today has been a great day! well ok not that great really. went to uni early hoping to get some books, but the damned High-use stuff are always missing! how do u expect the whole class to get their research from the 6 books??

ok anyway, that aside. here's where my great day starts! at about 410pm. just as i walk out the door to go to work, i get a call from an unknown number.. hmmm mysterious eh? not! it was way cool, Triple J called me! my "Great Day, Crap Day" request was chosen! and since they didnt have BSM in their system, i went with the Crap Day choice of Martha Wainwright's BMFA. i have been a Radio Virgin up until now. i feel so blessed. it was great talking to Robbie live on air. but i wonder how i sounded... i hate my recorded voice, it's so not me! hahaha. well whatever. it was great! and just for that, i got off the train at Roma Street and walked into the city cos i wanted to hear the song, since we were headed into the tunnel. haha!

and to top the great day off, i've been "promoted" at Pancakes! GO ME! next Saturday and Sunday, i've got kitchen training shifts. whoo! now it's time to stress again... but hey i feel rather proud of myself. my 6th month anniversary and i get a promotion! i must be doing pretty ok. :D

oh yeah i almost forgot to mention.. we've got a Newb at Pancakes today! Trish.. think she's either from Indonesia or Malaysia... but she seems nice. and Tash says she's keen to learn.. so that's good. it's only her first shift. i wont jinx it here! but from next week on, i wont have to worry, cos i'll be in the Kitchen HOORAY!! hahaha...

she takes a breath at 10:08 p.m.

Monday, April 24, 2006

it's been a bad end to the week. had some really bad news on fri and sat. and i didnt know how to react to such a tragedy. it was a mix of emotions. to think i saw him just on Tues when we got back from Byron.. and now he's gone. doesnt matter that we werent close at all. it's still a loss. but it's so mysterious how he just disappeared from the surface. Ben's been really upset, since he was there when it happened. but surprisingly, Ryan seems ok. he said it will hit him again soon, that he's still in shock. but it's as if nothing even happened, just by looking at him. maybe he just copes well. anyway, my condolences to the family and friends. i'm sure he'll be missed by those who know him.

R.I.P Jamesy.

she takes a breath at 09:56 p.m.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

and so the descriptive ends, and we move on to the narrative! i dont even know where to begin really. but i guess i have to say the whole BluesFest experience was amazing in every aspect. there were minor setbacks of course, as nothing in the world is perfect. but they were just that: minor. Belongil Fields where we camped was about 10mins drive from Red Devil Park. so it was pretty convenient. but we were hardly on camp anyway, since we spent 12 hour days at the festival. we got a nice spot close to amenities and wannabe artistes. HAHA. our nearby neighbours had bongos, guitars, radios, cds, so there was constant music no matter where we were. and i love that. i've always loved music, since before i can remember. so something like a music festival is right up my alley. i just love the feeling i get when i'm immersed in it. and the BluesFest did just that for me. it's the whole feeling of freedom and expression and non-judgment.

the weather was perfect for the first few days of the festival. sun shone brightly, breezes, and cool nights. then all that got washed away with the storm on the 3rd night. it was drizzling just as we left the festival. we got into the car and a couple of minutes later, it crapped down. and we were like "hooray we have shelter! poor ppl braving through the rain outside." and then we got to the camp. and fuck it was flooded in. the ground had puddles all over, and there was a smimming pool within our tent! Tash to the RESCUE! she saved our stuff, went in like the soldier she is, and brought them to the car. our tent partially collapsed too but we found out in the morning that we werent alone! ppl could be seen hanging clothes and mattresses across the hoods and roofs of their cars. unfortunately, the sun didnt come back for 2 days, so we spent 3 nights in the car. not the most comfortable positions but it was bearable. Tash was convincing me that it's not camping without some ADVENTURE. ha!

the centrepiece of the festival is of course the music. the bands, artistes, performers. they're why we're there. but it's so cool that in a festival setting, there's less boundaries than in real life. where else can you see these people roaming around with the masses watching other bands with you? eating the same food as you. chatting with you. and damn! the talent that's out there these days. we know Franti and Friends were an awesome show to watch. but they're not the only ones. The Cat Empire brought along a couple of other ppl to join them too. and BKB got Harry from Cat Empire, and Franti to join them in the first show! and Kieran Murphy with Franti. and how amazing is it that we get to watch the bands jamming on stage!? BKB had a massive last set in the 2nd show, 20mins worth, cos they wanted to extend the solos and go crazy. *sigh* once again, words cant describe.

i now recall paul and tony calling this the HippyFest. well there were some elements that brings truth to that. as at every other festival, the Hare Krishnas were present, but no dancing and no shouting. there were other groups to take their places. there was an environmentalist group skipping around with drums, bongos, and beating lids with sticks. pretty colourful bunch i must say, and i dont mean that metaphorically. and also, as Tash put it, we had the unique hairstyles at the festival, cos every other person, male and female, had dreads.. some were neat and they looked good, but there were the scrappy ones that you could smell from a distance. nice. and of course, this festival was held in BYRON BAY. so the smell of burning "earth" was ever present. it was such a constant perfusion that i still smell it now. but now that i think back, i regret not having a go. i was offered a joint by a kind gentleman. more like an unusually generous shirtless dude towering next to me. but for some unknown reason, i declined. (??!!) i should have taken it. i mean when will i get the opportunity again?? stupidity.

more stupidity from yours truly. the distraction during Damian Marley on Sunday night... well. the someone. i was being a fool while waiting for the show to start, and he approached me about it haha. so we just started chatting. even when Damian came on! at some point he asked for my number, or for me to get his number. i didnt have my phone with me. but for some other stupid reason unknown to mankind, i told him i didnt have a pen either, when i knew i had one in my bag. erhhh. my brain shuts on me at horrible times. and now i've been shitting myself over this since the day after, cos he was nowhere to be found. FUCKKKK. but the funny thing is, i know where he works, and vice versa! so everytime i see WATPAC next to DavidJones, i'm thinking of Robbie. *sigh* i hope fate is kind.

she takes a breath at 02:54 p.m.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

[i will continue on this journey of explicit detailing.]

Saturday Line-up for Nad and/or Tash
BSM.
Martha Wainwright/Ash Grunwald.
Donovan Frankenreiter.
Xavier Rudd.
Sarah McLeod & The Black Diamond Express.
K'naan/Sir Bob Geldof.
The Cat Empire.
Yes of course we caught the 2nd performance for BSM. cos i'm in love with them. i've already said this! fuckin awesome man. then we split when i headed for Martha. oh god i'm so glad i weaved my way to the front! cos i got good pics and i love her. what amazing vocals.. when that ended, i was supposed to meet Tash again, but i couldnt find her! so i decided to check out the signing tent schedule. and lo and behold! Martha was about to sign! bloody sweet, i was the second in line! she's great, we got a pic together and she saw it too! maybe i should send it to her... after that i walked around for awhile, and then found Tash before Donovan F. very nice.. his vocals are chilled out, real rootsy. allowed us to preserve our energy for the night ahead haha! and then i was supposed to catch Sarah McLeod, but The Cat Empire were signing! so i ditched that of course! i got their new album signed WHOOO! felix is sexy haha. back to the schedule finally, K'Naan was awesome!! he has a band with him, a drummer, bassist, and his bro on the mixer and backing. i was right up the front of course and damn it sounded so good. left that feeling tops. caught beth orton while waiting for Tash.. and the Headline for Saturday: THE Cat Empire! omg. i was just bloody happy. got stuck behind the pole to begin with, but i managed to move away from it thanks to this as-short-as-me chick and her friend. THANKS!

Sunday Line-up for Nad and Tash
Rodrigo y Gabriela.
GOCOO + GoRo.
Music Maker Foundation.
Juan de Marcos' Afro Cuban All Stars.
Sir Bob Geldof.
Blue King Brown.
Kieran Murphy.
Damian "Jr.Gong" Marley.
a Mexican duo armed with just an Acoustic Guitar and a mic each. but what you hear is a whole bloody band's worth of sound! they started in a heavy Metal band (!!), but left to do acoustic guitar, busking in Europe, and made Dublin they're new home.. and adopted the vulgarities too! they drum on their guitars while playing Latin influenced instrumentals. no vocals required. you'd just have to hear and see it to understand. also caught GOCOO + GoRo again.. it was great that the first 5 minus Music Maker was all in the same tent so we were there bloody early and stood on the baricades for them all! it was amazing to watch the Tae-ko drummers so close cos you see the passion and energy in their faces while they perform. nonstop banging for an hour! we skipped Music Maker to watch THE Yothu Yindi. didnt understand what the dude was saying but it was good to see the Aboriginal kids up on stage doing good for their culture. and then Sir BOB! i wasnt a fan until i saw him that close.. great entertainer, funny dude! and he showered the stage with his spit for 1hr15mins! and at the end he waved at Tash and i YEAH!! i made eye contact with him i swear!! i felt so blessed. then i split early to get a good spot for Blue King Brown. i stood next to the massive amp and got my ears blown in. all for a good cause! although i couldnt see the whole stage from there, it was a brilliant feeling being in the thick of it all. i think i'm in love with Nat too. her voice really got to me, i was lost in the words. we tried to watch a little bit of Kieran Murphy, a 17 yr old from Melb who has awesome guitar skills, a real talent up there with the best. he went on stage with Franti (!!) on Friday, and we wanted to check him out, but we couldnt hear anything cos we were outside the little APRA stage. so we headed off for Damian Marley. following in his father's footsteps, it was that sound and more. i couldnt really pay attention to it though, for i was being distracted by something (someone) heh.

Monday Line-up for Nad and Tash
The Vasco Era.
Mia Dyson.
BKB.
DobaCaracol.
The Cat Empire.
Michael Franti & Friends.
we skipped The Vasco Era for Rod y Gab. yes we had to catch them again. they're fuckin awesome! (in their own words haha) and it was as brilliant, if not better.. and after the gig, we headed to the signing tent and were first in line!! waited for about 20mins, and it was all worth it. got autographs and a wicked pic with Tash and i. ROD & GAB \m/! Caught some Afro Cuban All Stars and there was a shock in store for me. Juan de Marcos is the spitting image of my dad i swear i think Dad leads a double life! he just needs to braid his hair, and shave his beard. fuck i was cracking at the pic i took from 2nd row! then we headed over to wait for Mia Dyson. Tash sat on her ass through this while i stood on the baricade immediately in front of Mia! fuckin amazing. who has vocals like that? no one! she plays a mean guitar too. Tash stayed for Music Maker while i ran off to check the signing tent. got a upclose shot of Mia while she looked straight at the cam with a brilliant expression. i hope she wasnt angry! i just took the pic and left haha. then i left early again to get another good spot for BKB. not so lucky, i was on the other side of the stage this time, but there was a bunch of bloody boys who didnt seem like they were enjoying it. so they basically took up space. and they were freaks-of-nature too. errrh. but throughout the show i managed to sneak my way through, and eventually got to 2nd row, just behind a photographer so it was all sweet. i was so close i saw Nat's wicked tatt on her thigh, her interesting pit sweat rings, the complexion of her face. i was lost once again. i guess i really do love her! skipped DobaCaracol though, went to find a spot for the last 2 acts. not so lucky, cos the kiddies took up all the front space, and we reasoned that the front has no room for mad dancing. so we voted to stay further back. THE Cat Empire and Franti & Friends were brilliant. spent the last 3 hours dancing heaps and feeling the love all around. of course everyone was drunk, probably continuous from the first day haha, so you have the good and the bad. but i wouldnt change it for the world. *sigh*

she takes a breath at 11:00 a.m.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

i am BACK from BYRON! BluesFest was fuckin awesome words are not enough to describe. so i'll do my best but bear with me, i may go on rambling at some point. so anyway. it was 5 days of utter BLISS. Woodstock has NOTHING on BluesFest. hang on, let me try and get a flow in this. i dont think i can fit everything into one entry, so perhaps i may split them into parts: a descriptive and a narrative. haha i like to think i'm a great essay writer and my compositions are wonderful!

so we left early Thursday morning and headed off to Northern NSW. i dont remember it, cos everything in between getting there and coming back was too significant. so fastforward to arriving on camp. picked a spot and set up. the site was filling quick, but with heaps of space left. we chilled till it was time to head to Red Devil Park. the festival started at 5 on the first day, and 12 for the rest, so it was a good way to ease into Fest mode haha! and everyday ended around midnight! so it was 12 hour days of festival-ness.

Thursday Line-up for Nad and Tash
Batacuda Sound Machine aka BSM.
Hilltop Hoods.
Sigur Ros.
ohmygod!!! i'm in love. with Wai from BSM!!! and i got a pic with him (and Andy) he's so cool (and cute haha). i love the Traxedos. and then i got autographs from Hilltop Hoods after the gig so that was cool too! they're down to earth Aussie boys really. Stay Chill! caught some Bernard Fanning too. he's actually ok live haha. but i still have the idea of him being a pop star, although he's in Powderfinger. and lastly Sigur Ros was amazing of course. great band to end the first night. the vocals blew us away. and the crowd was unexpectedly large. chatted with a couple next to us, we were saying (hoping) that this crowd was actually in the wrong tent and should leave soon when they realise. but no. they all stayed. even the loud buggers and tall freaks-of-nature.

Friday Line-up for Nad and Tash
The Hands ft. Ngaiire.
Cornerstone Roots.
BSM.
The Skatalites.
Michael Franti.
Ash Grunwald.
eMDee.
The Blind Boys of Alabama.
Los Lobos.
we wanted to hear Ngaiire post-idol. and she sounds good alright. The Hands are a funk band, so it was cool to hear them for the first time. and of course we HAD to go back for Batacuda again. i mean how can u miss them! I LOVE WAI! then we caught the Skatalites, ALL THE WAY from Jamaica 'mon. apparently they've been around for awhile. then while waiting for Franti, we saw GOCOO and GoRo. a japanese group of Tae-ko drummers (GOCOO) and a japanese dude who plays the didge (GoRo) thank god we saw them because they're awesome! i mean i've never seen so much energy on the one stage. then Franti came on. woah i felt the love man. he's a great performer who knows how to get the crowd going and he's peace-loving. not hippy. then we headed for Ash, and caught the last bit of Tristan Prettyman. and i'm in love with her voice now. i'm regretting not watching her. i even got a pic of her at the Signing tent while waiting for someone else. and i realised she's hot. a surfer chick! *sigh* ok then eMDee blew us away too. band from the NT that incorporates indigenous sounds of the didge with drum&bass, percussions and soothing vocals. impressive discovery.

she takes a breath at 07:32 p.m.

Sunday, April 9, 2006

i really should be studying right now. i know. but i really cant concentrate or be fucked at the moment. was so over everything going into work. just as Brooke got there i knew it wouldnt be a good day. she was hungover and apparently puked for 15mins before coming in, and got Tony to come in 1.5hrs early for her. and who else did i have to work with but none other than Tania, and Dylan.. so slow... i was major stressing all day. god! i like 8hrs straight alright, but having to do most of the work, not having any break, no food or drink for 8 hrs is just not ideal. i am tired now, mentally more than physically. we'll see how they survive without Tash and i for a week. and Chris is off too, so they're stuck with THOSE 2 all weekend, and Mon and Tues. i hope they realise how much they should appreciate good workers.

so tmr i'm gonna fluke the exam. ok i'm gonna flunk it. i told Crystle i'll wing it, and now i dont even think i can do that. i am not a conceptual person eh... bloody Biomechanics. i just wish it was over, then i can get to the presentation and get THAT over. and cruise through the rest of the week. cos we're leaving for Byron early Tues morning WHOOOOO!!!! i cant wait! i'm a BluesFest virgin, and this shall be my time for christening. yay! getting the car on wed, Tash is picking me up from uni haha. i just love car rides. i think i'm never gonna get a licence at this rate though. the ideal is to have a car that someone else drives. ie: be with someone with a car yay! get rid of the Chauffeur idea, i want joyrides and road trips!! *sigh*

she takes a breath at 10:08 p.m.

Thursday, April 6, 2006

i had the worst pract session on tues, in the history of all practs. think kidneys. then think diuresis. then put the 2 together and you get urine formation. and yess. that was the pract. i had to pee in a cup 7 times within 3 hours, and constantly drink volumes of water. and analyse the damned samples... erhhh. and i had to eat 2 sachets of salt close to the end. which gave me a headache that lasted till the day after. i was so over it by the second peeing. seriously. why do they make undergrads do stupid things like that! well thankfully, i had ideal results so it wasnt for nothing. sodium intake surpresses water diuresis in the kidneys. so there. i learnt something out of all that crap.

and finally, Natalie and i have completed our presentation. spent about 3 hours today doing it up, writing "scripts" and splitting up the presentation. now all that's left is checking the equipment on Mon, and presenting it on Tues. Whoo! oh. yeah. there's that Exam on Mon morning. great. this has been the worst week of the semester.

so now i look forward to a full-on weekend ahead. i just hope i have time to type up the presentation summary, and study *groan*

and BLOODY HELL. no one is free tmr night. what the hell is with the bad timing ppl!!

she takes a breath at 05:06 p.m.

Sunday, April 2, 2006

ho hum. life is still oh-so-dull. back from work, where Dylan didnt appear. the fool was too sick from partying yesterday for his birthday. and i thought he was one of the [few] good guys! and because of that, i wanted to slap Tania even more than usual. she gets slower as it gets busier. i'm not the kind of person that likes to dictate to people, so when i have to constantly do that, it really annoys me. she has bloody selective vision i swear. it's amazing really. i dont know if i'll survive a full 20 hours next week. but fortunately, i work friday day. hooray thank god for cancelled lectures! yeah and i look forward to a full shift on sunday. Whee.

and because of that i am going to make a WWW broadcast right here on my humble blog. OI!!! who's free friday night, 7th April!?! please let's go out... Sera, free entry at Fridays? nice! let me know dudes.

she takes a breath at 04:05 p.m.