Observations that struck me but now seem unstriking

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:

Two Months + Three Months

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.

Faith No More

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

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

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

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

Running

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!