The Backyard

Perfume Genius - Hood

2012-01-18T17:00:00.002Z

New video launched today from guess who's tip for Artist of 2012. Check it out:

More info on Pitchfork here. Preorder Put Your Back N 2 It here. Album streets 20 Feb!

Perfume Genius: 2012 is his year

2012-01-06T10:25:00.001Z

I know I may post a lot about music and new releases, but if you download nothing else from me all year (ok, all month) then please please download All Waters from Perfume Genius and have a listen. Tell me what you think.

Perfume Genius' second album, Put Your Back N 2 It, is released on 20 Feb, and I personally can't wait having ordered not one but two signed vinyl LPs. You can get yours here.

Steps

2011-12-24T15:09:00.003Z

These steps connect two sections of Hankey St in Mt Cook, Wellington, where i lived in 2004-5. The street was part of a neighbourhood planned on paper, and it didn't fit the geography of Mt Cook. On reflection it seems that uncooperative geography was but one of the problems faced by Wakefield's surveyors as they set about establishing the city. More on wikipedia here.

The Phoenix Foundation Presents - 'A Very Dystopian Christmas!'

2011-12-13T23:36:00.001Z

Happy; Busy

2011-10-26T22:35:00.004+01:00

I went to Budapest on the weekend, to unplug and catch up with Audrey and Josie. We chilled, ate, drank, swam, then did more of the same. There was also the small matter of the rugby world cup final, which we watched in Beckett's Irish Bar, alongside a big crowd of fellow kiwis, French, and assorted rugby enthusiasts.

Saw Bon Iver at the Hammersmith Apollo on Monday. I had sore feet but managed to transcend the pain. Lovely evening; and a good crowd too - could just about hear a pin drop.

Last night was the big event: The Phoenix Foundation performing live on Later with Jools Holland. I was lucky enough to attend the filming and it was a lot of fun. The other bands playing were The Waterboys, Professor Green, Ryan Adams, Camille and Coldplay. All quite enjoyable and relatively diverse. And the boys played really well! I wanted to go out afterwards (and tick off another of London's private clubs) but alas I had a midnight skype meeting that I couldn't miss, preceding as it did a big launch this morning.
Tonight's entertainment was a book club meeting. This month we read Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. It was quite moving, although we all agreed that the now-part of the story was a bit lacking.

So it's Wednesday, and I've already have about a fortnight's worth of living inside of four days, and I'm so happy because my flatmate goes away tomorrow for a week so Matty is moving in, and The Phoenix Foundation are playing tomorrow night and Lisa is coming with me, and I'm starting to get my shit together for my aforementioned New Project, and this Saturday I get to see Noel Gallagher live.

New Things

2011-10-26T17:03:00.000+01:00

I've been asking lots of questions of myself lately, and finding some answers. The upshot is that I'll shortly be launching a new project - a digital consulting agency, focusing on direct-to-fan strategy & project management. Exciting huh!Watch this space.

Look who's coming to visit...

2011-10-12T23:49:00.001+01:00

A dilemma

2011-09-02T07:41:00.003+01:00

Mild dilemma faces me this evening. I've been invited to a friend's wedding reception, where I expect to know only the bride and possible one other person slightly. My invitation was for me and a guest, however my guest can't make it and it seems too short a notice period to enlist another.

Getting to the venue will be a half hour train followed by a cab for a few miles. I've been unwell this week which has lead me to cancel the three nights' previous engagements, in a bid to regain health and also to ensure my ongoing vitality for tomorrow's planned trip to Glasgow, not to mention next week's Trip To New York.

I am leaning towards unfortunately missing my friend's nuptial celebration, however I'm unsure of the etiquette of the apology in such a situation. Do I draw attention to it ahead of the event itself, or explain myself after the fact?

Songs of Mirth And Melancholy

2011-08-31T10:37:00.002+01:00

A bit of a departure from my usual indie ways - here's some jazz piano and the like from Branford Marsalis and Joey Calderazzo. Enjoy. More info here.

From a Suit to a Fluorescent Jacket

2011-08-23T23:37:00.004+01:00

On Saturday afternoon, I decided to pop out for a quick bicycle ride, relying on @londoncyclist's Bike Rides iphone app. I chose the route named "From a Suit to a Fluorescent Jacket", which takes in Canary Wharf, Greenwich, around the O2 and on to Woolwich and back again.

I figured it'd take about an hour, and I'd be home in good time to meet my friend Maria for dinner. An hour and a half later, as I lazed in the hot evening sun at Greenwich Park, I realised I was not going to be back in E8 for some time. All up I was out for about 3 and a half hours, including chill time. Click to see photos on flickr.

It was a gorgeous day, and it felt good to be exploring. I should mention this was partly intended as a training ride, as this bank holiday weekend I'm off to Normandy with some friends to cycle between Bayeux and Cherbourg. More on that later.

New from Sigur Rós

2011-08-12T10:39:00.001+01:00

Tigers That Talked: Holy Saturday, Gloomy Sunday vs SXSW

2011-07-14T22:28:00.002+01:00

A few months back, Tigers That Talked created this video for their new single, Holy Saturday, Gloomy Sunday, made entirely from footage taken during their SXSW 2011 experience. Follow the link to download the track for free.

New from The Glitch Mob

2011-07-12T17:45:00.004+01:00

Usually I'm pretty cut and dried in favour of guitar music.. but the Glitch Mob have been getting under my skin. They've just announced a preorder on their new EP 'We Can Make The World Stop', and you can listen to it here:

I also really like the offer page. It's super slick.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra

2011-07-05T11:05:00.001+01:00

I'm going to see this band at the Lexington this evening. I am liking what I hear so far.

New album from Bon Iver

2011-06-09T16:49:00.002+01:00

Full album stream, right here:

That is all.

Pictures of Music

2010-12-27T09:52:00.004Z

Having a little bit of time on my hands during the Christmas break, I've taken the opportunity to update Flickr with a few pictures I've taken since October or thereabouts of various musical adventures. These include Duane Eddy/Richard Hawley/Jarvis Cocker, The Black Keys, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Marnie Stern, Arcade Fire, Janelle Monáe and Paul McCartney.

Last.fm Artist & Album clouds

2010-12-23T11:57:00.006Z

Strangely, being so absorbed in music and my corner of the industry this year, I haven't been such a consumer of music - although I have been to more live shows than ever before (witness my year on songkick). So I don't have any top albums of 2010 to speak of just now.. instead I have some tag clouds.

Top Albums, last 3 months:

Top Albums, overall:

Winter in the Neighbourhood

2010-12-09T22:37:00.004Z

We had a few days of snow last week. It culminated on Wednesday night after the Arcade Fire concert, flakes falling, fresh white powder underfoot, each street light reminiscent of the lamp-post. A day or two later, it was either dirty sludge or hard-packed ice, quite devoid of its original romance. This is an image of London Fields, situated close to my home.

Arcade Fire were great. It was my first time seeing them - not really sure how it's taken so long for that to happen - and the show was at the O2, not really the place for a first viewing. Still, it was magic to look around and see that enormous, sold-out venue filled with such ardent fans. Impossible to get very close to the stage, it was more about appreciating the crowd with a great soundtrack.

When they played We Used To Wait in the encore, I was transfixed. Have you seen the video (must be viewed in Chrome)? The finale was Wake Up, but it was hard for me to wake up from the headspace of the wilderness downtown. I love the subject matter Arcade Fire dwell on. It takes me back to those endless, empty days. Small town, big freedom.

Setlist, photos, and video on Songkick here.

I had the good fortune to catch Janelle Monáe at the Shepherd's Bush Empire on Sunday, and Tightrope hasn't really left my head since. Highly recommended.

Life Preservers, Dagger Canes, Swordsticks

2010-11-07T11:10:00.006Z

I wanted to write something clever and apposite to go with this picture. However, I have places to go and people to see. The life in London continues.. work = great; fresh challenges with every day, home = fine; and I picked up my guitar yesterday for the first time in forever (although I could use a few nights in with time/energy to cook), friends = wonderful; what more to say?

The Black Keys were fantastic on Wednesday. Gigs coming up include Casiotone For The Painfully Alone, Marnie Stern, Arcade Fire and Bonobo. My mission next pay: buy a record player.

Grinderman

2010-10-02T11:38:00.002+01:00

Loved the Grinderman show last night at Hammersmith Apollo. Nick Cave taps into such dark elements of the human psyche, not so much violence but some kind of blackness, giving compelling form to shadows of fear and lust and beauty and desire.

Feels like I hadn't been to a concert in ages, which added to the experience, as did attending with my lovely friends Ren, Matt, Riddi, Jamie and Gilbey.

I just wish Grinderman hadn't relied on EMI for their direct to consumer efforts for Grinderman 2. The emails look shit, they're too long, and their purchase links are all external retailers. It's a wasted opportunity - they should have used Topspin. They are streaming the album on myspace, which is nice.

Aside from that, the only negative to the evening was missing my connection at Whitechapel - took me an hour and half to get home from the station! I was between iphones last night, so it was a novel experience of having no GPS, maps or internet. Unusual, kind of fun in a small dose, like using a portaloo at a festival - hang on, that's never fun. Rest assured I am now safely connected to a shiny new iphone 4.

Morning

2010-10-01T10:53:00.000+01:00

Lovely light this morning.

3 years + music

2010-08-20T23:08:00.002+01:00

20 August is my 3 year anniversary here in London so permit me just a moment of reflection. I arrived without much of a clue what on earth I wanted from this place, and not entirely sure I wanted to be here at all. Fresh out of New Zealand, a Mediterranean summer like no other can do that to a person.

Today I find myself somewhere I never expected to be; chasing a big wave, sometimes riding it and sometimes my head seems only just above the water level. But there's always good sounds to be discovered. I'm listening to Van Morrison's Astral Weeks for the fifth time this week.. a world of music for the finding, and I love that an album from 1968 can scoop me up just like I can be carried away by the latest from The Arcade Fire.

Here's some great free music I've come across this week, coincidentally both from Iceland. The first is from Amiina:
And the second is from For A Minor Reflection:

You might remember, I'm a fan of lists and particularly the lists generated by last.fm. The contents and layout of this list struck a chord with me when I spotted it a day or two ago in that it almost alternates between 'old' and 'new' - my top artists from the last 7 days. I've been listening to BBC 6 Music a lot lately, but when I'm not..

About work, and play

2010-08-03T22:20:00.005+01:00

Today I was called upon to explain what it is that my company does. When I saw the email preceding the phone call I was nervous. I wasn't sure that I would be able to answer the questions that would inevitably arise, with this potential new client needing to learn about the product and service we offer in order to evaluate it for his needs.

I made the call, and as the questions were posed, the answers flowed out of me, and I knew what I was talking about. I felt confident, and creative, and I offered extra information and examples on how to extend the services and fully optimise the product offering. I felt great! I realised that I have absorbed more than I knew during the months of internship - and now that I'm contracting in a grown-up sense - I'm learning still more every day. I'm grateful every day that I am exactly where I want to be.

There's one project I'm heavily involved in at work, and a big part of it is this website: UK Music Offers. It's essentially a web store selling high quality digital tracks and albums at a low price - 40p per track and £3.99 per album. The artists include Portugal. The Man, Alberta Cross, Metric, Beastie Boys, Dave Holland, Get Busy Committee, Wendy & Lisa and more. (There's one caveat: offers are available to UK residents only.) I'd love it if you'd please take a look, and if you're in the UK, by all means throw 40p to a good cause! What good cause, you ask? This one: my further education, and the future of my career in its current form. I'm very interested in feedback on the content, the layout and the purchase experience, what you think works and what needs improvement.

It's been a little while since I posted anything - weekends in Bratislava and the Lakes District and the usual hyper-busy weeks have left little time for creativity after hours. I was inspired this evening by Bob Lefsetz - he's often inspiring - and his linking to this short Seth Godin/Tom Peters clip.

This weekend I'm headed to The Big Chill with my good friend Matty.. one last shot at summer festival bliss. Speaking of - wouldn't mind a bit more of that late 20s goodness, weather gods..?

Liverpool and Picasso and the weekend

2010-07-18T21:45:00.006+01:00

Katy and I went to Liverpool a week or two back, to see the Picasso exhibition at the Tate. I didn't really know anything about Picasso, and the exhibition was themed Peace & Freedom and looked at his works from a political perspective. So now for me Picasso is a political figure. This is my favourite painting from the exhibition, brought to you thanks to Now Public:

We had a lovely day of wandering around Liverpool and before we caught our train back to Euston, we came across an area of huge, old municipal buildings. Katy remarked on the wealth that must have resided in Liverpool a few centuries back - she said it was because of slavery, as Liverpool was an important port city.

London went off this weekend. Yesterday was full of cycling at Richmond Park, a special moment with deer, pub lunch by the Thames, Pimms and lawn bowls in Clapham, house party perfection, new friends fantastic, bicycle retrieval success (my bicycle is henceforth known as Stealth Ninja), mushroom soup delicious chez Lisa, Hyde Park Diana Memorial sublime with my awesome nieces and their ma'n'pa, and hanging out with my Aunt. Now: shattered, in the best way.

Podcast Wednesday

2010-07-14T10:05:00.002+01:00

I listen to podcasts while I'm running, mostly because they help me forget that I'm running and also because they are interesting and educational. Lately, thanks to a recommendation from my friend Bex, I've been working my way through the BBC series A History Of The World In 100 Objects. It's great, and I'm pretty sure that it's going to inspire me to finally make a trip to visit the British Museum. I can see museum's incredible curved glass roof from my window, and I often each lunch in the front courtyard - but still I haven't yet crossed the threshold.

This morning I took a break from 100 Objects to listen to this week's Outriders. It's another BBC podcast, this time looking at pioneers at the frontiers of the online world. Jamillah spoke with Eileen Gittins, CEO of self publishing book site Blurb. The premise of Blurb is great, and even better with the charitable possibilities of Blurb for Good, which means individuals and groups can create and sell books at very low cost and donate the proceeds.

I'm not sure if these podcasts are accessible from outside of the UK - it's not immediately apparent on their web pages. If you're in the UK, do check them out - and if you're not, perhaps you could give them a try and let me know how you get on?

New Jakob track

2010-07-13T18:00:00.005+01:00

New at least 3 months ago, anyway! It occurred to me that really, really I need some more Jakob in my life so I went a-hunting and managed to find this page which appears to be as near as they have to a website just now. Here's a beautifully shot live video of a new track, 'Magna Carta', which I'm already loving:

Hop Farm and a Reunion

2010-07-04T21:18:00.007+01:00

Yesterday I stood in a field with 50,000 people blissfully waving my arms in the air and singing along to Ray Davies singing 'Sunny Afternoon'. Good times, great feeling!

Together with my crew of Bex and Siana, I was at Hop Farm in Kent, for the Saturday part of the two-day "festival for the people". I wasn't aware of this tagline, but my fantastic friend Stacey certainly was and she spent the day making notes to include in a letter to the festival promoter, one Vince Power. Festival for the people, but there's no toilet paper? The hand-san is actually soap, causing much discomfort and stickiness? There were other, non-ablution-related complaints, but they have fallen off my brain. Overall, it was a brilliant day with perfect sunshine and great bluesy folk sounds, including Laura Marling, Seasick Steve, Pete Doherty and Mumford & Sons.

Bob Dylan headlined, allegedly. I cannot confirm as I was not in the front of the crowd and it seems that Dylan had said no to anything resembling a closeup for the big screens. Still, there was a man in a pink shirt wearing a hat, and I admit to getting very excited indeed when I recognised 'Ballad Of A Thin Man'.

But, if I'm honest, I didn't pay much attention to Dylan because it was during his headlining set that I finally found Stacey, my long-lost friend from days of old in Wellington. We'd failed to make a proper meeting plan and she has no UK mobile, so it seemed that all was lost and I spent most of the day double-taking at every brown-haired lady in hat and dark sunglasses. Sore neck, yes. Then late in the evening, in the toilet queue don't you know, and there she was, striding purposefully towards me - as I happened to be near the end of the line - and oh what a joyous reunion!

It had been almost four years since we'd last seen each other, in Auckland, when this series of photos was taken. It was really great to reconnect.

No weeknote #6

2010-06-28T22:41:00.006+01:00

Six weeks in and it's time to reflect. The success of this project has been that I have actually posted something each week for five weeks. This sort of regularity is pretty much unheard of in recent years. However it has brought me to consider content vs quality. I have always been an advocate of the latter, yet this style of posting reeks of content for content's sake. Last week's weeding out of spam comments took me back to a time when there was more to say and more time to say it.

The weeknote style is also more journal-like than I'm comfortable with. Back in the day I had my cosy Wellington readership - now I have no idea who's reading, and a bit more of an idea who's not. I'm very aware that there's not a lot going on here in the first place.

Weeknotes: a great idea, just not quite the right fit for me.

Baking Dogs

2010-06-24T13:29:00.004+01:00

My friend Rain posted this video on Facebook, and I just have to share it cos it's brilliant. I do not remember Sesame Street being this entertaining, in fact I never really liked it much. I always got really confused by the way the big yellow dog disappeared behind the tree. Or the kids disappeared. Something disappeared.

I've been listening to 6 music and getting excited about Glastonbury...even though I'm not going. It starts in 2.5 hours! Loved the countdown of top ten performances, particularly that I was at the number one: Blur in 2009. Their finale of 'The Universal' really was something else. I remember standing there with Audrey, Treez and Ian, and it was just lovely and transcendental and all those things you get after four days of camping and hangovers and mud and sun.

Now, back to work. I'm finishing early today, to watch the football of course! Go All Whites!

Weeknote #5

2010-06-21T21:40:00.005+01:00

At home
The French had visitors most of last week, which necessitated a lot of indulgent nights for them, not so much for me. And now Mathieu is away all this week, so it's just me and the lovely Martial, who's just brought me a mug of peppermint tea. Perfect.

During the week I discovered that some nasty spammer had left a lengthy and nonsensical message on a recent blog post. It didn't worry me too much and at the least it was mildly amusing, in its total lack of sense. But then I realised the spam was repeated on no less than 45 posts! I've been cleaning it up in shifts, as blogger doesn't seem to provide an easy way to batch edit comments. Still, there's been an unexpected positive to this boring chore, as I wind up reading posts from years gone by and remembering events long forgotten. Mostly it's made me nostalgic for the days when I had the time to write, things to write about and the confidence to put it out there.

This morning as I watered my coriander seeds, I thought to myself, today is a good day for growing - and sure enough, this evening I found three tiny shoots beginning to peek through the soil! This makes me very happy. Remember when I lived in Wellington and the back yard was full of succulents grown from cuttings my brother gave me?

At work
My American colleague is in the States for a few weeks, so I took the opportunity to work from home for most of last week, and will probably do so again this week. As long as I manage to leave the house once or twice a day, it's very chilled out and pleasant. Various work projects are in the workhorse stage just now, with lots of effort required but not much to show for it - in a few days' time I think there will be progress to speak of.

On my mind is the fact that my current contract terminates in three and a half weeks. I hope that something decisive happens after that - something decisive resulting in a permanent job, even! That said, the uncertainty is no hardship. My only concern is that in order to carry out my plans for early next year, I am going to need to be able to start saving in the not-too-distant future. Make a stash, etc. And start repaying the many favours generous friends have shown me in recent months.

Out n about
Lovely dinner catch up at my local the Dove with Tom on Monday. Jailbreak to hang with my brother-in-law in Walthamstow on Weds evening. Caught up with Tim for the laptop handoff before heading sarf on Thurs for dinner with Mikey and co in Clapham North, followed by Dangerous Heresy at The Rest Is Noise in Brixton. Felt odd to be on the tube after travelling exclusively by bike for the last few weeks. Speaking of, I dealt with my bike-shop-man-induced paranoia about leaving the thing anywhere by getting insurance. It's only a fiver a month. Friday saw me chilling at home and then on Saturday after watching a tedious Australia vs Ghana match, Tom and I ventured down the market to the Dove. He was in mid-flow with the most preposterous tale when I realised we were sharing a table with the one and only Ian Hart...cue much excitement, gurning and crowing that it had been eleven and three quarter months since our last adventure!

I was a bit slow off the mark on Sunday but managed to get to Proud Gallery in Camden in time for kick off in the New Zealand vs Italy match. Some friends had hired a stable for us to watch the game, and it was a tense but most enjoyable 90+ minutes. Very impressed with the team, particularly the fabulous Paston.

Future happenings
Crazy to think that this time last year I was gearing up for Glastonbury - it seems to have come around a lot quicker this year. Not for me though - I'll be watching it on tv, or trying to ignore it - and anyway, Blondie is happening this weekend. I'm also excited about having made plans to attend Jane's birthday weekend in the Lakes District! Can't wait, although it's not until late next month and comes hot on the heels of some minor surgery. On my tongue. Guess how much I can't wait for that.

All Whites 1 - Slovakia 1

2010-06-16T10:01:00.005+01:00

In the interests of posterity, I must blog this (parental advisory, explicit lyrics):

What a great finish to a fairly uninteresting game.

This requires new tag: 'world cup' and 'sport'. Will I ever use them again?!

Weeknote #4

2010-06-13T19:24:00.004+01:00

at home
Very little of note at home this week - although I did get around to planting the coriander yesterday - so I'll talk about today's Big Purchase: a bike! After a week of riding Teresa's, I am now the proud owner of a frankly awesome matte black Trek Soho. It's a single speed model, with a super-light aluminium frame so it's easy to carry up to my flat, and it goes fast! I had it fitted with mudguards and a carrier, and got all the accessories I could think of - lights, lock, helmet, gloves, high-vis jacket, and panniers are in the mail. No more public transport for me as far as I can help it - I need to make this purchase worthwhile!

at work
Busy times at work with a campaign launch that I only learned of on Friday and which went live this evening - so I spent rather more hours working this weekend than I would like. Still, I think it looks good and it's great to be learning how it all works.

My colleague from the States (for whom I must dream up a good alias) has returned home for fortnight, so I've got the place to myself. This may mean a move to the corner office and its super-sized monitor - I'm talking serious real estate here - or it may mean a few days' working from home. We'll see.

out n about
Menomena on Monday at the Hoxton Square Bar were really lovely (and so were the bar staff). They reminded me a little of Kings of Leon, minus heads-up-arse, and also leaning towards the axis of Fleet Foxes/ Grizzly Bear. It was a fun night, and great to catch up with Matt of Grillpanda fame and talk all things Songkick with him and his crew at the Electricity Showrooms.

Thursday saw me back at the old stomping grounds of Berners St, for an MMF seminar/networking event. There were presentations by my friend Chris at PRS for Music on the state of the industry, and also Mathias from Myspace fielded questions on Myspace Music. My favourite part was meeting former mclusky manager Craig, who had some great stories to tell. I love hearing good industry stories - which reminds me, Gilbey has lent me a Led Zep bio which apparently must be read to be imagined *rubs hands in glee* and one day I shall read it.

I saw Dangerous Heresy at the Bull & Gate on Friday, and they were rockin' as ever. I thoroughly recommend checking them out this Thursday at The Rest Is Noise, Brixton - a free gig, and there's a Nando's nearby - perfect.

Today I spent a couple of hours collecting for TCT at the Marylebone Fayre. It was really interesting, although I spent possibly too much of my time gazing at the interesting people in attendance, and their interesting dogs and children. My bucket wasn't half as heavy as the others on my shift.

future happenings
Hmm, what's on the calendar? Considering the Big Purchase, this section is likely to be somewhat lightweight in forthcoming days...but nah, that'd be boring. This week there's the aforementioned Dangerous Heresy gig on Thursday, and other than that, I'm open to spontaneity this week.

Weeknote #3

2010-06-06T18:48:00.003+01:00

at home
Today I bought potting mix and coriander seeds… any minute now I will combine the two and get growing! Maybe on Tuesday.

Last night I gave myself a night off and didn't go to Thee Oh Sees gig - instead I lay on the sofa and watched Precious. It was pretty hard-hitting and quite a tear-jerker, but I'd definitely recommend it.

at work
Fun project last week - ticketing for two Pixies gigs at the Troxy in Limehouse. Lucky I'd seen them play the previous weekend at Primavera Sound, as I only managed to catch the encore of each show. Great encores they were: Where Is My Mind and Here Comes Your Man, much to the rapture of the crowds. On the Friday I watched from the balcony, and it took quite a few minutes before I could breathe properly - high levels of humidity, ugh.

Also work- and Pixies-related, I got to meet another work colleague who was over from the States. My understanding of what it is that we do, how and why we do it remains incomplete but I'm working on that and all in all I think things are going well.

out'n'about
I am very happy to have been lent a bicycle for the week, to help me figure out what sort I am going to buy. Today I rode 15km across town to my old flat to collect mail, and thoroughly enjoyed myself even though I didn't know quite where I was for a lot of the time. It took around 1 hour and 10 minutes to make the ~15km journey each way. I am so getting my own asap! Tomorrow I will give the commute to work a go.

On today's return cross-town mission I stopped by AIR Studios in Belsize Park, where I met @GlenMexted and was wowed by the beautiful studio facilities. Very impressive, and lovely staff too.

future happenings
Coming up this week I have a couple of gigs: Menomena on Monday and Dangerous Heresy on Friday. That's it!

Weeknote #2

2010-05-31T23:10:00.005+01:00

at home
Mathieu and Martial returned from holiday on Monday, so our little flat of foreigners was briefly complete before I took off for Barcelona mid-afternoon on Wednesday, returning last night. On my bus home from London Bridge, I got chatting to a lady who was also returning from a festival in Spain, and learned that she is a burlesque dancer. I was intrigued but didn't have the chance to learn more!

Today being a bank holiday I made a rash call and visited Ikea... fast forward through negotiating a minicab home, the painful one-step-at-a-time of getting the thing up to my flat, and then building using nothing but a bread knife - and I have a lovely blue Billy bookcase. It really ties the room together.

at work
Following a weekend punctuated by late nights online testing ahead of a project launch, I was pleased to have five days more or less offline. There are a few challenges ahead this week. Still on the upside I should hopefully get paid.

out'n'about
Barcelona! I've just had a fantastic weekend at Primavera Sound in Barcelona, and I'll post further on that during the week.

future happenings
This week I have got two Pixies concerts. If you're going, it's possible you'll see me on the other end of my iphone, scanning ticket barcodes. There is talk of seeing Thee Oh Sees at The Luminaire this Saturday; they were very entertaining at Primavera Sound on the weekend.

I just finished reading John Harris' Dark Side Of The Moon - have I mentioned my current obsession with Pink Floyd? I'm just about ready for a new album... think it'll be Wish You Were Here, or possibly Piper At The Gates Of Dawn - think it's time I checked out the Barrett era. Today I bought tickets for Roger Waters: The Wall, live at the O2... just have to wait eleven and a half months for it.

Weeknote #1

2010-05-23T22:14:00.005+01:00

Taking my inspiration from Wired UK, which I love and am going to subscribe to just as soon as I can spare the money, here is a new format which I may attempt to utilise perhaps even more than once! It's not the most exciting but it's something.. and content is content. You know, I disagree with that statement, but I'm also time-poor, so you take what you can get.

at home
Busy week for visitors - while Martial and Mathieu are both away for another few days, I had three members of An Emerald City setting up their portable internet cafe in my living room all week. They were pretty low-impact and it was nice to have them around.

The landlord brought round a new vaccuum cleaner, causing great excitement, and a reinforced vow to never own a house with black carpet. At least it's restricted to my room. He also took away the double mattress which was taking up valuable full-length storage space in my room, so I can now hang my dresses unimpeded. More cause for joy!

Bad note for the week is the occasionally unreliable wireless connection (no thanks, O2), which - as I write - is refusing to give me a wireless connection. Not the end of the world but highly inconvenient when I have work that needs doing... luckily for me my sister Audrey rode to my rescue with an ethernet cable.

at work
Following on from above, work is busy! I have lots going on, more than enough to take up my time, and have even done several hours over this glorious weekend. I would be doing more if it wasn't for aforementioned failwhale O2 wireless box.

out'n'about
It's been a good week for kiwi music - I was lucky enough to catch the 3Ds at the Brixton Windmill on Tuesday night, and the Clean on Wednesday at the ICA - both fresh from supporting Pavement. The Windmill is an odd venue! Tucked away 15 minutes' walk from Brixton Underground, it reminded me of a gig in a rural NZ town, or possibly downtown Wellington, old-Bodega styles. In contrast, the ICA was very different, as it's more commonly known as an art gallery, although the band played in the theatre. A pleasure to see both bands.

And what a weekend it's been. It's after 7pm, and it's 26 degrees. This is unheard of and such a delightful far cry from the negative digits we had on my return from NZ in March. Long may it last! I spent a few hours yesterday at Hampstead Heath, near the Highgate Ponds, for Jo's birthday. She'd chosen the perfect day and a great spot - we were entertained by a hilarious revolving community of dogs, also enjoying the day.

After that it was back to E8, and a visit to London Fields, where I was alarmed to hear of the shooting that took place there yesterday afternoon. This park is five minutes from my door - and it was PACKED with people yesterday, including several friends who were near during the incident. My sister and her two little daughters visited me today, and we spent time walking through and sitting in the park - I didn't mention yesterday to them, but it was on my mind.

future happenings
This week: Barcelona for Primavera Sound! Can't wait to get away - feel quite ready for a holiday. I just hope I won't have to log on to work too much, although it's a catch-22 as I'm on an hourly rate at the moment.

Before that, I've got Nina Nastasia at Cafe OTO tomorrow, and UNKLE at Koko on Tuesday. Busy times.

Ring

2010-04-02T07:54:00.001+01:00

My mum died ten years ago, when I was 19. While I was at home over the NZ summer, I took possession of her diamond engagement ring.

I wear it on my right ring finger, as that's the only one it fits, apart from the same on my left hand. I wear it slightly off centre, nestled beside a silver ring I bought in Göreme, Turkey, so it's not so starkly an engagement ring, but rather a significant reminder of Mum and where I come from.

Two days ago, it occurred to me, as I gazed at the light reflecting in the multiple facets: I bet Mum used to gaze at it too, so many years ago, when her love for my father was new and fresh, and her eyesight was still perfect.

I am the youngest of five sisters (and one brother), so you might ask why I should come to own such an heirloom. The answer is simple: I had a claim on it, and no one objected. When I was about twelve, sitting in the living room, I saw a tiny piece of tin foil on the sofa, and went to flick it onto the carpet. A split second pause, and I saw it wasn't tin foil: it was a diamond! Next thing: "Mum!!" The stone had come loose of it's setting, and Mum hadn't noticed. I was so pleased, and I imagine she was too.

Busy-ness

2010-03-31T11:16:00.004+01:00

Things are starting to get busy in the world of Jessie. This is a good thing, because lately I haven't had so much to do, and as a result, I've done very little.

I've started running again, and after a steep curve from 0km through 5km to 10km, I'm back on track and quite enjoying it. I'm cutting down on non-essential tv watching, which is a bit difficult seeing as I'm partway through 30 Rock season 3, the last few episodes of Community, and season 2 of Veronica Mars - not to mention that I've just dipped my toes into the seedy world of Underbelly.

Still, these .avi files are not going anywhere, and there are things to be done! I have proper work to be getting on with, at least proper training for work, as my capabilities step up in the world of Topspin. I have a proper holiday coming up - cos yes, it's about time I took some time off and jetted around the world - in the form of ten days in Japan. My travelling companion is my sister Audrey, and we're visiting a bunch of cool friends, which means this is holiday is set to be TEH AWESUM.

Enough procrastination.

The Phoenix Foundation - Buffalo

2010-03-29T12:18:00.006+01:00

I wrote a few weeks ago about the new Phoenix Foundation single, called Buffalo, which will feature on the new studio album (also called Buffalo) which most serendipitously drops from the heavens on my birthday. Presales start any second now, if I understand the band's website correctly.

Anyway. Check out the lovely video which the fabulous Nato (any Wellingtonians/NZers full stop will undoubtedly know Nato!) has crafted:

The Phoenix Foundation - Buffalo from Nathan Hickey on Vimeo.

Love those big dogs. And didn't they do well to find a sunny day in Wellington?! Here's a look at the band playing the song live at Slow Boat Records.

I'm off to order myself a Golden Buffalo quick-smart - there are only 50 packages available! Heh - reminds me of a Mexican Hollywood.. whatever that is.

UK readers, as far as I know the band will be over here in late summer, and there's bound to be some special offers. But who can wait that long?!

Spring forward

2010-03-28T23:48:00.000+01:00

I'm just about to go to bed, but before I do, a few loosely related thoughts to share.

I've been using Remember The Milk for the last few weeks to get things done. It takes the place of last year's 'will do' lists, seeing as I've been largely digital lately - not even a paper diary yet this year. That is probably directly related to the fact that I haven't really been working for nigh on six months.

Just quietly, I've really enjoyed not working. I seem to be really good at it. That's about to change though, and I think it will be great to get back into it.

I'm in a change sort of mood. New year has come late for me, and I'm on the cusp of new beginnings - not to mention my 30th birthday. Along with the new career direction, I'm looking to develop a new attitude and really focus on myself for a change. Very often in the past I've made choices which have not been in my best interests and while the drama can be exciting, it's ultimately exhausting and unhealthy, even if it does make for a good story. My solution begins with rereading a book I first came across a couple of years ago: Dr Dan Baker's What Happy People Know, which promotes concepts of optimism, love and courage, as "qualities that propel us past pain".

I've got a few other ideas, and I'll share them soon.

Iceland

2010-03-18T12:53:00.007Z

I visited Iceland on the weekend, with six friends. We flew out of Heathrow on Friday night, and I quite liked Icelandair, as you get to watch movies and tv and stuff (unlike Easyjet et al). I watched 500 Days of Summer (cheesy but the guy was kind of cute at least), an episode of the Family Guy, and a short documentary on Icelandic horses. Sold! I love Icelandic horses. More on them soon.

We arranged a private guide to take us around the Golden Circle area. In the map above, it's the green roughly circular area to the south east of Reykjavik. After my perpetual cooing at the herds of horses we passed along the road - there were tears of joy when I spotted one rolling over - our driver took us to meet some.

We visited the Þingvellir National Park, at the site of the world's first parliament. It's also where two tectonic plates meet - the North American and the Eurasian. Lots to be seen here, including an area where women used to be executed by drowning, and some stunning and deep ponds.

There were deep craters and steaming, spouting geysers. Possibly most impressive was the enormous Gulfoss waterfall. Near the top of the falls, I built this:

We attempted a Northern Lights tour one evening, but low cloud meant that the only lights we saw was the dance party provided by an app on my iphone. Deepest apologies to all the other people on the bus... the Australians started it.

The next day was mostly all about Icelandic horses and rain, and a rather interesting gait called tölt, which was a bit like trotting but with less of the up and down thing going on. Perhaps once I'm a pro horse rider, I'd say in a few months time, then I'll be able to explain it better. I did learn that Icelandic horses have two gaits that are unique to Iceland.

No visit to Reykjavik would be complete without a visit to the Blue Lagoon, which we made on our way out to the airport. Lovely... 38 degree waters, weird sludge underfoot, splurging on an in-water massage - that's what holidays should be about! Not so much about the almost-dreadlocks that took about a week to stop feeling like straw, but some people pay for that, right?

On the flight home, I watched the Sigur Rós documetary, Heima. It was really quite moving and made me want to see more of the country. Or the band. Iceland. Go there. I'm going back, in the summer - midnight sun!

Hello, London!

2010-03-11T18:52:00.005Z

The return to London has been a little difficult, but I'm pleased to say that after a brief three-day depression, things have been on the up. My New Zealand holiday consisted months of hot weather, beautiful rural settings, and little to do besides drive my borrowed car from friends' house to friends' house, or down to the river to swim and throw sticks for my favourite dog. Contrasted with single digit temperatures, icy cold (admittedly everyone says I missed the worst, but that's relative surely), endless public transport, and a slightly aimless existence - it's hardly surprising that I might question my sanity! A zillion miles from my farmer poet, even if that sometimes seems like a good idea.

So where's the beautiful positive, as Pascalle West would say? Catching up with friends and family is top of the list, and sometime in the not too distant future, I'll hopefully add "rewarding new career direction" as a close second. I've got one or two projects on the go now, and while flat hunting isn't my idea of a positive experience, I certainly hope the outcome is.

Luckily there's always good music to be found. And here's a treat - for a limited time, download the first single from the Phoenix Foundation's forthcoming album Buffalo. Go here for the free download.

In Transit II

2010-03-01T16:23:00.001Z

Once again I'm in transit in Hong Kong, and I'm in much better shape than last visit. I think it's around half 4 in the morning NZ time, and around eleven thirty local time, and physically I feel fine. Mentally, I have no idea how I feel... I do know that I had a brilliant time in New Zealand, loads of great experiences with great people and just one or two that I don't need to repeat ever again.

Because I'm a fledgling data geek, here's a look at where I spent my 90 days in Aotearoa:

Within those locations, I stayed at 26 different places. Thanks to the kindness of a then-stranger, turned-out-to-be-a-relative, I drove over 7000 km and was driven another 1000 or so. I went to three weddings and three music festivals. I drank 40 litres of sauvignon blanc and 175 Mac's Great Whites. The last sentence isn't true. I took a roller coaster ride with the farmer poet and developed a dog-crush on Taffy the coolest labrador ever (affectionately known as my perfect man in canine form).

And now I'm London-bound, to start a new job and find a new flat, and looking forward to jaunts to Iceland, Japan, and Spain in the next few months. Bring it on.

5 years ago

2010-02-08T21:57:00.003Z

On 12 January, 2005, I bumped into an old friend's father, out at the beach. We caught up on each other's lives, and he said to me, "It's great that she's doing what she loves.

"She said to me, what should I do, Dad? And I said, you've got to do what your heart tells you. That's what having a young life is for. That's what having a single life is for."

St Jerome's Laneway Festival - Auckland

2010-02-02T00:51:00.005Z

This morning I woke up on a motel floor. As I lay contemplating the ceiling, a gentle breeze stirring the curtains on the french doors to my left, I reflected on my fabulous day at Laneways.

It was a brilliant day, and the rain held off for the most part. I met up with the friendly neighbour late morning, and we cabbed downtown to Britomart Square. After a bit of wandering around the site and getting acquainted with the layout, I met up with Lisa and we enjoyed a set from the Naked and Famous, along with a growing and appreciative crowd. Around 3pm I was very very happy to see the Phoenix Foundation play, on the bittersweet occasion of bass player and my good friend Warner's last gig. He's been with the band seven years, pretty much all the time I've known him, and I wish him well in his future projects, which include the highly entertaining Double Ya D.

After that it was time for a much, much anticpated set from the xx. Oh, how I love the xx. Their set was just lovely. I caught some of Daniel Johnston next, a very special performance - you can see a short video here. I didn't pay enough attention to the Dirty Three, and I wish I'd given more time to Chris Knox and the Nothing. I spent the next 45 minutes or so waiting in the food queue, hoping I could use some of my plastic drink coupons, and snarling at queue jumpers. The hot chips were a necessary evil; I missed Echo & the Bunnymen, but I think I'd always missed them so I didn't mind too much.

Because it was the first year of the festival in Auckland, there were inevitably some problems, not least of which was the long wait for food and beer (although happily this didn't affect me). There were also some scheduling reshuffles later in the day, not to mention a disappointing overlap of Cut Off Your Hands beginning their set before Daniel Johnston was finished. I don't believe this was an intentional slight, and I hope that Daniel wasn't too offended.

The reshuffles meant that the 3Ds played later in the evening, and their set was a blinder. The crowd just loved it, what a treat to see such hits as Outer Space, Hey Seuss and Animal performed live!

Florence closed the show, however I was sifting about at the Northern Steamship by this time, catching up with friends and setting the scene for the next few hours. My drinking buddies in London will not be surprised that I have developed quite a taste for Mac's Great White. And that was it - the night ended, as so many do, with a dirty kebab on Queen St.

Music of 2009

2009-12-26T23:52:00.007Z

It's a windy, rainy Wellington day out, so I've happily spent quite a few hours reflecting on the music of 2009. I've analysed my music listening of 2009, based on itunes playcounts and last.fm charts, and - once I became baffled at reconciling the differences and attempting adjustments over time - good old-fashioned choosing of favourites. A little more scientific, and certainly more long-windedly selected than last year's, here's my top tens of 2009:

Top ten albums, released in 2009:
1. The Xx - xx
2. Girls - Album
3. The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love
4. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
5. Beirut - March of the Zapotec and Realpeople Holland
6. Röyksopp - Junior
7. Balmorhea - All Is Wild, All Is Silent
8. The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
9. British Sea Power - Man of Aran
10. Anna Coddington - The Lake

Top ten tracks, released in 2009:
1. Röyksopp - This Must Be It
2. Antony & The Johnsons - Her Eyes Are Underneath The Ground
3. Florence + the Machine - Girl With One Eye
4. Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks
5. The Decemberists - The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
6. Bon Iver - Woods
7. The Rumble Strips - London
8. Balmorhea - Remembrance
9. Quantic - Transatlantic
10. Bombay Bicycle Club - Ghost

Music that's definitely not new in 2009 but which I've enjoyed includes Pink Floyd's The Wall, just about everything by Art Brut (which I can't really listen to anymore, but still love to see live), Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, and Faith No More's The Real Thing. FNM's reunion tour has seen the band leap to second place in my last.fm all-time top artists, no mean feat given that pre-2009, I did the bulk of my FNM listening before records began (which was April 2005, more or less).

And now with the assistance of one of my favourite new websites, songkick, here are my top live shows of 2009:

1. Faith No More, Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 27 August
2. Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona, 28-30 May
3. Blur at Glastonbury, Worthy Farm, 28 June
4. The Flaming Lips, Troxy Theatre, London, 10 November
5. The Decemberists, The Coronet, London, 19 November

What have I missed? What are your must-hears and you-should-have-been-theres of 2009?

Observations that struck me but now seem unstriking

2009-12-03T10:26:00.004Z

The first day or so of being in New Zealand, some things really leaped out at me. Even now I'm starting to assimilate so they almost seem normal again - before that happens I'm collecting them here.

There is a lady at the airport doing poi stuff. I probably should know the right way to say 'doing poi'. Makes it sound like an illegal substance.
The airport shuttle man doesn't want to know the postcode. This is convenient since I don't know it either.
The bus driver is not behind a wall. There is a STRING to pull when you want to stop.
The 12-hour clock is much more used than the 24-hour version, further confusing my time-zone-pressured self.
The streets are wide, and empty.
Using NZ currency is so novel! Plastic notes and baby 50c pieces!
I see an ex-boyfriend on Great North Rd and have to duck down in my car seat.
I practically passed out after running a shorter distance than I'm accustomed to in London, which I put down to the extreme levels of humidity (100%?!) and the hills.

It's been an excellent day. I got to drive a car for the first time in two and half years! It was a blissful and a tiny bit scary. And I visited my old office in Grey Lynn, caught up with the boss (still the boss, after all this time) and the friendly neighbour, as well as the rest of the team, and was very happy indeed to see everyone again.

This track makes me happy too:

In Transit

2009-12-01T11:37:00.005Z

Surreal mid-point: Hong Kong airport. Absolutely un-fresh off a twelve-hour flight from London (The Boat That Rocked, Moon, 1x 30 Rock s2, 2.5x Mad Men s3, Up, two hours' sleep), I stumble into a wifi zone, watch a strange red sun sink into a fogged-up sky, and find my way to £34-worth of hot shower and lounge-incl-massage inaction.

The shower could be the best of my life, but for the baby that must be either abandoned or mid-maul. Resultant piercing screams almost cause me to follow suit. Down to the lounge. Power-point seats are near a tv with CNN just a little too loud. I sink into the lush meadows of Balmorhea's 'All Is Wild, All Is Silent'. The masseuse tsks at my knot-ridden neck, shoulders, back, arms - you name it - and she really goes for it, digging her elbows in. It's painful, but great. I hope she can't see me with the culprit laptop on.

I am now ten hours' flight from home, and I reflect that this mid-point transit is exactly that. I am now far from London, far enough to forget all of that, and so much nearer to New Zealand, near enough for it to start feeling real.

I wonder if Etienne will pick me up at the airport.

Two Months + Three Months

2009-11-23T10:16:00.005Z

In a week's time, I'll be boarding a flight bound for Hong Kong, where I'll meet the aeroplane which will take me home. I've been away for two and a half years. Not a huge absence, but the hugest to date, and I've got a mixed bag of emotions. Mostly they're of the positive, apprehensive sort, and where they're not, they are concerns based around how much money I will actually need to pass a summer in New Zealand. I've lost my understanding of the value of the dollar, except where it relates to the value of the pound - which is a sore point of late!

Some people who visit the Backyard will be aware that I was fortunate to be offered redundancy from my job of two years working for MCPS. This came at an excellent time and has been a very positive experience, mostly because I wasn't feeling in the least inspired by my role and because it's given me the opportunity to do whatever I want for the last two months.

Now I regularly face the question: "So what have you been doing for two months, O lady of leisure?" I usually have to think for a minute, musing that for the most part, I've been so busy that I'm not sure how I used to have time to go to work! And what have I actually been doing?

I spent time with my cousin Allyson who visited from Melbourne, I've had visits of varying durations to Bratislava (hi Mikhal!), Vienna and Budapest, and closer to home, to Birmingham (hi Dubber!), Devon (which I persist in calling Dorset), and Manchester (hi Paulie!). I've had countless lunches and run 160km. I've been to see The Black Seeds, Art Brut supporting Pixies, the Mountain Goats, Easy Star All-Stars, Jaga Jazzist supporting Efterklang, Grizzly Bear, the Drones, Röyksopp, Liam Finn, the Flaming Lips, Her Make Believe Band, a Manc metal band called Bisonhammer, Monsters of Folk, the Decemberists and finally, Dangerous Heresy. I've spent an inordinate length of time perfecting my CV and I've secured an internship with Topspin Media for my return to London in March.

I've been too busy to keep my flickr up to date, although I have been putting the odd set of gig photos up at songkick. Speaking of which - one project of mine while I'm in New Zealand is to find my old diaries and post a load of New Zealand gigs to this excellent database of live music. I reckon I can easily top 200 in my gigography. Check it out, get involved! Maybe we've been to some gigs together?

The next three months will see me in New Zealand, catching up with friends and family, attending several weddings, soaking up the scenery and the summer, not to mention a few gigs. I'm already giddy with excitement at the propsect of seeing Faith No More for the fourth (and fifth ;) time in a fourth country! Not to mention Big Day Out, Campus A Low Hum, Laneways, any number of great-sounding Mystery Girl events, and perhaps even the Fourth Annual Wellingtonista Awards (affectionately known as #T4WA).

Let's catch up.

SSR

2009-10-19T23:12:00.004+01:00

My iphone is being repaired just now, which means no stanza app (and therefore no Vanity Fair), so I'm back to working on my stack of real books - some of which you see pictured above. I finished Kill Your Friends last week and it's brilliant. Oh, the 90s, were they really so extreme?! I'm now finishing off I Was Told There'd Be Cake.

I am flying to Bratislava in a couple of days' time for a week's holiday, so that should give me ample chance to chill and get through one or two more. Not having a job is pretty awesome, so much so that today I got reprimanded for gloating. Oops. I have around six weeks left in London, then three months in NZ to look forward to. What's next? I have an inkling but I'll save that for another day.

Once, enough?

2009-09-28T00:09:00.003+01:00

Some things can only happen once.

Like the time you let me kiss you, at last.

The naïveté, audacity and sheer destructive bonding of the winter's night you welcomed me to your home and your history.

The evening we walked to my house together and stood beneath the tree on the corner in full, glorious blossom.

And the weekend we met in a foreign country with no expectations.

As I get older I am realising the value in chance events, that unfold perfectly, that could never be planned or staged but instead emerge unexpectedly as beautiful moments, now suspended indefinitely in the formaldehyde of my memory.

What I'm learning is that these things can never happen again. The moment passes, innocence goes with it and I lose a part of myself if I try to live life in reverse.

Train roll on. Tuesday's gone.

Faith No More

2009-09-02T14:40:00.007+01:00

I love Faith No More. They're a band that's endured the test of time and my occasionally fickle allegiances. I recall my initial fascination as a child in 1990 sitting watching the Saturday morning music show, captivated by Epic - and on learning of their reunion in 2009, over the course of the last three months they've overtaken all competition in climbing to the upper echelons of my last.fm charts, with over 1000 listens in the last three months alone.

Of the last three months' top tracks, FNM hold 14 of the 15 top places (if you're curious, the odd one out is a Röyksopp track, This Must Be It) with between 26 and 50 plays each. Probably because I didn't own it digitally until recently, songs from The Real Thing lead the charge.

But what is it about their sound and of late, stage presence that is so enthralling? It's a combination of Patton's incredibly versatile and powerful voice, the genre-scalping musicianship that crosses sexy lounge grooves indiscriminately with apoplectic metal, and the intelligent and often very funny lyrics. I love the character studies, like RV, Crack Hitler, Edge of the World, and Zombie Eaters. When I first saw them at Brixton Academy on 10 June, I stopped being me and became the music. I had a similar experience on 18 June at Hurricane Festival in Germany, and even more so at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin last Thursday 27 August. There is an element of crowd worship, of ritual and participation, passion and adulation.

Now I do have some self-awareness, and clearly, I am bordering on obsessive fandom - it's true Faith No More can do no wrong. But I see no issue in having belief and yes - faith - in a rock band. They haven't let me down yet.

Festivities

2009-07-01T23:12:00.004+01:00

Today I got an @reply from @EddieArgos and it was quite exciting - all three words! It started with my catching up on the Eddie Argos Resource, specifically this post which made amusing use of the adjective 'festive'. I could go into more detail but I'm feeling a bit self-conscious, blogging about tweeting. I will just say that I did worry a bit that he would think I was calling him fat, even though I suppose I kind of was, but never in a bad way, you know.

In other news, I finished posting photos from Primavera, flickr edition (facebook edition to follow, one day). Also, I had an excellent weekend at Glastonbury. Loads of photos yet to come (from that and Hurricane) - in the meantime check out these ones, which are far more awesome.

Also, today I have downloaded Justice, Wilco and Faith No More. I think this makes me a well-rounded person.

Hurricane Festival

2009-06-23T22:36:00.007+01:00

Every festival I've been to this summer has been the best one yet. I didn't think anything could beat ATP: The Breeders, nor Primavera Sound, but it seems that Hurricane just did! My first tent-festival in two years, and I'll remember it for persistent hangovers, best in show wellies, new and lovely Irish friends, and slow sunsets. I live-tweeted the whole event, but due to some sort of transmission failure, you're experiencing a delay. There will be a similar delay until I get my photos online.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present a weekend in Scheeßel:

Thursday 18 June 2009 23:26
Wrong tram stop? We are lost in Bremen :)

23:45
Not lost. At our accom. Bremen is flat and mild and the inhabitants friendly so far.

Friday 19 June 2009 10:34
Made train with nanoseconds to spare, epic sprint through station. Please rain stay in Bremen.

12:47
Tent up before first rain. 3 in tent, drinking sangria from carton listening to FNM.

14:06
Second rain over now. Hot again. Think music starts soon. Becks=yuck

14:25
Aah portaloos, how much I haven't missed you

15:44
Glasvegas..Go Square Go! Raining hard, subsiding..?

Glasvegas were the weekend's one disappointment. They opened the festival, and only played three songs!!

16:55
The Horrors, sweet! Hour of hot sun, looks like another downpour approaches

18:52
The Sounds sounding good. Sangria in a box ftw. Love Hurricane

19:40
Waiting for the Editors. FNM playing through speakers 'Like a snake between two stones/it itches in your bones'

23:30
KOL. Doing it. I am watching with one eye

The next ages were spent wandering around the festival's many camping areas and carparks, where we still couldn't find what we were looking for. Had some fun on the hunt nonetheless, before passing out in the tent.

Saturday 20 June 2009 10:05
Urgh the reconstruction begins

Pretty bad hangover on Saturday. It got worse until it finally went away in the late afternoon.

18:32
Really is something how soon after a hangover one can recommence. Mars Volta are sounding crazy

19:52
Fleet Foxes yay! We are fully recovered & dancing & found the hot Irish

20:23
And now Pixies!!!

21:21
Regrouping ahead of FNM. Weather stabilised, not exactly warm but nice. Watching crane bungy

22:55
We are at the front waiting for FNM.. atmosphere is jubilant..squee!!

FNM's set was fabulous. The crowd were lapping it up, and my team had made it to very close to the front. This meant a lot of pogoing and screaming, and nearly wetting myself a few times. Details are what you're after, right? Got a couple of good pictures, all in good time.

Sunday 21 June 2009
01:06
Oh god Nick Cave is singing The Ship Song

01:19
He just dedicated Henry Lee to PJ Harvey

Nick Cave was incredible. I kind of needed some time to process having seen FNM again, but there wasn't any, because there was Mr Cave singing 'Dig, Lazarus, Dig!', and 'The Ship Song', both 'Henry Lee' and 'Stagger Lee', 'The Mercy Seat'.. beautiful. Moving on to day 3, severe sleep deprivation, but it's all for a good cause!

15:19
And we're back in time for Gogol Bordello. Yuck ice cream. Good merch. Wait for pics

15:38
If pirate was a genre Gogol Bordello would own it

16:54
Lily Allen: loud, better than I expected

18:07
Eagles of Death Megal. Thought I knew them, turns out I don't. Weissbeer: it's make or break

20:52
Ladyhawke just kicked our ASSES! Jane says: NZ reprazent!

21:20
NIN next

21:37
God is dead! And March of the Pigs!! NIN

I was expecting newer stuff from Trent, but then he went and played a load of tracks from The Downward Spiral! It was great.

22:50
And now: Friendly Fires FTW

22 June 2009 12:57
Back in Bremen. Lunch time, whaddya know, Monday is Knuckle Day!

So now I have these three nights in my own bed, before heading to Glastonbury on Thursday. Must make the most of them. Photos to follow. I've started posting my Primavera pics - you can see them here.

a letter to a friend

2009-06-15T21:32:00.005+01:00

Hey bro,

Cool to hear from you. Hope you're well. Life for me is pretty good. I've got lots going on to keep things interesting, and summer is shaping up ok so far (although we're all too superstitious to point it out too much).

I had 3 great weekends out of town in May. First, at an All Tomorrow's Parties festival curated by the Breeders, held at Butlins holiday park in Somerset. Highlights were Bon Iver, the Frogs, Shellac, Holy Fuck, CSS, I forget who else... And the restorative powers of the onsite water slides :)

The following weekend I visited Prague for a couple of days with a friend I met on a Christmas tour to Paris, the Swiss Alps and Amsterdam. Prague is very beautiful and we had great weather. We went to see an opera: Don Giovanni. I nearly fell asleep a couple of times but still really enjoyed it! I think the highlight was having a golden eagle perched on my arm. Check it out: this thing can crush a human skull in its talons!

And the following weekend I spent four days in beautiful Barcelona at the Primavera Sound festival. I met up with Mark Kneebone and Dave Benge and his girlfriend Tanya, you know them?? The festival was the best ever, great lineup, mellow and interesting crowd, perfect weather plus we stayed in a cool old apartment in the Gothic quarter, close to George Orwell Square. Cue much intellectualism about 1984, Animal Farm and the life and times of Orwell. Over pitchers of sangria, naturally.
(photos to come)

Best bands..Neil Young kicked ass as the headliner. Nearly 2 hour set which flew by! He sure knows how to rock out. Also enjoyed Art Brut, Shellac, Bat for Lashes, Sonic Youth, the Jesus Lizard, Spiritualised, My Bloody Valentine, the Drones, Sunn O)) (fucking mental, they were!) and loads of others. Definitely keen to head back there next year. Spanish festivals are great: the music starts in the evening and goes late, so you have all day to enjoy the city, the weather, and generally put yourself back together. Which I definitely needed.

I thought of you the other day. I've been listening to the new British Sea Power album: you need to hear it! It's a soundtrack to an old black & white film called Man of Aran. The dvd came free with the cd but I haven't watched it yet. It's mostly instrumental, quite minimal and cinematic, I suppose, very atmospheric.. I think you'd be into it. Send me a postal address and next time I'm feeling generous (and like spending my lunch in a post office queue;) I'll send it your way.

I have had a couple of weekends here in London now. Haha - the other week I saw Britney Spears at the O2! I didn't know any of the songs but it was an experience nonetheless. Far more significantly, last week was the realisation of a long-held dream: Faith No More!!!!! Fuckin aye. No one following my twitter feed would ever accuse me of being neutral when it comes to #FNM, so it won't be a shock to hear that the entire experience was nothing short of religious. There are photos posted here on flickr and various outpourings squeed liberally about the internets.

This Thursday I head to Scheeßel in Germany for Hurricane festival, to see Faith No More again alongside Nine Inch Nails, the Pixies!, Nick Cave and lots of other cool stuff. Then back to London for a couple of days before I take on Glastonbury. I'm working there, collecting setlists so we can distribute the performance royalties 100% line by line to the publishers and composers.

Looking forward to some downtime, but for now, can't really complain. Although I still will. Work is pretty uninspiring, hoping to fix that before too long.

So, what's your news?

Jessie x

Catching up: Wales

2009-06-01T22:29:00.005+01:00

I've just had a trilogy of awesome weekends away, which I'd love to write about. Whether that happens remains to be seen. In the meantime, here's a couple of photos from my Easter road trip to Wales. Lots more on flickr.

Atop the ruins of an ancient castle:

Which way?

The people who ran the pub/hostel Braich Goch kept snakes. They freaked me out and when I had the opportunity to touch one, I recoiled! Ugh. Stand by for more wildlife anecdotes soon.

Running

2009-05-10T23:12:00.008+01:00

I have been working on a piece which addresses the idea of running. It was to start off considering my brief and undistinguished cross-country career, which coincided with my almost total lack of enjoyment in the sport and consequent secret wish to break a leg in order to avoid it. Then I would emphasise the contrast 20 years later, to a time when I voluntarily go running several times a week around a nearby park, exercise which I - on balance - enjoy.

Next came a clever change of context, painting a picture of the various directions my life has taken so far, where each move takes the perspective of leaving something behind: running away. There were some plausible shifts, but on review I couldn't help noting an discomfiting sense of contrivement. This approach also meant a tendency towards a distasteful level of detail which I felt would lower the tone of this fine English garden.

At this stage of drafting, a surprising event occurred. A friend visited, a significant friend and a significant visit. A breath of fresh air, alongside a potent dose of the past. It taught me, it reminded me that life means decisions, and choices. A bit like spending days and days facing a wall, before being gently turned around and shown an open door to a brilliant landscape.

So it appears that there's a variation on running. What I have already learned is that running from one's problems doesn't leave them behind, for the situations in which they manifest will recur. Instead there's an option to retreat. I make my choice, and once I'm ready, I keep to it. Retreat isn't flight, instead it's acceptance and the wisdom to change tack, or simply stop.

Further: I got hooked up with daytum a ways back, and use it to track my mileage. Aside from appealing to my g33k love of lists (refer last.fm), it works as a motivator, possibly more effective even than the ballpoint stars in my year planner.

This is another post's worth of excitement to share, but I must mention - the fruition of a long-held dream looks set to occur, and in one month's time - I have tickets to see Faith No More!

A few words

2009-05-03T02:03:00.005+01:00

I feel muted. I miss the craft of writing. Is it really the tube that's to blame for a lack of space in the time of my life?

I found some old posts (including this picture of Kai Iwi beach, taken two years ago, two months before I left the country) and I no longer know where they came from. I want to know. It makes me miss home. Of course it does.

It was my birthday last week; I am fortunate. Today I walked and walked with my sister Megan. We circled amongst crowds at Borough Market, admiring and sampling fine fine foods. Across Tower Bridge we walked, then explored the Tower of London. I compared the portraits of Henry VIII in the Dressed to Kill exhibition with those of him in my head, and Jonathan Rhys Meyer. I'm one episode away from finishing season one of Michael Hirst's series. We walked some more, to Gordon's on Villiers St, where we drank fine wine and ate a lot of cheese.

This evening, we drank Banrock Station cabernet sauvignon and tried to watch Withnail & I, only the dvd was faulty. Thanks HMV sale..ah well. Five episodes of Spaced season one hit the spot. Always does!

I have listened to The Presets' Talk Like That three times in the last hour. Some other stuff too. Great track!

I procrastinate from sleeping. I don't know why. It is a recent development.

You

2009-03-29T23:09:00.002+01:00

Who do you write for? I read the writings of others, and often it's quite clear that references to 'you' are not references to 'me'. So I am wondering to whom I direct my message. At any given time, 'you' may be one of many different people. Sometimes it's clear in my mind, and that lends clarity to the writing. It provides the angle, tells me where to be precise and where to blur. How widely spaced should my lines be, that 'you' might read between them?

Other times, maybe coinciding with when I'm not entirely happy with my output, I don't know for whom I am writing (or how to use 'whom'). A nebulous 'reader' who will stumble upon my words, take the time to read and consider, and be struck by the resonance? It seems unlikely.

So now I have to ask: who is this piece for? I stop, I consider, and maybe, reluctantly, I know. There's a chance it's you.

The clocks went forward an hour today; I was momentarily confused by the technology that keeps my time adjusting of its own accord. For a while now, I've been considering wearing a watch, and that would have let me own the responsibility of keeping the hours in line. I'll consider it further at a later date.

On how I come to be right here, right now

2009-03-26T20:31:00.008Z

I've been in my job for 18 months now. I've learned a lot in that time. That means that I've been living in the capital of the world for 19 months. During that time, my impressions of this sprawling city have changed a great deal. Looking back now I'm not really sure what to make of the girl who arrived here on a chilly August morning in 2007. I was resolutely dressed in short shorts and singlet, with dirty hair and the best tan of my life, thanks to that unscheduled 7 week sojourn in Mediterranean Turkey. Cold rain met me at Stansted, and I was wrapped in a liberated Singapore airlines blanket, equal parts shock and denial. Different already to the me that left Auckland a few months previous. I caught the train to Tottenham Hale, then a cab to my sister's house. I took a shower, returned to the family room, and my nieces didn't equate this clean, warmly clothed stranger with the one they'd just greeted.

But that's not the story I want to tell. That's the old story, and I'm facing another direction now. As I negotiate the city these days, when it occurs to me, I'm usually filled with wonder and excitement at the vast unknowable nature of it. I go to the same places every day, but all around me, further than I can imagine, there's more that I won't ever see.

Sometimes I'm worried that this is my choice, because of the doors I'm closing. I'm not going to spend my youth partying on superyachts, or climbing mountains in India, or raising children in a New Zealand suburb. Instead I live in a comparatively remote north-western corner of London with a gang of kiwi friends, working in a comparatively remote south-western suburb in a job that combines music, contract law and creativity. I have always been fascinated with the concept of tying up intangibles with nothing but words; and I've been interested in music since I can remember. When I take the time to consider, I think, "I'm in the right place!"

Topical: the fair play for creators website documents creators' concerns over the perceived erosion of their right to royalties. I support it.

Freedom, control and voluntariness

2009-03-15T22:16:00.000Z

Recently I received an email telling me that Yahoo Briefcase is closing, so I figured out how to open it and discovered some files I'd saved there in 2002. A flimsy CV, a cover letter I hope I never sent to any prospective employer, and a few essays from my final university semester.

I hoped to find my (self-confessed) masterpiece on why it was that Madame de Merteuil persisted in her incriminating correspondence with Vicomte de Valmonte in Choderlos de Laclos' Les Liaisons Dangereuses, penned for my horizon-blowing 400-level philosophy paper, the wonderfully titled Fragility of Goodness. But I didn't. It is gone.

I did find an essay I wrote in the same semester, for an Ethics paper I begrudgingly took to make up the final credits in my PPE degree. I'd already done the compulsory ethics paper for law, but I needed 300-level philosophy points, and this one fit my timetable. The essay looks at the concept of automony, and I recall that once I got into it, I found it fascinating. My tattoo-dreams of the time revolved around finding or creating a symbol representing autonomy, because it seemed to fit exactly what I was feeling. I'd not long returned to a static Dunedin from Copenhagen; I'd proven myself capable of surviving alone far from home. It was my final semester of university, and who knew what would be? Sometimes I want that again - not to be 22 and facing a smorgasbord of choice, but to be 28 and have the same outlook. It happens now and then in life, but I don't see it in my near future.

Several days later, and I've only now read past the rosy memories and the first paragraph. It's a little bit fascinating but having grasped notions of the "hierarchical view of self" and "second order volitions", I'm afraid I want to put it down and watch another episode of Mad Men.

King's Cross

2009-03-08T22:18:00.002Z

Waiting for the Metropolitan line.

Good weekend: there was Zorro, a fun pub crawl, new tv love for Mad Men, reading about NZ's history of state housing at 4am, lunch with my cousins, a visit with my nieces, and a brief cameo at Vesbar to see Jayson Norris.

I'm counting the tweet 2 3 4 5

2009-03-07T01:03:00.007Z

Hi. Remember me? No? What's that - you've gotten used to that goat that keeps the grass down? You prefer the goat? I don't believe that for a second.

Now that the whole twitter bandwagon has reached a virtual tipping point (it's not quite there, I'm still the only one in my fluctuating household of 6-7-8 adults that's familiar with it), it's about time I mentioned it. According to my page, I've been tweeting since ... she says having just realised I can probably look back - as can anyone - and see what witty and clever things I've been sharing with the internets at large for these past.. how long? For posterity, here's my first tweet, from those sunshine hazy days in Auckland.

Because the media has been all over it lately, a few more people I know are hooked up so I now have a ratio of around 50:50 of people that I've actually met vs those that just seem interesting. Like Trent Reznor, Jemaine Clement, David Lynch, Billy Gould: yes the bass player from Faith No More! Are we all aware that Faith No More are reforming to play some European shows this summer?! So Excitement.

Bringing it back to theme, one of my favourite features of twitter is hashtagging, or just simple search terms. A few of my custom searches are #fnm for keeping up with tour rumours, #lent for moral support as I'm again abstaining from cakes, biscuits, desserts and confectionery, although not for quite the same tedious reasons as last year (ie the painstaking repair of my torn moral fabric - I'm just resigned to the state of it now), ANTM for amusement during the show, ATP to keep up with lineup announcements for the Breeders weekend in May, Colin Farrell because have you seen In Bruges? Can you blame me?!, and pineapple lumps, just to keep an eye on my favourite sweets, and probably because I was really bored on the tube that day.

Secrettweets. I was tempted today, but paranoid, and some secrets, you don't know how to start. It's not as cool as postsecret, though.

And now if you'll excuse me, I have supersubs to set for this weekend's premier league fixtures. There's a pub crawl on tomorrow, and I really deserve some oblivion between now and then.

Bonus extra: saw the Zorro musical this evening. It was great! A whole lot better than the Queen one we saw last week. The world was weighing heavy this evening, and Zorro really cut through all that.. haha.. Gypsy Kings FTW.

50,000

2009-01-23T00:03:00.005Z

50,005 to be exact. It took me a week over three months to notch up a further 10,000 tracks. What that says, is that I have managed to write a measly four blog posts in three months.

You know where that time goes - the time that I could be spending writing intelligent and worthwhile pieces, which would no doubt provoke and entertain my legions of faithful readers? It goes the same way as the hours I would love to spend playing my guitar, knitting, cooking normal meals, and watching quality tv and films. It goes on the tube.

No time for analysis on the latest figures, I got to get some sleep. Just a couple of things first. I am watching a tv series called 'Huff'. I just finished episode 4, season 1. It gave me some quite significant food for thought. I'll be eating that meal alone.

Secondly, I watched 'In Bruges' on the weekend, and OMG!!1! Colin Farrell is hot. I am a total sucker for that sexy Irish accent, too. Watch him being hot on Jonathan Ross, part one and part two. [Insert drooling sound.] The movie itself is really good. For some reason I thought it was going to suck - the preview and poster didn't sell it but it is definitely well worth it.

Music of 2008: list time!

2008-12-23T09:34:00.008Z

2008 in musical terms has been been quality and exploratory. I recently compiled this top ten of 2008 albums for pooling with my work colleagues (the combined top three were the Kings of Leon 'Only By The Night', MGMT 'Oracular Spectacular' and Coldplay 'Viva La Vida..'):

1. Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
2. Glasvegas - Glasvegas
3. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
4. Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke
5. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
6. Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires
7. The Breeders - Mountain Battles
8. Gotye - Like Drawing Blood
9. Liam Finn - I'll Be Lightning (came out in 2007, I know..)
10. Kings of Leon - Only By The Night

New(ish) albums aside, last.fm provides the definitive proof of my listening habits. For posterity, I present the following top ten lists (* = new to me in 2008):

12 months
1. Calexico
2. Elbow *
3. Jakob
4. The Phoenix Foundation
5. Kings of Leon
6. The Breeders
7. The Decemberists
8. Glasvegas *
9. Iron & Wine
10. Amy Winehouse

Interesting! Just two artists new to me this year that have made my 2008 top ten.

6 months
1. Calexico
2. Elbow *
3. Kings of Leon
4. Glasvegas *
5. The Phoenix Foundation
6. The Breeders
7. Ladyhawke *
8. The Hold Steady *
9. Liam Finn *
10. Jakob

A few more new artists in this list. So what about the last 3 months?

3 months
1. Elbow *
2. Calexico
3. Kings of Leon
4. Liam Finn *
5. Glasvegas *
6. Ladyhawke *
7. The Black Keys *
8. Jakob
9. Gotye *
10. The Decemberists

If I could check out the last month, I think there would be even more new artists creeping in, not surprising seeing as I've been on a flurry of record-buying (mp3s, that is, doubtless directly contributing to the demise of my employer), thanks partly to 7digital's advent calendar. In the last few weeks, I've bought albums by MGMT (brilliant!), The Last Shadow Puppets (excellent, drama!), Santogold (pretty good), Radiohead (mopey!), Blur (a bit slow off the mark with those last two!), Portishead (scary), Bon Iver (pretty) and Neon Neon (jury's out). The latter I bought on the strength of 'I Lust You' and am currently on the first listen - it's not an instant winner but has some good reviews so I'll see how it pans out. And I only got those last two late last night so must reserve my opinion.

Time for one more? Here's my current top ten, from the last 7 days:

7 days
1. MGMT *
2. Calexico
3. The Last Shadow Puppets *
4. Santogold *
5. Liam Finn *
6. Blur
7. Gotye *
8. Thought Creature *
9. Ladyhawke *
10. Elbow *

And finally: live shows. My top 5 gigs of 2008 have been:

1. ATP vs Pitchfork, Pontins Camber Sands, May
2. The Breeders, Koko (London), April
3. Jakob (supporting Isis), Mascotte (Zurich), April
4. Leonard Cohen, O2 (London), July
5. Herbie Hancock, Royal Festival Hall (London), November

That was difficult to pick - there's been so many! Including recently a great night of entertainment at Elton John's Red Piano tour show at the O2. Coming up early in 2009 I have tickets to see Seasick Steve and (eeee!) Fleet Foxes, and plans to attend ATP: The Breeders.

What are your picks for 2008? Have you made a similar list? Links in the comments, please!

Away, books

2008-12-23T07:26:00.006Z

Today is my last day at work and tomorrow I am required to get up unfeasibly early to go to Paris. This should in no way be interpreted as a complaint!

Evania and I will spend Christmas in Paris, before heading to the Jungrfrau region of Switzerland for a few days. Next we visit the Rhine Valley before taking in Amsterdam for New Year. It's the perfect time for a holiday, with a particularly hectic final quarter nearly over and various projects requiring breathing space for perspective. Much as I'm loving London of late, I need to get away, and particularly away from my mobile phone and its inherent temptations. 2009 promises challenge, both new and old.

Katy has given me Sloane Crosley's 'I Was Told There'd Be Cake' for Christmas, and I'm looking forward to reading this over the break. Also in the stack are Ken Follett's 'World Without End' and finishing off the latest build-a-better-me book, 'Persuasion: the Art of Influencing People' by James Borg.

Happy Christmas everybody: enjoy the sun, if that's where you are, and if not: it's all about the mulled wine.

Christmas approaches

2008-12-13T10:10:00.006Z

It's coming up to my second Christmas away from New Zealand. I think that this is a great thing! Last year I spent it in Tuscany with a wonderful group of friends. This year I will spend it in Paris. It's to be my first visit, and I'm quite looking forward to it.

A couple of weeks ago, Evania and I spent a weekend in Cologne checking out the magical Christmas markets. Here are a few images:

And if you're wondering what Cologne looks like, this is a close approximation:

More pictures of Cologne and the markets here. What else?

Last weekend I visited Butlins in Minehead, Somerset for All Tomorrow's Parties: the Nightmare Before Christmas. It was fantastic, lots of great acts including Isis, the Meat Puppets, Fantomas, the Melvins, the Butthole Surfers, Martina Topley-Bird, Mastodon... good weekend. Butlins is a very weird place.

40,000

2008-10-12T21:30:00.004+01:00

I've scrobbled 10,000 tracks in the four months since June. 2,500 per month. Which brings me to 40,000 tracks since April 2005, an overall average of roughly 950 tracks per month. Makes sense given that I split my listening formats between vinyl, mp3 and cd before shifting solely to mp3 once I left NZ last year. Since my previous last.fm stats milestone in June this year, the site has undergone a makeover and is now better than ever.

I'm going to avoid getting more involved in calculating averages and instead watch season 1, episode 1 of The Wire.

Before I forget - Calexico last night at the Forum was superb. Great set consisting of a mix of tracks from Carried to Dust, Garden Ruin and Feast of Wire, with one or two others - go take a look at the setlist if you're interested. The Forum is a great venue and the crowd was pretty chilled out, and most importantly the sound was just right. I took a few photos which you can see starting here.

That was Toast

2008-09-29T22:41:00.003+01:00

Here's Supergroove playing at Toast New Zealand, held at Kensington Olympia. Much like a giant train station. Pretty sunset, but a very live room with pooor sound.

So: at last, Supergroove! I thoroughly enjoyed the day, even though I out-fangirled myself. Including uncontrollably blurting my incredible memorable moment meeting Che Fu at Jack Hodge Music in Wanganui while buying the 'Can't Get Enough' cassingle after their live in-store in 1994 to Che Fu himself; that's how I roll.

I'm discreet.

Collapsing Cities and Opshop played too. All suffered from the difficult sound, although standing directly in front of the stage went a long way towards fixing it. Toast wasn't quite the scary gathering of drunken NZers that I was expecting, which was pleasant relief.

It was a great weekend, what with that and spending lots of quality time with the friendly ex-neighbour. Not to mention - yes I'm counting - the third weekend running of beautiful weather!

I've just downloaded Stanza, the iphone ebook app. Once I've finished reading Zadie Smith's 'White Teeth', which is excellent and set round here in my 'hood, I might give it a try. I wonder if it can win over my scepticism of screen reading?

New sounds

2008-09-17T22:29:00.001+01:00

I usually buy music online nowadays, often from 7digital, although I've been eyeing up the wares on sale at 14tracks lately.

Buying stuff online means there are minimal cd cases lying around my room, so I forget that I've bought it at all. So here's a rundown of recent acquisitions, some brand-spanking, others not so:

Calexico - Carried To Dust - huzzah! I'm seeing them at the Forum next month. Will it live up to the pinnacle of brilliance that was their show at the Studio in Auckland in February last year? Since that show culminated in Joey Burns introducing himself to me leaving me gurning for four days, I doubt it.
Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires - growing on me. I definitely dig 'On Board'.
Glasvegas - Glasvegas - bought it last night. Love it already - looking forward to seeing them at Scala next week. I love 'It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry' and 'Go Square Go'.
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid - absolutely abusing this one, bandwagon style, in the aftermath of last week's Mercury Prize success. They have three sold out nights at the Roundhouse next month... maybe they'll add another? I REALLY want to see them while they're riding this particular wave. Current favourite is 'Grounds For Divorce', with close runners up 'Starlings' and 'the Loneliness of A Tower Crane Driver'.
The Hold Steady - Stay Positive - good and catchy. Another band I'm seeing next month.
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes - during 'Tiger Mountain Peasant Song' there's this bit where they sing "Je-e-esssieee" and it was downhill from there!

I certainly can't complain about the current gig schedule. I saw the Breeders play a fantastic set at Shepherd's Bush Empire last week, and totally enjoyed the Mountain Goats at ULU on Monday (they played 'Lion's Teeth'! And 'No Children'!!) I've gathered a posse to join me in bearing witness to Supergroove next weekend - can't wait to experience 'You Freak Me' live after all these years! There's more booked, but I don't want to bang on.

Ridbeys

2008-09-13T10:05:00.005+01:00

Check out my boys the Ridbeys, who performed at the Duke of Hamilton in Hampstead last week for Pirate FM. I was there, and it was sweet. Click on the image below for a podcast of the set.

one minute left

2008-09-11T21:48:00.003+01:00

I'm waiting for 10pm to watch Grey's Anatomy. I think it's been around a year since I last saw it. I am so excited!

Here's my favourite shop in the neighbourhood:

So what's been going on? I spent ten days in Turkey with my dad. That was pretty awesome. We went hot air ballooning:

IT'S ALMOST ON!!

gadgetry

2008-07-23T23:07:00.005+01:00

I was browsling apps to add to my phone when I came across this one - and the logo on the truck caught my eye. It's NZ website www.offtheback.co.nz which offers one bargain electronic gadget for sale each day. It's doing well to have developed an iphone application allowing consumers to check into the site on the weekends, when they tend to be away from their computers. Looks like a great idea. I'm going to resist installing the app however, as it will only tempt me and I doubt shipping to the UK would be cost-effective.

Santa Maria presso San Celso

2008-07-23T22:19:00.004+01:00

wikipedia

This beautiful church is on Corso Italia, Milan. I ate as much gelati as possible, while I could.

iphone brings the love

2008-07-21T22:29:00.004+01:00

Goodbye to my faithful Nokia 6234, which served me well for the last two years, since sometime around mid 2006. Because Paul did it, I have extracted the following info which is testimony to my love of keeping in touch...

- Received calls' duration: 43:41:34
- Dialled calls' duration: 70:20:21
- All calls' duration: 114:02:06
- Sent messages: 4512
- Received messages: 3956

Thanks Nokia 6234, for taking good care of me in at least seven countries, for being my phone, diary, organiser, modem, camera, torch and so much more. I'll never forget you. (If you're wondering what the wallpaper photo is, it's my self-portrait as a golf-cart.)

Out with the old, in which the new - which means hello! to my shiny new 8gb 3g iphone. It's a lovely machine, full of wonder and new discoveries. I think I am over the obsessive stage and can now become comfortable in my new relationship. Which is not to say that it doesn't still find little ways to surprise me, little gifts to let me know I'm special. So sweet. Of all the apps I've tried so far (all six or so, I got so into the bubble wrap simulator that I stopped right there), the last.fm one is simply awesome.

My gripes to date are the boring, boring hours spent trying to get the thing to sync with Outlook 2007. It just won't. Getting the hang of the keyboard takes some time, and I don't know how to do a few things which were intuitive on the Nokia. Add to that the general anxiety of scratching it or dropping it or simply running out of battery - or being unable to find a wifi network when I'm in the midst of Soho and really need the map function. Actually speaking of which, the time that happened it's definitely true that if I'd just looked up from the screen I would have located myself pretty quickly; therefore it's true to say my iphone is making me stupider. Joyful are the ignorant.. or something - right?

Other stuff which I would like to mention but I just can't because it's bed time already and I've barely done any of my list of jobs this evening...

- Rise Festival last weekend was cool - CSS rock, new album is on 7digital for £5
- Did I mention Milan? The wedding was lovely, the castle was beautiful, thanks thanks thanks and much love to Steve and Tammi. Photos here, err still a few to go up..
- Lovebox festival on Saturday was cool, but over far too quickly, and I've only just managed to stop feeling annoyed about the £40 cab home. Manu Chao stole the show
- Oh, and Leonard Cohen last week was wonderful, humbling, truly great, gushgushgush sorta styles. I felt privileged to be amongst the zillions of people in the O2 Arena. Aside from hearing 'The Future' (which was beautiful), his recitation of 'A Thousand Kisses Deep' was just sublime

Monday never tasted so good.

Heart of Glass

2008-06-29T20:05:00.005+01:00

Disappointingly, I am far worse at karaoke than I thought.

What's this? Two karaoke-related posts in a row? Some kind of odd coincidence?

Yes.

It would seem that one's scores on Singstar are not indicative of skill in the karaoke arena. How is it that the playstation console somehow tricks me into thinking I can hit the high notes in the Blondie classic? My dreams of rock stardom are shattered.

Marryoke. It's what it sounds like.

2008-06-24T22:54:00.006+01:00

Have you heard about MARRYOKE?

It's the latest craze in wedding videos, where the wedding party lip synch to their choice of pop song. I'd heard of it and now I've seen it - and you must see it too!

I was sceptical but now having checked out a few videos, I'm pretty much sold on the idea. I must get married as soon as possible to take part in this phenomenon.

Take a look here first, at 'Tragedy', then progress on to the stylish 'Ring of Fire', a rather sweet 'Perfect Day' (the song choices are simply mad), and finish with (hold back the gag) 'I Will Follow Him'. And there's lots more, but be careful, it's addictive.

graffiti

2008-06-23T23:26:00.005+01:00

On Sunday, Evania, Rachel and I had a look at the tunnel on Leake St, beside Waterloo station. There is a feast of graffiti (surely the most difficult to spell word ever) adorning the tunnel, walls, floor and ceiling, and more to see that one visit allows. Huge, tiny, controversial, cute - if you live in London and you haven't yet, go see it. SE1 7NN.

calm in the chaos

2008-06-15T22:04:00.004+01:00

Life has been so fast lately. I had three and a half days of training last week, not much opportunity for working towards my fast approaching deadlines. Makes for some false relief at close of business, Friday.

Thought I had it all under control on a most pleasant evening but no, I was as hungover as a hungover thing on Saturday as I dragged my sorry carcass around Clapham looking at potential new homes. Timing meant I spent a good hour sprawled in the Common, drooling onto myself and periodically crawling after the shifting shade.

Flat hunting in this city is like nothing I've ever experienced. For one who has trouble with the smallest of decisions, it poses quite the challenge. I'm about ready to give up for the time being and just kick on in my present home. It does the job.

Not much else happened for a while, unless you count the many hours spent contemplating my situation as I lay curled in bed. Then today around 2 or 3, Erica gave me a wonderful massage. One of those massages that are so good you keep thinking it's going to end, but it doesn't, not until most of the tension and knots are dissolved. After that it seemed like a possibility for me to put some clothes on and accompany Garry and Erica to Gladstone Park for some tennis.

I played tennis! I used to play when I was about ten, and as far as I can remember I wasn't too shabby either. Think I stopped a couple of years later, and was disappointed to pick up a racket when I was maybe 15 and barely know what to do with it. But I surprised myself today. My serving let me down but the backhand was better than I remembered, and my forehand was mean! Sometimes. Good fun, anyway.

We spent the evening watching the Mighty Boosh episodes on youtube. Now you know it all.

tunes

2008-06-13T00:19:00.001+01:00

Three years after joining, I have hit 30,000 tracks on last.fm. I love last.fm.

no time

2008-06-08T02:09:00.003+01:00

That didn't go so well.

This is in Liverpool.

sticky floors the world over

2008-05-31T10:44:00.003+01:00

As the appointed hour on Thursday evening drew near, I was slumped on a train speeding south towards London. Work had taken me to Liverpool, where I was required to do some speaking.

Before that happened, I had time to get lost wandering the streets. I found my way to Albert Dock, where I loitered, enjoying the hot sunshine. There’s an exhibition of Gustav Klimt’s work on at the Tate Liverpool, but it only opened to the public today. I hope that I might go back, with my sister Katy, without whom I wouldn’t have known it was on.

My seminar was held at the Cavern Club, which is across Mathew St (in the “Cavern Quarter”) from the original venue. I stood about in the green room, my feet sticking to the floor as I rehearsed, and it could have been any old dingey venue with no clue as to the state of the world outside. I was surprised to find a sunny afternoon when I eventually emerged.

Fact about Liverpool: clothing store Pop has the best vintage belts I've seen in a long time and they are only £6 each.

commute

2008-05-29T21:29:00.003+01:00

When I got home last night around 7:45pm, I found my flatmates in the lounge eating a curry dinner. I collapsed onto the sofa and tore into my 6" sub, pleased it wasn't soggy following the one hour tube mission from Brixton to the north-west.

"Where have you been this evening?" asked Erica.

"Me? Nowhere - just work, then home." I had hoped to get to the supermarket, but at the end of the workday was too tired to deal with it. I saw the time and wondered why it had taken so long to get home. I still don't know.

The great thing about commuting lately is Slash - the autobiography.

an experiment

2008-05-28T19:20:00.003+01:00

I’m trying out a project. In order to encourage myself to put some content onsite, I intend to post something as often as possible for the next week or so, based on 8:05pm. In the past few months, my days are such that while the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak, tired, or more often simply out of the house. My good intentions of scintillating opinions and provocative thought pieces are dashed on the rocks of hell’s pavement. So, I’m taking this entirely arbitrary point in time - 8:05pm - and that's my starting point. It seems like a time at which I might be doing something noteworthy.

Last night at 8:05pm, I was on the tube.

But let’s not stop there. After finishing work around half five, I stopped by a bar up the road with a few workmates where we discussed the usual – the workplace, Scottish politics, similarities between the highlands and New Zealand. After a couple it was time to move on, so Jo and I caught the 133 up to Brixton and got the tube to Highbury & Islington. We parted ways, and I ducked into the Famous Cock where I accidentally interrupted a Collapsing Cities interview and found Star in the garden bar.

ATP vs Pitchfork

2008-05-12T21:53:00.004+01:00

I spent hours last night listening to Curt Kirkwood. The Meat Puppets played 'Plateau' and it was truly awesome to behold.

I sat among a revolving cast of drifters for hours, Curt huge like a bear in his deer-printed house coat, listening to him talk about anything at all. I restrained myself but it spilled from me, meaningless words, an illustrated book about birds. And finally after a cumulative hours of reverence, I asked for stories of Kurt Cobain. I got them, along with Stipe and Coyne, a hundred bands I don't know but probably should, stories and spin and tales of a life lived.

ATP vs Pitchfork, Camber Sands, Sussex. The best music festival I've ever been to, where I saw the least amount of music. Still, I saw a bit.

Ween, that's pretty much it for Friday night. On Saturday, Bonn Iver were a bit discordant and twelve for me. Meant to see Howlin Rain after chatting with the cute bass player, but like so many times, didn't manage to leave the chalet. Les Savy Fav had hilarious antics, pink panther suit spotting, luring, taking and destroying. Black Lips were fun and prime-time, Hot Chip were super.

Sunday started with Jens Lekman at 2pm. I saw Black Mountain and loved them, just the right spacey Mazzy Star style vocal crossed with fast dirty rock. Pissed Jeans I caught by accident and was completely captivated for a whole song as I walked by. (That might not sound like much, but it was a rare band of which I saw an entire set). The singer looked smashed and he bawled into the microphone as he leaped around the stage. Walked past No Age since I'd bought one of their t-shirts. The Meat Puppets were pretty much the last band I was to see. 'Plateau'. Imagine. Later they did 'Oh Me' and also 'Lake of Fire'. Sweeeet. That is how I will remember the music.

Non-musical revelations are far too many to think about thinking about. Stunning weather, abundance of good company, good cheer, and good sound. Visits to the beach. Stacks of bands I'd never heard of. An unlimited supply of interesting strangers to accost. I had such a great time that I took about three photographs.

I'm looking forward to getting some sleep. ATP - best music festival in living memory.

catching up

2008-05-09T16:23:00.005+01:00

Prior to my departure for ATP vs Pitchfork at Pontins in Camber Sands this evening here's an update on me. First, some advice on clicks elsewhere - go here to see the beginnings of my photos taken while touring Switzerland and France with Jakob. And then go here to see a video of me which I made on my birthday.

I had a great weekend away being a tourist on tour, although that felt a bit wrong so I made a place for myself helping out on the merch table most evenings. Stick with what you know! Switzerland was beautiful, as was France, and so hot! I swear it was hotter in Feyzin than a NZ summer. I was not prepared for that. Also, France was very pretty, even at the service centre truck stops we frequented. Lots of green and the fields of rapeseed were spectactular.

Most of the days were spent laxing in the van en route, which was huge and well kitted out. There was a lot of sleeping, a lot of potato chips, and time spent reading and watching movies. This is not to mention gazing at the beautiful scenery passing by the window. Following the final show of the tour in Nancy, we had a fun night of revelry and said goodbye to Thad and Justin of the Austerity Program, as they were leaving early in the morning. I got hassled for the lack of early Shihad on my ipod, and slept on the floor. Justice!

Next morning we drove north to Antwerp and there said goodbye to the unflappable Joris of Conspiracy Records, and the guys from Isis. We missioned on to Amsterdam, where we observed a strange sort of street fight between gangs of teenagers in an outlying suburb. It was a situation of, "Quick, get the gear into the van, jump in, lock the doors!!" They seemed to be hitting each other with sticks. We left as the police arrived, and drove on to our box airport hotel.

I spent the last day partly with Peter the Isis discographer (every tour needs one!) and Peter the soundman, and then on my own, cruising around Amsterdam revisiting old haunts.

Back to London for a few days, then along with group of mates drove down to Newquay for the weekend. Great road trip, in a great old van. We saw Stonehenge, some pubs, the inside of the van, Fistral beach, the Fort Inn. Then we drove back again.

An amazing thing happened during my lunch break today. As I waited at the lights after buying tissues, painkillers, ear drops (my hearing is severely diminished today), jaffa cakes and twix bars in preparation for ATP, I heard a little voice at my left elbow. "Can I cross the road with you, love?" A small elderly lady was beside me. Taking her bag, I offered her my arm. "I'm afraid my kneecap will go in the middle of the street." Quite a reasonable request. Once the green man appeared, we set out, with the lady thanking me repeatedly. We continued in this way to her bus stop, just near my office, where she thanked me some more. Truth is, I was grateful to be asked. The experience took me quite out of myself.

Final thought before I take off. How is it that it's taken me eight months to notice that the return and enter keys on my keyboard are navy, rather than uniform black? So many lessons to be learned.

Living the dream

2008-04-24T23:20:00.002+01:00

It's my birthday in two days' time, and I'm excited to be heading off on a much-anticipated adventure. Tomorrow, Anzac Day, I fly out of Heathrow's Terminal 5. That's not supposed to be the adventurous part. I land in Zurich mid-afternoon, where I intend to wander around a bit before hopefully meeting up with Steve, whom I got to know across the bar at Indigo, now known as the San Francisco Bathhouse.

I've tired myself out attempting to budget in foreign currencies, still a bit sore from last night's excess. Must remember, large dinner of sashimi counts for naught in the face of a beer and wine assault. It was a great evening out with Jo and Erica, in honour of my birthday and providing the perfect opportunity to catch up with the girls.

Not long after I meet Steve, I will meet Jason, and Jeff and Maurice. Jakob! The subsequent days will take me through France, Belgium and the Netherlands. I think. There and back again! That's the loose plan. I'm taking my camera, and some t-shirts. That should do it.

No more dreaming for this one. I was shaken awake, which I didn't like, but what can you do? Keep walking.

The Breeders at Koko

2008-04-16T23:59:00.000+01:00

I saw the Breeders perform this evening for the second time in my life. The first time was at Indigo, way back in 2003, supported by Paselode although Kylie and I messed up and missed their support set. I had bought the last ticket for the show from Ticketek, and was incredibly drunk and moshed right up the front having the most violent and best time ever (until I saw the White Stripes later that year, which was perhaps as if not more violent. Those days are gone).

Tonight was different in that I wasn't trashed, hadn't got the last ticket and didn't mosh. I was pretty close to the front though, and a little violent in that I clapped so hard I broke my ring.

They played loads from the new album 'Mountain Battles', which is really very good and I like it a lot already, and also a lot from 'Last Splash'. I could hardly believe it. It was awesome. I can't even remember if they played 'Do You Love Me Now?', which is the tab in the picture - if they did, surely I would recall? Anyway it's the only Breeders tab I could find, and the scrawled fretboards are from when I discovered something exciting about barre chords, and now it's time to go to bed.

Just before I do - this morning I was catching Ange up on recent events, and she told me about the tragedy at OPC in the Tongariro National Park. We'd gone there with most of our friends when we were 16, too. At work, I read the news stories on the NZ Herald site and despaired for the communities of those who died. And felt indignant that the Herald said the Mangatepopo River is in the Ontario National Park. Have some respect for your country.

backyard with snow

2008-04-06T09:06:00.005+01:00

Timely for the revelation of my current backyard - what a great surprise to wake up to this morning!

PS Take a look at the fantastic new video from the Phoenix Foundation - it's brilliant.

Pretty Skye

2008-04-03T21:41:00.004+01:00

Another shot of the beautiful landscape of western Scotland:

I had a great Easter up there in Skye, in spite of having a cold the whole time. And it's back again! So I'm back to lying low, which suits since it's two weeks to payday and I am pretty much insolvent. Good news on that front however - I have been promoted to manager at work. No more spending my weekends swotting for job interviews! That is some relief.

More good news: just four sleeps until my Irish Dream returns.

skeleton

2008-03-25T21:35:00.005Z

Now that I'm a piercing down, I'm interested in developing my tattoo design. Here's some research I did at Talisker Distillery, on the Isle of Skye.

I read Myla Goldberg's 'Bee Season' on the weekend, and I'm a little baffled by the apparent connection to the Decemberists' 'Song for Myla Goldberg'. Great story, great song.

43 days and counting

2008-03-19T21:56:00.004Z

I've done it!

There are a couple of days left, but essentially I've made it through six weeks of abstinence from chocolate, sweets, cakes, biscuits and desserts. Anyone who knows me will know that this is no mean feat.

But it's true. The nearest I've come is eating a scone with cream and jam - I knew the cream was going too far - and I admit to enjoying my chewable vitamin C tablets a little too much. I have a cold at the moment, and last night at the off-licence, I hesitated before the throat lozenges. They're almost like lollies... but there! on the side of the packet - "medicated lozenges". Saved.

That's as near as I've come, and not for lack of temptation either. My workplace is a den of chocolatey badness, yet I've come through. My flatmate had the most decadent birthday cake you can imagine, thanks to her lovely boyfriend, but I resisted - even though I had to leave the room while it was being eaten. My sister and niece made brownies on the weekend, yet little Stella has learned that "Jessie doesn't eat puddings". That's right, I don't, but only until Sunday! I think the proper day for indulgence is Easter Monday, to coincide with the Church's celebration, but it may occur earlier for me. As long as my cold retreats sufficient for me to taste. Tomorrow I am catching a train from King's Cross north to Mallaig, to meet a group of friends with whom I will travel to the Isle of Skye, and I am prepared with a bag of twelve creme eggs, six smarties eggs, and four bags of mini chocolate eggs. We plan to get amongst the countryside and eat chocolate, not necessarily in that order.

Metaphorically my abstinence very early on became an exercise in the pursuit of virtue, the mending of my moral fabric, which I perceived to be somewhat frayed. Some time and space to reflect on this notion will doubtless be found over the Easter break and beyond. My Irish Dream has taken off for New Zealand today, and I'll not see him again for three weeks.

Not chocolate, but tomatoes - here's one of my favourite pictures from last month's trip to Turkey. This one's for you, Tricia!

not secret any more

2008-03-06T21:22:00.005Z

Have I ever mentioned my secret fetish for Justin Timberlake? A textbook example of the power of suggestion. The first time I heard 'My Love' I pulled the headphones from my ears in disgust - not realising it was a declaration of sorts. I heard it a few more times, a little more sympathetically, and then - as you do - forgot about it.

Many months later, on a whim, I bought the track.. and now it's my occasional secret once more. Was my secret. This one I had to share; it makes me laugh. Don't you think it's funny? What's your secret?

why I hate paypal

2008-03-02T13:19:00.002Z

Form Message: 29 Feb 2008
Customer Subject: Unable to open new account
Customer Message: 'I closed my NZ account because I now live in London, UK and I want to tie in my UK bank account with Paypal. After closing my NZ Paypal account I tried to open a new account, however I was prompted to enter my billing information. I tried to enter my new details, and this was rejected. I tried to enter my old information, and was told "You have already signed up with this user information". I tried calling the helpline, and had a deeply frustrating conversation with a robot, was supposedly transferred to an Agent, and the call was cut off before I could speak with a human about the problem. PLEASE HELP!'

from webform@paypal.co.uk
to jesstherese@gmail.com
date 2 Mar 2008 00:22
subject Re: MyAccount

Dear Jessie ,

Thank you for contacting PayPal my name is Tin, and I appreciate the opportunity to assist you with your concerns.

First of all, my apologies for the delay that you have experienced in hearing back from PayPal Customer Support. This delay is the result of high volume of incoming email inquiries lately. We are working as quickly as we can to address all of your concerns in a timely manner and to get our volumes under control.

I understand that you are having difficulties in opening a new account.

In as much as I want to help you regarding this matter, Please note that the email address you have contacted us from is not confirmed in your PayPal account. In order to maintain the security of your PayPal account, we can only send account specific information to confirmed email addresses.

Since the information regarding [agents to insert the customer's query] is account specific, please contact us from the email address that has been confirmed in your PayPal account.

Alternatively, please follow the directions below to submit your query through secure webform:

1. Log in to your PayPal account at https://www.paypal.co.uk/.

2. Click 'Contact Us'.

3. Click 'Contact Customer Service'.

4. Under the 'Choose a Topic,' select the topic for your query.

5. Under the 'Choose a Subtopic,' select the subtopic that best fits your query.

6. Enter your question in the 'Summarise your question in one sentence.' box.

7. Click 'Continue'.

8. Please complete the form provided.

9. Click 'Continue'.

Your inquiry will be submitted to PayPal customer support and a customer support agent will respond to your inquiry shortly. Thank you for your cooperation.

I sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused you. We highly value the trust customers like you place on us. Rest assured that we always give our best to provide you with excellent, secured services.

Feel free to contact us again if you have other enquiries and we look forward to doing business with you again. Thank you for your time and patience on this matter.

Thank you for choosing PayPal.

Sincerely,

Tin
PayPal European Services
PayPal, an eBay Company

smile

2008-03-01T09:08:00.003Z

This image is part of an advertising campaign (all over the tube) for a dating site called match.com. I love it! Cupid is nailing Fate's ass and he is so happy!

we dance

2008-02-29T12:19:00.006Z

Wondering what I've been doing with my time?

Why, dressing up in traditional Turkish outfits and dancing with small children, of course! That, and farewelling the fifth of my close friends to depart since my arrival six months ago. Dealing with the demise of my prized right nipple piercing. Getting acquainted with my beautiful new guitar, pictures to follow. Counting the minutes until the next time I see my shiny new boyfriend. Untold hours commuting. Cooking new recipes, making phone calls, uploading photos, ANTM dates. It's Leap Day today. I keep meaning to write but I look and the time is already passed. I've been telling everyone that the clocks go forward this weekend, but I'm four weeks early.

I have just booked a flight to Zurich for the day before my birthday in April. It is done!

Sunset - 16:56

2008-02-06T20:27:00.000Z

I was only away for eight days but the days are so much longer already! And yet, there are fewer hours, living in London. Especially on a day like today, when the Jubilee line flat out refuses to cooperate. And I neglect my backyard, I neglect common sense, I neglect flickr. Don't take it personally.

In the interests of attempting to at least catch up on photos of recent holidays, here's a shot of our best discovery in Amsterdam - the fascinating and tiny Cafe de Dokter.

Click here for the set.

I'm just back from a holiday to Turkey. I spent a few days revisiting old haunts in İstanbul, where I was greeted off the plane by a sky full of swirling snowflakes - my first snow this winter! It was chilly but lovely, particularly as I shared my time with Libby and Guy as they wound up their own northern hemisphere adventure. After that I flew to Antalya and travelled on to Demre, possibly an unlikely holiday destination but nonetheless a worthwhile visit. This part of the trip was characterised by an eXtreme lack of planning, but it all panned out nicely - in fact, I was adopted by a Turkish family! Stand by for photos! Only don't hold your breath, because I still have my entire Italian Christmas and New Year waiting in the wings.

I don't think I'll ever catch up. Next holiday: Isle of Skye for Easter. And after that, I hope to catch up with Jakob on their forthcoming European tour. It'd be rude not to.

One other thing. I'm giving up sugar for Lent. Can't remember the last time I did that. I think I heard maybe two different people mention giving something up, and next thing this idea presented itself. Messages of encouragement welcome.

If there's a field, I want to play in it.

2008-01-18T08:36:00.000Z

Here's a glimpse of the Tuscan villa where I spent Christmas and New Year. It is as fabulous and awesome as it looks. There were twelve of us, mostly close friends from school days in Wanganui, and a few extended whanau to complete the party. We had wonderful weather for the most part and did a lot of day trips around the region - San Gimignano, Firenze, Pisa, Lucca, Siena, Certaldo. It's all true what they say about Tuscany.

Back in London now, and unusually for me this week has passed quite quickly. For the sake of including a list, here's my top ten bands of the past 3 months, according to last.fm's rolling chart feature:

1 The Phoenix Foundation 346 plays
2 Calexico 246 plays
3 Iron & Wine 207 plays
4 SJD 129 plays
5 Jakob 122 plays
6 Elliott Smith 83 plays
7 The Decemberists 79 plays
7 Jeff Buckley 79 plays
9 The White Stripes 76 plays
9 Ray LaMontagne 76 plays

Today it's raining, and my left boot is leaking. I'm unhappy about this. However, in eleven days I will fly to Istanbul to meet Libby and Guy, and that is a very good thing. And if I was in NZ today, I would be dashing about the Big Day Out flapping my triple A self-importantly and maintaining nonchalance in close proximity to rock stars. How was it?

Sir Edmund Hillary

2008-01-11T10:27:00.000Z

Rest in peace. What a great man.

Science workshop

2008-01-09T20:14:00.000Z

When I was at secondary school, I had loads of free periods (didn't everyone?). I spent some of them in an empty classroom known as the Learning Centre (noble title, with little to offer), which contained a computer available for general use. I liked to use this computer because even such simple applications as a word processor were very interesting for me. It was a general access machine, so I stored my documents in a folder on the desktop with the most boring name I could imagine - "Science Workshop".

I would love to write more but my internet keeps falling off. Check flickr for photos of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Amsterdam and Tuscany. Lots more to come, but our crappy Orange connection isn't cooperating just now. Not to worry, I'll have a free evening sometime next week.

Snap

2007-12-18T17:53:00.000Z

"Ah, here's one - hang on," I called to Ange as I ducked into a chemist at Gatwick airport. Time was running short before our boarding time, so I went directly to a lady in uniform and asked for eye drops. "Do you have Cleareyes? Eye drops for, um, allergies and that sort of thing?"

She lead me to shelves containing eye drops. I scanned them quickly, but couldn't see what I wanted. "Do you have anything for red eyes? Like, if you've got allergies and your eyes go red, and you want them to be clear?"

She gave it some thought, then walked behind the counter, producing a small box labelled Red Eye Drops. It wasn't Cleareyes, but it would do.

"Perfect," I announced, and handed over my debit card.
"Flight number?"
"Huh? Oh - I don't know."
"Where are you going?"
I paused. "... Amsterdam." Busted.

Every morning I spend at least an hour sitting on trains and buses. Towards the end of my journey, I emerge from the underground at Brixton station. This is an unexpected highlight of my morning, as time and again I mount the stairs and catch sight of the people handing out free Metro newspapers. That's when I remember - my favourite Metro man. He looks so lovely. He has long brown hair pulled into a pony tail, and he always looks happy and concerned with the wellbeing of those to whom he hands the paper each morning. I rarely catch his eye, but it makes me smile to see him there. I wonder what his story is?

As for my story, the red eye drops stayed in the box.