons he had 5... not bad for a pommie...

Next was Pearl Jam... yup... some of you guys would've heard that I got tickets to a secret fanclub show in NYC. Rupert and I were positioned right above the amp stacks (two level venue called the Avalon - a renovated church in the middle of NYC). It was a great perspective to view the band - right inline with the action and only an arms length away... you could hear the lads talking to each other between songs!!! The gig was recorded for a VH1 TV show called Storytellers - Pearl Jam played a set of 10 songs then opened the floor to questions from the audience. It was brilliant to see the band in such an intimate setting - I'm also glad Rupert was able to see my favourite band at such a gig - hopefully there'll be a DVD of the performance.

Jodi and Josh arrived from Peru the next day... and that afternoon we were all lining up at the Port Authority bus terminal to head to... um ... well... another Pearl Jam gig. We lined up for over 2 hours!!! Starting freaking out... it had just started to rain and traffic was going bananas... we finally made it to the Continental Arena in New Jersey... but only just... after scoring Josh a ticket at the box office we entered the venue just as Pearl Jam were taking the stage!!! Sooo damn lucky... luckier than all the cats that were behind us in the line back in Manhattan... ouch... It was a fantastic gig - they played some rare tracks and a few of faves - including "Alone", "Leash" and a cover of the Who's "Baba O'Reilly" - yup... I've got the bootleg... reliving it nearly every day ; )

Jodez, Josh and I cruised around Manhattan the following day - trying to find things... getting disoriented and lost... catching the wrong trains... you know... mostly my fault... we did however find the Empire State building - went to the top. Wasn't the best of views as rain was starting to cover Manhattan.. but we got a decent look over the 5 boroughs. Quote of the day goes to Josh (I think - or it could've have been some kid... or me) while up the Empire State building- "So which building is King Kong's building?".

That night, my last night in NYC, we all went to Brooklyn and got pizza at the world famous pizza place that I can't remember the name of... dammit... we had a brilliant view of the Brooklyn bridge over to a sparkling Manhattan... if it wasn't raining we would've walked the bridge.

NYC is an amazing city. Always something to do - even if you don't have any money.. although if you're cashed up there's nothing you can't do. Great people, great diversity and plenty of goodtimes to be had!!

Major props to Rupert and Val - thanks soooo much for your hospitality... I had an amazing time and I'll never forget it. Really looking forward to seeing both Rupe and Val in Spain early July : )

The Big Apple #2

2006-06-11T03:08:00.000+10:00

Much to tell you all about NY... but because I've left it sooo long I cant remember the days... so I'll just throw some things out there that'll be mostly in chronological order...

Firstly, here's a pickie of Rupert and Valentina cruising uptown along Broadway - as only groovy cats can do.

Rupert and I hit the Yankees - it was brilliant - we had great seats and were quite happy to see the Yankees come away with the win - along with 55,000 other punters!! The game went for around 3 and bit hours - and every innings change was accompanied with a crowd participation game or some kind of entertainment - the highlight being the sand sweepers (like tennis court sweepers) all synchronized and sweeping to the YMCA - they all stopped in the chorus and did the actions... Fun.

On Memorial Day - a public holiday in the US to commemorate all armed services over the years (it was also Fleet Week in NY - so add mucho sailors to the mix!) - Rupert, Valentina and I met up with Julian in Central park for a picnic. We all met in Strawberry Fields (see photo below). Central Park was amazing! It was pretty warm and the park had the atmosphere of Bondi beach in the summer rather than a park in the middle of a metropolis. There were lasses in bikinis everywhere (no photos below...), frisbees and picnics a plenty. Great scene.

The next day I went to Wall Street really early... well... around 9am to see the masses of suits converge on the area and witness the ringing of the bell... well I was a little late and security was soooo tight they weren't allowing anybody into the viewing deck... real bumma.

Afterwards I made my way up the the metropolitan Museum (MET)... it was pretty damn cool - you pay what you like... well... they recommend US$16... poor travelers pay a fair bit less. It was full of Egyptian artifacts, old medieval armour and weapons, a great collection of instruments from throughout the ages and a good variety of older and modern art.

Posts to follow - NY at night... Billy Connelly... Jodi and Josh... and Pearl Jam... yep...

The Big Apple #1

2006-05-29T07:44:00.000+10:00

Flew into JFK Thursday night... and it's been go-time since. My first introduction to NYC was a 2hour submay mission from the airport with Rupert followed by a groovin' party hosted by some of Rupert's close school of music friends - first time I've witnessed a classical music jam session.

Firstly, catching up with Rupert has been awesome (almost 2 years since I've seen him). He loves it over here and it's plain to see that NYC and the hipster are very compatible. Rupert heads to Yale in the fall for a 2 year stint to continue his music studies.

My first day in NY - I hit the streets - beginning at Times Square - then headed south along 7th... man... I walked for ages. Basically I needed to get out of Times Square - it's fleet week over here (leading up to Memorial Weekend), so the streets are filled with sailors plus the throngs of tourists on hols. It reminded of central Tokyo... but much more touristy.

Cruised my way down to ground zero. It was quite bizzare... heaps and heaps of tourists all posing for pictures and group photos infront of the several viewing platforms... didn't seem right at all really. What did look interesting was the plan for the Freedom Tower - it looks pretty damn amazing.

Next on the list was Battery Park on the south end of Manhattan Island. This park contains many war related statues and commerative areas - but the most interesting sight was the WTC Sphere which was relocated to the park after 9/11. It was originally in the plaza of the WTC but now has a huge gash and many dints.

Headed uptown... cruised around the theatre area... and then met up with Rupert at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) for the free Friday afternoon session. Brilliant. Soooo much to take in. 3 hours wasn't really enough. The Lichtenstein below was probably my fave ("Drowning Girl"). Warhol's Campbell Soup and a Marylin piece were all there and looking pretty cool.

LA-Styley... take 2

2006-05-28T00:29:00.000+10:00

Was back in LA for a short period. Once again it was up in the Hollywood Hills with Sunny - chilling and cruising around town.

On the Tuesday we went to the Getty Museum - it's pretty amazing. The architecture and gardens are all works of art in themselves. The main buildings and inner gardens were designed by Richard Meier - he designed it in a fashion that all aspects of the building are almost a work of art in themselves. For example, on the marble walls made up of large square tiles, he's added an irregular shaped tile or larger piece of flat marble to be viewed as a painting on a wall. Also every window or alcove works to frame either a part of the garden, building or view over Los Angeles.

It's probably worth mentioning that the buildings themselves house some of the worlds most famous and rare artifacts dating back to the BC... yep... old... some of the highlights were Monet's "Japanese Bridge", Van Gogh's Iris', and numerous renaissance paintings scattered around the galleries.

The gardens were quite amazing... (Sunny chilling)

I think this could a contender for possible album art for the upcoming album? ... ummmm yeeaah... she may kill me for posting this photo...

Other groovy things to note: checked out the Viper Room (club owned by Johnny Depp)... well technically checked out the gutter outside the Viper Room where River Pheonix bit it. Also saw the Whiskey-a-go-go music venue (across the road from the Viper Room) where the Doors started their career with a residency and where Jimi Hendrix lived for a while (upstairs).

Also attempted to obtain a new MacBook... a black one to be precise.. failed miserably... they were sold out locally and when I tried to order one over the internet my creditcard was rejected as it was an international card... screwed I tell you. I'll be checking out the new 5th Avenue Apple store here in NY... saw it briefly yesterday... it looks pretty damn cool. Plus it's open 24/7/365... so Rupert and I are thinking we'll hit that at some obscure time in the morning... just for kicks...

Stuff about NY to follow...

Kicking it in the Whistle...

2006-05-20T07:22:00.000+10:00

My week in Whistler has come to an end - and man did I have an awesome time!

Whistler is a pretty damn cool town. Firstly, the landscapes that surround the place are breath taking. The trip through Vancouver up to Whistler takes you through these dense forests, all the while being flanked by either massive snow-capped mountains or pristine blue lakes. Quite a beautiful part of the world me thinks. Secondly, Whistler is a party town through and through. It full of young hip people - there for the snowboarding or mountain bike riding... and the night life of course.

Needless to say there was a lot of good times to be had during my short stay in Whistler with the Whistle-pod. On one of the first nights a dinner party of sorts was thrown (in my honour : ) ) and I got a chance to meet some of the gang's closer friends.

L-R: Virginie, Sabrina, Dan, Wez, Millin, Kayz

The weather while I was there was magnificent. Sunny days and cool nights - but the day temp got up to at least 30 celcius most days!! Scorchers... a lot of sun and pasty winter season skin means only one thing... sunburn... except for this dude who took out the award for best goggle tan ever:

Coincidently while in the Whistle, my birthday happened upon us... what timing... so a big day out was planned and we all went and hit golf balls at the driving range : ) We were going to play golf... but the CA$50 to play put us off (these were mates rates... the cost to play each of the courses was up in near the $150 mark!). So I may have finally talked these lads into playing a bit of golf back in the Can... Madi you may be called upon for some golf lessons - maybe you can barter lessons for assignments/homework or something : )

After hitting the village for beers and chow... we headed back the lodge and munched on homemade tofu burgers and entered into a feisty game of texas holdem...

... yep... I won... I choose to believe they didn't let me win coz it was my birthday...

More sunshine in the days that followed meant more time hanging out by the lake. Dan took us all out to a lake just outside of Whistler (nearby to the spot where Wez and Kayz both bungee jumped a few weeks earlier). An amazing scene. We didn't see any beers but we did see numerous bugs (all crazy big and scary... however mostly harmless... mostly), frogs and a garter snake taking a dip in the cool water... we didn't swim too much after seeing this little dude.

This is Cailin taking the first leap into the rather icy water.

My last night was spent at Blacks where Sam Millin works. Honey beer, yam fries and open mike night... plus a few laughs = good times.

Mucho props to Wez, Kayz and Millin for putting me up in the barracks. It was kickass catching up with you all : ) Wez and Kayz will be heading home soon so keep an eye out for them around the Can... and Millin is off to Norway!

Seattle Happy Snaps

2006-05-16T12:39:00.000+10:00

Maybe the most falic building around... I'm having a real mental blank but apparently it's old... maybe built just after the fire that took out much of the city in the late 19th Century. Below this area is the underground city... basically the Seattle CBD that was left behind when the city was raised to the first floor.

Me looking incredibly good looking... and the space needle behind : )

The park dedicated to Kurt Cobain on the grounds of his former household...

Around the corner from Kurt's place I caught a great view of Mt Rainer across Lake Washington...

Wasted half a day cruising around looking at awesome planes at the Boeing Museum of Aviation. Me acting like a child... sitting the cockpit of a Blackbird spy plane...

A Hendrix memorial statue somewhere up in Capitol Hill... they love him over here - pretty much played in every cafe/shop... brilliant! It's basically either the Beatles or Hendrix.

San Francisco Happy Snaps

2006-05-16T12:21:00.000+10:00

Well I've finally got a chance to post some pics...

This is the crew I met in San Francsico at the hostel. This is us halfway through our bike ride around SF. This is the conservatory in the Golden Gate park.

L-R: Eva (Holland), Reggie (Ireland), Julian (London), Scott (Melbourne), Sam (Hong Kong), Justine (NZ) and Tara (Montreal)

We had one day when the sky was clear in SF - and lucky enough it was the day of the all day bike ride... otherwise it was either foggy or overcast... the fog seriously rolls in of the afternoon...

Me just after riding across the golden gate... like my helmet hair?

Happy Mum Day

2006-05-14T04:33:00.000+10:00

Have a great day ~~mom~~ mum : ) Hope the two dudes show you a good time.

Love you and miss you all

... and happy birthday me... ; )

Oh my... Liverpool FC... FA Cup Champs

2006-05-14T02:48:00.000+10:00

Lion hearts...

Liverpool 3 - 3 West Ham
Liverpool on penalties...

Gerrard... the biggest champion ever...

I'm lost for words...

Rafa you bloody legend... who else would have played Cisse on the left wing...

gosh...

Courtney Love... what a bitch

2006-05-09T09:40:00.000+10:00

Well... Slow Music... it certainly was. Peter Buck and Fred Chalenor from REM teamed up with drummer Matt Chamberlain (recorded/played with Pearl Jam, Ben Harper, Morrissey, etc) and a few other dudes... They wanted to go out and get people to appreciate music at its most fundemental level. Basically what they did was only play what they felt would fit within the music... if they didn't have anything they wouldn't play anything... what turned out was two sets of Pink Floyd's "Shine on you crazy diamond" but without any of the melody or intensity. That's not to say that everyone didn't like it... they received a standing ovation... think Phillip Glass... think experimental... think jazz with no Jazz... think boring.

Sunday in Seattle...

Began with beers at the local Irish pub... met up with Julian (London - met in San Fran) and watched a couple of games from the Premier League over a few pints... interesting way to start the day. Watched Liverpool knock over Pompey...

We then both headed for the Seattle underground tour. It turns out that a portion of downtown Seattle has been built over a series of older streets and building ground levels. Essentially the tour tells of the history of the city while you walk around below the sidewalks above. We had a off the wall chick taking our group around - every second line was a joke - one more joke and I swear my side may have split open onto the ground... then it came... we asked her if she'd thought of trying out stand-up... well her reply was... "I did try it out, but they all laughed at me". Riot.

We then made our way up to the Experience Music Project (EMP). This has got to be the best museum in the world... there are several different areas. 1) Seattle scene - from early soul/RnB to grunge to now 2) Hendrix - sooo much cool Hendrix stuff! From their first contract to the original mixing desk from Electric Ladyland to a portion of the guitar he sacrificed at Monterey. 3) Guitar history - excellent examples of the first guitars all the way to present. And yes.. there was a bass section - there was an immaculate 52 P-Bass... hot. 4) Julian and I recorded a single.. actually it was Twist and Shout... second time I've recorded it now? They make you think there's a massive crowd (loud cheers etc) and you play along kareoke style... but the instruments actually do make sounds! They've hooked them up with midi somehow... brilliant. Anyhowz, the name of our band was "Just in time" coz we recorded it with 2minutes left before the place closed. You can buy a DVD of the display.. we didn't... but they gave us a mock ticket to our concert! Brilliant.

After this we hit Starbucks... then cruised up the Space Needle... where there was another Starbucks... well... when in Seattle. We spent nearly 4 hours up in the Needle - great view - especially as light soon turned to night. We ended up meeting a local chef, Dave, from Olympia up on the outside deck and spent a few hours talking about his travels and the local area. To keep warm we walked laps of the observation deck. It was great watching the view change every few seconds as we power walked around.

Julian trained off to Chicago and New Orleans this morning - over 3 day trip! I think we'll probably meet up again in NY.

Monday...

Today I went on a journey to find different music scenes around town. Firstly I found Kurt Cobain's house - the place were he took his own life. The conservatory where he did it has been bulldozed down by Courtney Love. But the new owners of the house have provided a public park and two park benches where people can go and hang out. It's signed as "Kurt's Park" and there are dried out flowers and cigerettes left in his honour. Everyone over thinks that Courtney Love killed him... inderectly perhaps. The story goes she checked him into an asylum in LA. Kurt escaped and somehow made his way back to their home in Seattle. Not sure how long it took him... imagine him with a hoodie on the Greyhound I guess. Back at home it went down. It's actually quite a peaceful part of town. Pretty much fronting onto Lake Washington with much wildlife and large green areas.

After spending around 1/2 hour listening to music and chilling on the bench in Kurt's Park I went in search of Studio X. This is were all the good Seattle bands record... including Pearl Jam. Their live No Code DVD was recorded in this studio if people want to see it. Their was no sign. Just a door with the number on it "2208 4th Avenue" and an intercom. Behind lies an amazing recording studio.

Other venues I checked out included the Paramount, the Crocodile and Chop Suey. All big venues for the Seattle scene.

Pretty wrecked at the moment. Will probably hit the hay pretty early tonight. There's another gig at the Showbox Tuesday night - rock gig - Drive By Truckers... it should pump.

Seattle... but no Pad Thai... yet

2006-05-07T12:55:00.000+10:00

The Pad Thai was ok... but not fabulous. But at $2 a pop with a "2 buck chuck" it's all pretty damn sweet.

I'm in Seattle now. Really needed more time in San Francisco - missed out on checking out the Full House street and park... plus some other stuff... so may stop in on the way back through to LA. Plus all the people hanging out at the Pacific Tradewinds hostel were damn awesome. Dave (the manager/captain) is looking for people to hangout and man the desk - offers free accomodation etc - so if you're after a medium long stay in San Fran on the cheap, this is the shizz. I'll tell you all about the good times when I can post some photos alongside.

Staying in one of those massive USA hostels - kinda like the YHA in Sydney. Such a massive difference from that in San Fran. Firstly... soooo many old people... not being ageist... but damn. Secondly, it seems that everyone wants to keep to themselves. Thirdly, there are hardly any (if any) hostel activities! Kinda lame really.

Anywayz - going to try and get to a gig tonight. A band called "Slow Music" are playing at the Showbox. The band consists of two dudes from REM and they're apparently going to play some wild, loud experimental shit. If I can't get into that I'm going to walk up the road to The Triple Door - a dude called "Leroy Bell" is releasing his CD. The description is "gruff vocals, guitars and chillin' cello" - sounds like it may be worth a listen.

Okay... well tomorrow I'll be meeting up with Julian - a Londoner I met at the Pacific Tradewinds hostel. We're going to hit an Irish pub early as possible to watch the last day of the English Premier league... then we'll maybe do some touristy kinda stuff : ) Here till Wednesday. So it leaves Monday to kick around and find an open Gallery/Museum... and Tuesday it's over to the EMP (Experience Music Project) - the place where all the Hendrix stuff is plus heaps of other cool music stuff.

Awrite - gonna go line up at the Showbox real quick.

Hope you're all kicking sweetly. Peace homeys.

Flowers in my hair

2006-05-06T08:11:00.000+10:00

Hello peoples.

It's my last day in San Francisco and I've had an awesome time... this is a pretty cool city. I've been staying at a little hostel called Pacific Tradewinds - it's on Sacramento St/Montgomery St - so 1 block from China town, 4 blocks from Market St and the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit - subway/trains) stations and around a 20 minute walk to Fisherman's Wharf. Great little place - heaps of interesting and groovy peeps - basically this place is run by backpackers - a Dutch lass and two Irish lads are currently working the desk and activities. Good times. Recommend this place to anybody - young and old.

I've been to the university campus at Berkley - really amazing; walked up and down Nob Hill; dodged all the tourists at Fisherman's Wharf, snuck on and off cable cars (really helps to avoid paying the ridiculous US$5 one-way ticket price).

The highlight was definitely an 8 hour bike ride yesterday. It was run by the Dutch lass, Eva, and six other travellers jumped aboard the party bicycle. For people who know San Fran, we started at Fisherman's Wharf->around to Pier 1->up the entirety of Market St->Up to Haight St/Asbury St (hippyfest)->through the Golden Gate park->to Ocean beach where we had a bite to eat and poked a toe in the cool Pacific->up hills->across the Golden Gate bridge (flippin fantastic!!)->to Sausolito->Ferry back via Alcatraz->Fisherman's Wharf... my legs are seriously ouch right now.

"Trader Joe's" is the best damn supermarket around. Sunny took me when I was in LA... and we discovered one near the hostel. Vegan Pad Thai for $2, bottle of red wine for $2 (called the $2 buck chuck), and cheap imported beers!

After downing all the cheap hooch, we all went clubbing last night and hit "Cat Club" where we danced to some seriously lame (and at the same time awesome) 80's hits and misses. I ended up walking home with a crazy Hong Kong dude and a Japanese dude - 20 minute walk through one the most dodgiest areas in San Fran... at 2am... we weren't actually hassled at all which was a bit of a surprise... maybe it was my uber-tough-guy attitude and massive guns... or not...

This arvo it's football in Washington Square and dinner at a vego restaurant... cool.

Head for Seattle tomorrow afternoon and will be kicking around there till Wednesday : )

Bring it on...

Will post some photos when I get the chance...

Hope everyone is doing well : )

Quote of the Day #1

2006-05-02T10:32:00.000+10:00

New series - something said by someone that truely captures a specific moment in time. In other words, you may not get anything from it...

Jed: "That shit really took it out of me."

Please forward any Q's to Jed.

Painting Mammoth Red... literally...

2006-05-02T09:52:00.000+10:00

Well Saturday was awesome... Jed and I hit "Side Door" - possibly the most expensive wine bar in the entire village. We began with a single bottle of Napa Valley red... and thanks to a persausive and well-tanned bar keep, 1 bottle soon became 3. Needless to say, it was an interesting evening... all the while being hussled by the nasty NZ wench. Her name was "Pup" ... and it was quit evident to her that we were on a bit of a "binder". This is Jed and I at the peak of the night...

A little later Pip got in on the action... this is after she talked us into purchasing an expensive bottle of Italian red.

Then it got a little messy...

Sunday we did nothing.

Today we hit the hill and showed all those pro-hoes and yo-bros how to rip it. Here's a selection of many action shots - really - there are that many.

We then hit an exclusive Mammoth staff party - where beers were cheap, the vege burgers were cooking, and the bitches were sweaty. Awesome.

In LA I purchased some crocs (shoe-thong-things)... well Jed wants to be cool.. so he ordered some for himself - he believes bitches will sweat him as much as they do I. Boy, is he in for some dissapointment.

Tomorrow morning I leave to San Francisco... 5 hour bus ride and 1 hour flight. Staying in a small hostel somewhere in the city... hopefully I'll find it before sun down.

Thank you Jed for letting me hangout in Mammoth with you. I had an awesome time:) May the crocs bring you sweaty bitches. Safe trip home - so people know - Jed arrives home on the 14th May - so shower him with love and good times.

Mammoth Rest Day

2006-04-29T08:47:00.000+10:00

Jed and I have decided to take a day off – i.e. no snowboarding - actually, my sore muscles persuaded my sorry ass to not do anything today...

It is seriously getting warm here - blue skies and a toasty 21C!! It's quite bizzare to be surrounded by snow and walk around in flipflops.

We stumbled across this interestingly named bakery - Shan & Matt... Shatt... Schat... it's no coincidence...

And Jed made me post another picture of him - he likes to see himself on the internet... coz bitches sweat him... no really bitches sweat him (Edit: Jed)

I have now taken over Payten's blog... how do you like that you sweaty bitches... sweat me.

The lamest dude on the hill

2006-04-28T10:25:00.000+10:00

Well... that might be a bit harsh... but Jed may agree. I spent around 3 hours on the hill snowboarding yesterday - working hard on my turns and general coolness (you have to be cool - there's no point boarding otherwise!). And damn.. my legs and arms are soooo tired. Jed and I hit the hill again today... I seriously only lasted 3 runs... although one of the runs was a massive traverse which completely drained me of all juice... possibly the lamest dude on the hill.

We took the gondola right the summit of Mammoth Mountain - see Jed posing below.

The next pic is of me and my thighs about to explode... Mammoth Mountain in the background.

Last night we hung out with Sarah (friend of Jed and fellow Mammoth employee) and went to see The Sentinal - it may possibly be the lamest movie ever. Michael Douglas + plot to kill US President + boring bits + wishing I'd fallen asleep = lame movie. Although Jed disagrees completely :)

Have met some pretty cool dudes up here - Aussie Olympic snowboarder "Burto"... plus heaps of cool Mammoth employees from around the globe.

Spoke to Rupert just before. All looking good for hitting NY. Firstly though, I'm heading for San Francisco on Tuesday - should be a blast. Will then make my way up through Seattle and Vancouver to Whistler - where I hope to catch up with Wez, Kayz and Millin in party-central!

Hope everyone is doing well. Take care : )

LA Wrap Up

2006-04-28T10:11:00.000+10:00

Before I get into the shiz in Mammoth - here's a quick recap of what went down in my last few days in LA.

Sunny and I hit Santa Monica, hired a bike and cruised our way to Venice beach and back. Was definitely the best way to see the place - was able to dodge all the crazys, tourists and people trying to sell crap. Pic below is Sun and I on Santa Monica Pier - the beaches are pretty dank though - nothing on Aussie beaches - we're very lucky.

All the while Don was working hard on finishing the mixing on Sunny's EP. Don's familiar pose below.

We also caught up with Ben George and Claire. Firstly we crashed their cool apartment, checked out their wedding photos from Las Vegas (inc. pics with Elvis himself) and then hit the 101 for a tasty dinner. It was great to catch up with these guys - hadn't seen then for at least 3 years!!!

I had an awesome time in LA hanging with Dunny - I hope to one day be able to repay their hospitality : )

Dunny posing infront a speccie view from the Hollywood hills down to downtown LA.

The Shizzy in Mammoth

2006-04-26T11:06:00.000+10:00

I'm kicking back with Soy Caffe Latte hangin with Jed as I write this.

Made it to Mammoth no probs - damn the landscapes are amazing - pretty damn cool country out here. Will be hitting the hill tomorrow for a bit of a board.

Photos and more talk to follow very soon.

FA Cup

2006-04-23T10:17:00.000+10:00

Liverpool 2-1 Chelsea

Well done lads! Bring on the final bitches!

D&M #1

2006-04-23T05:18:00.000+10:00

Firstly, thanks to the peeps leaving messages - it's great to hear from you - I miss you all muchly : ) LA is fabulous - as you may have read in Sunny's message (under "Sunny LA"), LA and I are a forming a nice friendship - it's early days yet but it may require some attention in the future ; )

I thought I'd try something a little different and begin a series of posts about things I read or pop into my mind. I'm calling it the Deep and Meaningful (D&M) series - I may or may not continue this - it may only pop up a few times throughout my trip - but just seems like a bit of fun. If you guys have comments or want to get critical please go for it... I can always delete your comments anyway ; )

I read this this morning in a book I'm flicking through (Red Dust by Ma Jian):

"It's only when you take control of your life that you know you are alive"

I'm a pretty lazy dude, so I can quite easily get caught up in the flow... maybe it's complacency, maybe it's the fear of possiblity... either way - I like this simple sentence... what are the consequences?

Sunny LA

2006-04-19T15:08:00.000+10:00

Hello beautiful people! I'm currently sitting at a grand piano as I type into a cool Apple looking over the shining lights of Los Angeles (see photo for view!).

The flight wasn't too bad - 12 hours and a bit - ended watching movies for the most part - but when I fell asleep the damn hostie woke me to give the most nasty tasting breaky I've ever had! And seriously - flying QANTAS all the hosties are dudes!! Only two hostesses on the entire flight... and no where near as friendly as the JAL people...

I arrived yesterday morning LA time and caught myself a taxi up to the Hollywood Hills. Note: taxi drivers do not like fares to the Hollywood Hills! This dude complained the entire ride about how hard things are to find - and even after dropping me off continued to whinge about how the hell he'd get his way out of here. He even had me reading the map on the way there!

Anywayz - I finally made it to Sunny and Don's place up on Creston Road. It's flippin fantastic! A muso's, Mac and food lovers paradise : ) See the photo of the view - the city is really sparkling tonight. I'm surrounded by serious guitars - it's brilliant.

So, my last day and a half have been awesome - only disrupted by random nap attacks. I've had the tour of the Hollywood Hills - seen where all the stars live or lived - checked out a little of Studio City and Burbank where all the movie, TV and porn studios are all located-have seen the outside of the CBS, Universal and Warner Bros studio's - and the place where Dr. Phil shoots his magic : ) also explored various ways to trek up to the Hollywood sign...

Today Sunny and I cruised Melrose - full of funky clothing shops and crazy looking Cats... yet to find myself a groovy new jacket - need to raise the cool factor a notch : )

Other than that I've been enjoying some of Sunny's home cooking and a few of Don and Sunny's favourite hangouts. A few standouts include the 101 Coffee Shop, all you can eat sushi at Midori and a cool fat free yoghurt and Pinkberry (in the middle of West LA - gay mecca I'm being told).

Don's working on Sunny's music at the mo' - so I've able to preview a little of Sunny and Don's work - sounds good people.

For the Apple nerds - Don's been experimenting with Bootcamp today - so far mixed results - but when Pro Tools ran it was crazy fast! Then Windows died - so we're installing it all over again (acutally this the third install for the day!)... ah computers...

We're on the look out for skunks at the moment too. Don is able to detect a skunk on the breeze and apparently one is nearby as I type... with the tomato juice at the ready, we wait for the beast...

The view at night...

Let the crazy fun continue... (more photos to follow soon)

T-12 Hours

2006-04-16T21:33:00.000+10:00

A quick word before I finish packing : )

12 hours till I'm on my way... have to admit I'm maybe freaking out just a bit... plus my tummy hurts a little - ate sooooo much food this arvo... another slice of cake and I may explode into little pieces.

Awrite - thanks for the crew that dropped around this afternoon - was great to see you all before I hit the road (see photo - looks quite civilised really) : ) Also special thanks to Amy and Rowan for their brilliant prep talks and travel knowledge over the past few weeks!

Later y'all - next post from Hollywood!

T-2 Days... and my first post

2006-04-15T14:36:00.000+10:00

Well hello. Wow... my first post. How exciting. For those who don't know, I've decided to blog the happenings of my imminent excursion to the US, the UK, mainland Europe and beyond. I figure it's a good way to keep people up to date with what’s going on without resorting to the normally long-winded group emails – where I’d most certainly forget to CC someone important.

Unfortunately I haven't got too much to blab about... I've began packing. It's not too bad really. Looks like be taking much less than what I took to Japan, which turned out to be waaay too much – plus was stupidly heavy.

My folks bought me a replica World Cup Socceroo jersey today – an early birthday prezzie… and for a lazy $130 I now own a t-shirt where my sweat will be literally "sucked" from body and presented on the outside. Sounds brilliant. Essentially it’s pure gold with bits of green – not the most flashy of jerseys, but simple and quite effective at the same time.

Also bought a book to read on the plane. "Red Dust – A Path Through China" by Ma Jian. It looks like an interesting read – this dude escapes his life in Beijing and ends up setting off on a 3 year journey around China and to Tibet "in search of himself". Sounds a little familiar ; )

Anywayz good people – I’ll write again soon no doubt.

Hope you are all enjoying your Easter long weekend wherever you are : )