Archive for January, 2009
Birthday Guitars All Round!
Today is my birthday. 27 years young. To celebrate I have burdened myself with a guitar. Just a cheap Ashton with a hardcase. I have missed playing so much, and there are so many people to jam with and learn off I just had to get one. If only the pommie guy in my room would wake up and leave so I could rock out a bit it would be a great day.
Tonight? Probably drinking. I have been drinking way too much, I really need to ease up if I am going to make it through this year with any money and a liver.
Street Fighter Whoopage
Yesterday I got a chance to play what seemed to be a dodgy import of Street Fighter IV. I was wandering around an arcade in China Town and spotted it hidden in a Tekken 5 cabinet.
Now I must say that while I am a Street Fighter fan, I have never been that crash hot a player. I can seldom pull off moves and would have only won a handful of fights. I take joy in watching other players mastering the game, in awe of their speed and accuracy. Street Fighter IV is the perfect game for me. The animations, art style and backgrounds are a delight to watch. Players who dominate can pull off beautifully animated sequences and the dust, flame and brush stroke effects are fantastic. While some of the faces the characters make are awkward (such as the much discussed Ryu “o” face) the characters are big, beautiful and move smoothly between their animations.
At this arcade they had two cabinets linked, and I challenged a seasoned player. Needless to say: I had my arse handed to me within a few seconds. I tried the single player arcade mode, had a couple of wins before being thumped by the fat clown dude, Rufus. The controls were tight, smooth and the game very enjoyable. Well worth dropping a few bucks on.
Anyone who is interested in checking it out, and is in Sydney go to Galaxy World above the Paddy’s Markets at the top of Market City. I wasn’t allowed to take pictures, but I did get a sneaky video of my opponent which you can see after the break.
Lazy Days
Sometimes the days when you plan to do next to nothing turn out the best. A walk to find a guitar turned into a relaxing trundle through Sydney, stopping at a few bars for happy hours and quiet drinks. I said goodbye to my new friend over dinner and then hit the Three Wise Monkeys for dancing with some of the backpackers from my hostel. I got into the YHA soaked in sweat and exhausted. It was a roller-coaster of a day emotionally, but fulfilling.
I still don’t have a guitar though…
Saying Goodbye
One of the things I will never be able to get used to with traveling is saying goodbye. So seldom do we meet people with whom we form a strong connection with in our lives that to say goodbye is quite daunting. This effect is amplified in the arena of travel, where you have only days, and sometimes just hours to get to know a person. They breeze into your life, tidy up the place, rearrange the furniture, maybe paint a few walls, put up some art and then suddenly they walk out the door with the smallest of waves never to be seen again. You’re left staring at the paint drips on the carpet and the shattered glass they knocked over on the way out and your heart soars.
To all my traveling friends, where ever you are now: Thank you.
Australia Day Shenanigans
It started with goon at 10am, and ended with sliding through Sydney soaking wet when the skies opened up and nature dealt a dud hand.
I’ve never been so sopping wet in my life, and yet enjoyed every minute. The day saw me drinking in Hyde Park, our group receiving the title “The Goon Boys” from the cops then walking to Cockle Bay for another free concert in the rain. The whole while I had the Hottest 100 in my ear, which made me a lot of new friends and had me dancing in the streets; which didn’t go down so well with the cops, even though they were closed. I guess the man doesn’t like those who dance to the beat of their own drum…
Video and Photos after the break.
Video Blog #1
Right folks: here it is, a quick mash up of the Videos I took from the Big Day Out put to some music. It’s not pretty, but it’ll do. Hit the “See Photo Gallery” link to watch and enjoy!
Yesterday
Waking from a nightmare. Sleeping in till 11am. Moving from the top bunk to the bottom. Watching people in the foyer: Gelfling, Broken arm man, Mouse, Strap-em-down woman, The Swedes, The over exuberant group. Making a new friend. Doing my washing and sweating in the laundry. Enjoying the static cling of the clothes from the dryer. Shaving off my beard and regretting it instantly. Sweating more while adventuring along George Street. Crossing the streets against the lights to get out of the sun. Having lunch at Cheers. Trying to make eyes at the blondes in the corner. Marveling at $6.20 pints of Bulmers. Learning that Japanese don’t use normal dates for the year. Shopping in Coles buying stuff I wasn’t hungry for yet. Watching heat ripples over the road. Finishing reading “The Beach”. Donating it to the Give-n-Take, getting a little thrill seeing it gone within 15 minutes. Dominating the in house cook, his schnitzel no match for my Prawn & Chilli linguine. Finding I had been gipped on my oil. Being too full to move, save to get up for a beer. Opening “The Road” by Jack Kerouac. Contemplating the meaning of the song “Someone great” by LCD Soundsystem. Discussing travel, women and music with a Frenchman, some English and a Japanese who I missed saying goodbye to this morning. Walking to Hyde Park in the cooling night air. Stopping at the Side Bar to have one. Having four and dancing to the worst DJ ever. Finding my hat is useful for striking up conversations with girls from Cincinnati. Attempting to get into a free gig in the park by planning a heist. Giving up. Watching the fountain and drinking goon. Getting down to my undies and chasing a dog around the water feature. Playing goon toss in the fountain in front of a cheering crowd. Doing laps of the gardens to get dry. Chatting with my new friends. Winding up the local drunk. Pissing next to some sad discarded Thomas the Tank Engine underpants by a tree, wondering who’s they might have been and why they were there, then choosing not to think about it any more. Playing the bass kick part in a makeshift drum and bass ensemble and rocking it’s socks off. Fretting that the Frenchman had lost his wallet, then being relieved when he found it. Eating Hungry Jacks at 4am and discussing the “Burger King/Hungry Jacks” conundrum. Creeping into my room and breathing out one long breath before finding sleep.
These are all things I did yesterday.
Rockin’ the BDO
Before I start, I have to say I have a bit of a love hate relationship with festivals. While I pour a lot of my time, money and effort into the festivals I attend they always seem to have some way of fucking me over on one hand, and giving me the time of my life on the other.
Today was the Big Day Out. Adam managed to get me a guest pass which got me into a private bar and toilets, with an awesome view of the venue and getting in was pretty painless. Being in our own bar meant I could avoid the 40degree heat. It wasn’t until I reached for my wallet and realized I had no money that things went pear shaped. Search all I could for an ATM one wouldn’t appear. Resigning myself to a pretty cheap day I did get to enjoy watching Birds rock out to a huge crowd, the caught a bit of the Grates before the thirst set in. For the next two hours, one of which was spent in the line, I search for ATMs. After sustaining a little heat stroke I retired back to the bar and cooled down.
Next I hit up DJ Z*Trip, and danced my little arse off. What an awesome set. There were so many bodies all sweating and breathing that the floor with slick with condensation and the walls had rivulets running down them.
I attempted to go see TV on the Radio, but instead went and cooled down again then watched the Living End. I then swung over to Hot Chip, which started getting packed with people who were getting ready to see the Prodigy. Hot Chip was fantastic to watch, but the crowd was full of meat head dickheads. Leaving the boiler room everyone found the paths blocked to “reroute” the traffic, but the guards weren’t talking to each other and had closed off both ends of the boiler room area, with each end telling the punters to exit via the other. Chaos ensued.
Once we finally got out I got to see what I think was the highlight of the day: Neil Young. He wow’d the crowd and absolutely floored me. I had a great time watching him play, and the show was brilliant.
All in all, a great day. Right now I am sorting out my photos, getting the videos I took ready to be made into a video blog and settling into my new room at the same backpackers. I am looking forward to what the day will bring.
Drinking with Birds
Last night I had a great night out drinking with Adam and a few more of the guys from Birds of Tokyo and Sneaky Sound System. We wandered around Surrey Hills a bit, took the piss out of some drunk ladies and in general got on it.
Today I’m heading back into Surrey Hills to meet up with the guys and catch a lift to the Big Day Out. Should be a good day.
New Camera
After the terrible few shots I got around the place with my camera phone, I finally bit the bullet and bought a new camera.
I ended up getting a Canon Ixus 870IS. Up top is a quick pic I took not know how it works at all, not too bad though. It has a nice wide angled, and pretty bright lens, and is small enough for my pocket.
Anyways, expect some nicer shots featuring in my blog posts… I might need to look into gallery plugins for wordpress hmm…