11/8/2007 - On a weight loss program

17/7/2007 - Dissecting Potter-mania – 5th Instalment

Harry Potter kissing a girl? Mmm yes and a rather hyped up snog at that, one which actually had people clapping at the premiere I went to….madness

But, yes, here is the film where Potter gets some serious romance, with fellow Hogwarts scholar Cho Chang, played by Katie Leung - though bafflingly, and rather ungallantly, her character is completely dumped from the action after the snog, and she doesn't even get to be one of his gang of pals who finally confront the lord of all evil in the final reel. His description of the kiss is incidentally the best dialogue exchange in the film. "What was it like?" ask his friends Ron and Hermione. "Wet," replies Harry unselfconsciously, and adding after a nicely judged pause: "She'd been crying."

Bafta-winning British director David Yates takes over the reins here, and once again the emphasis on that most over-rated and under-understood concept: dark. Harry Potter has once again gone dark, and what this means is an exciting and moody opening sequence in which Harry confronts some bullies and then, against all the rules, uses his secret magic powers in front of civilians, or "muggles", to slay some fierce beasts - Dementors.

The best or should I say worst addition to the HP lineup is newcomer Imelda Staunton is marvellous and genuinely unpleasant as Professor Dolores Umbridge, the creepy new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. She is a cross between the Queen and a Nazi prison camp leader. Professor Umbridge has been forced on the school by the paranoid Minister of the Ministry of Magic, with a brief to sort things out. She instigates a reign of terror that takes up by far too much of the movie. However there is a superb scene in which she makes Harry do lines - a magnificently retrograde imposition - with a special quill. He has to write out the unjust sentiment: "I must not tell lies", a phrase that is magically and agonizingly scratched out in blood on the back of his hand. It's absurd but also very, very nasty: a painfully real case of schoolteacherly bullying. Harry then winds up forming an alternative rebel gang of students who must go it alone to take on the evil forces. Teenager rebellion exists at Hogwarts in some shape or form throughout the movies.

And so the Harry Potter saga continues. It's essentially deeply conservative, with battles, and crashes, and giants and explosions and is shaping up to be an extraordinary real-time experiment for Daniel Radcliffe. Plenty of young actors complain that they did their growing up in public. For Radcliffe that is literally true. When the saga is finally complete, its sheer bulk will be impressive, and we will gasp at Radcliffe's remarkable stamina and maturity in the role: a testing experience for any actor, but one that he has managed without going obviously mad.

But the question is, will the HP phenomenon amount to anything more than just very good family entertainment - or will it assume a lofty Tolkien-like stateliness? I think not. Whereas in Lord of the Rings, there is growth and development of the film art or acting, the are worrying signs that there is really no development from film to film: the actors are all obviously growing up, but there is no substantial increase in maturity in the films themselves, no desire to develop and grow the good and evil storylines that come across so easily in the books.

Every time I sit down to a new Harry Potter movie, I'm struck by how the feel and look of it is a doppelganger to the previous one - and how forgettable, even disposable, the plot twists are.

There is a need to see the maturity of the movies will catch up with the books to leave society with an epic film journey that will be remembered by kids of the next generation  rather than a chain of commercialized films out to break the World Record on sales and marketing. Although, it could also be said that this film is a jump start for the last two installments – the seed has been sown…

11/7/2007 - Third-wheel-ism and other anecdotes

Yes for all those who don't know/care Jen, my bass playing friend from Brissy paid me a week long visit. For days I was racking my brain for all the free stuff one can do in Melbourne (It was poor week when she decided to visit...tsk tsk)

And Melbourne decided to introduce her to its stereotypical 4 seasons in one day!! (gale force winds, occasional sunshine, turning autumn leaves and blah winter landscapes - exciting stuff, one would think, for a Queenslander !!)

We managed to mutilate Dans going a way present umbrella (sorry Dan - QLD umbrellas just arent up to the task) but it wasn't enough to put us off wandering around freezing our butts off!!! I was the typical Melbournite and took her to the museum and zoo and all the awesome shopping places sharing all the anecdotes of all the crazy shit I had done in the same places!!!

Took her to the Espy - which is a cool place to hang if you like to choke on smoke!! (THANK GOD THE NEW LAWS ARE IN!!!).  She introduced me to a band called The Sneaker Trio - who are my kinda band!! We played pool with two pretty cool guys (Jordan I think liked me) but then we took off for some city partying led by the very cool Jarred of The Sneaker Trio. He had a cool hat from what I can remember

I got (or rather our new friends Wally, Gin and Jarrod) got Jen dancing to 50s/60s rock n roll at Cherry Bar (EXTREME COOLNESS - PROB ONE OF THE BEST BARS I HAVE BEEN TOO - but it was down a dark alley and prob have no idea how find it again). Here I had my ephiphany of "third-wheel-ism" of which I discussed in depth with interested Paul, a very hot guy I met outside cherry bar and if it wasn't for dreaded third-wheelism I might have gotten laid!! (In short, Thirdwheelism is that situation where you look after the mate who hooks up in your town !!! and you don't ) Sigh

Leaving my mate Paul and we headed for the promise of 3am toasted sandwiches at the Supper Club (best ever peppery-ness - its even better when you don't pay for it hehe - wasn't too drunk to remember that) and a few more beers later at new friends Wally (Jen's Random Kiss partner for this evening) and Gin's place, we found ourselves reading scientific predictions from 1979 that were fucking hilarious…and then thoroughly crashed out.  Real shame when I woke up (listening to Gin snoring and hogging the heater!!! grrr!) and I had no idea where we were and had to find our way home on public transport after 2 hrs sleep.  I got to Sydney Road, which then involved a tram and bus home...

In short, I probably covered more ground in Melbourne in one week than I have in FOUR MONTHS of being here - There was too much shopping…drinking…errand running…house repairing…band watching…freezing…kindy napping…walking…spending…finding…realising…laughing…and then the trip was over. (Thanks Jen stole this line from your MySpace - couldn't have put it better myself!)

Now I am in a lonely sharehouse with only one occasional house mate and I am finding that I am missing the usual housemate annoyingness that I so frequently bitch about!!! Crazy the things we miss...

20/6/2007 - update on Melbourne

24/5/2007 - QUEENSLANDER!!!!

Although I had uni last night I was not going to miss Origin!! I watched the kickoff at a backpackers and I even tuned into JJJ on the train ride home to listen to Roy an HJ commentation to get my fix – heading home to watch from half time onwards – to see…..

QUEENSLAND score one of the greatest State of Origin comebacks to grab a 1-0 lead in the three-match series!!!!

The Maroons scored 19 unanswered points in the second half to turn a 6-18 deficit into a remarkable 25-18 victory.

Queensland got off to the perfect start in the third minute when winger Greg Inglis latched on to a Johnathan Thurston chip kick to score. Thurston added the conversion and the Maroons led 6-0. A fluke try by NSW teenager Jarryd Hayne broke Queensland's hearts but the youngster later gifted the Maroons the match-clinching try. The Blues off thie field into the break with a 18-6 lead after Hayne scored in the 40th minute, stopping a Brent Tate kick with his legs, breaking clear down the left touchline and kicking ahead for himself.

NSW hit back in the 10th minute when workhorse backrower Nathan Hindmarsh scored his first Origin try but there were huge question marks over the try.

Firstly, the pass from five-eighth Braith Anasta was a blatantly forward missed by the touch judges and there was considerable doubt whether Hindmarsh actually grounded the ball in-goal in a two-man tackle.

Referee Paul Simpkins did not send the decision up to the video referee and even renowned Maroon-hater Phil Gould questioned the try.

"I've seen five replays and I still haven't seen him ground it," Gould said.

The Blues were in again in the 20th minute when centre Matt Cooper scored wide out from a crisp backline move featuring a great long pass from debutant halfback Jarrod Mullen.At that stage, the visitors led 12-6 and there were real danger signs for Queensland.

Queensland was robbed of the equaliser when Simpkins ruled a pass from Cameron Smith to Steve Price forward when it looked flat at worst.

In the 36th minute when Thurston was penalised for an obstruction play deep in the Maroons' half. Queensland launched a comeback in the 50th minute when Inglis scored his second try, this one from a Broncos "special" move involving skipper Darren Lockyer and fullback Karmichael Hunt.

The Maroons were in again four minutes later but Tate was recalled for a forward pass from his Brisbane team-mate Justin Hodges. Tate's brother-in-law Price got his reward in the 58th minute when he charged on to a short pass from Shaun Berrigan to cross beside the posts and in the blink of an eye the scores were level at 18-18 on the back of Thurston's third goal.

Lockyer put the Maroons in front when he swooped on a terrible mistake by Hayne deep in the right corner following a huge and well-placed kick by Smith.

A field goal at the 70th minute by Thurston, who deservedly earned man of the match, sealed a 7 point lead.

NSW – when are you going to learn? Putting babies up against the experienced Comeback Kings is asking for trouble….

Road trip is planned for the Sydney game…..GO QUEENSLAND!!!

24/5/2007 - Life is goooood people

Things are chugging along at a fine pace - yet again I am cramming for exams and assignments and yet again my conscious is telling me to stop procrastinating online and get some work done!! But I am too busy smiling at the following cheery things that have happened to me lately....

• A cute guy talked to me on the tram – don’t know if he felt sorry for me or wanted to help save me embarrassment after I fell in his lap!! Damn I didn’t get his number either…
• We have won the last two games of Hockey – awesomeness!
• Dave’s U11 teams are on a winning streak
• My car is back on the road – all shiny and driveable
• I can talk to the barista at my coffee shop in Italian without him having to correct me!
• I have kept up family obligations by sending Mothers Day presents to my Gran and Mum

It’s just good when little good things happen all in a row .

Til next time folks…

24/5/2007 - AH LIFE – WE ARE ALL TOO BUSY LIVING IT TO WRITE ABOUT IT – THANKS JORDAN!

Hi to all my friends who still read this – I can’t believe if you Google my name you can get this page – cool, but creepy.

 Jordan and I had an amusing catch up – he is to be coming back to Aussie shores in the summer I believe…

 He is actually the reason I started this page – his amusing emails from far away made me realise that people actually like reading about the good, bad, funny, exciting and miserable things that happen in other peoples lives so they have things to discuss at parties and the pub.

 The amount of times I heard – Do you want my email? Or Read my blog! OR check out MySpace – at the pub at uni the other day was insane. People are always online or on a computer so accessing people’s lives and each other is easier than our parents or grandparents generation. But people now date or have cyber sex online and I am beginning to wonder if the World Wide Web is a substitute for people who don’t have time or is it about old fashioned rejection? Many studies have been done on this matter and opinions are divided on the issue. I think its good to close the distance and make people on the other side of the world seem closer than a phone call or letter alone ever could.

24/5/2007 - Kischasy Review

Rock to the core, the Kisschasy boys are onto a good thing with combining great lyrics and an amazing sound that is perfect for both home and the stage. It has an extremely intense feeling about it, its loud and it has so much energy sometimes you think it’s gonna take off! The extremely noticeable Aussie accent just makes it that much better!

Dave and I were psyched to be going because we hadn’t seen them live and Dave PROMISED that the Northcote was an awesome venue. That said I was going to wait and see if the promise was kept.

Problem is with promises, they are always based on previous experience and the bands in Dave’s previous experience have rocked out.

The blah metro try hard support acts do not even rate a mention – sorry guys – have to do more than poorly imitate Nirvana to make an impression on me. So I was keen to hear what Daz and the boys would be like.

Kisschasy, as much as I hate to say it because these guys are one of my all time favourite Aussie acts,  they were flat and off at the Northcote – Damn shame really.

Daz relied a little too heavily on the audience’s contribution, especially during Do Do’s and Whoa Whoa’s and their newbie Opinions wont keep you warm at night – which would normally be a good thing because people like showing of their voice cords! – but in that small space, there wasn’t enough “oomph” in the crowd to carry it off – save it for BDO guys – if you make the line-up, because if you do another shocker of a gig like that one, it wont only be my mate Dave walking out on you, it will be me too!!! I am hoping that you just had an off night….And an additional comment - DON'T PLAY WITH YOUR FREAKIN' HAIR SO MUCH!!!!

END REVIEW

9/5/2007 - Kisschasy this Saturday - full review to come

8/5/2007 - Silverchairs new era!

As Silverchair hit the stage on their comeback tour, it was difficult to reconcile these three buffed musicians playing sophisticated pop music with the scruffy teenagers that took the world by storm 15 years ago on the tail end of grunge.

The band attacks its instruments as though it can hardly believe its own tale of transformation and survival.

But here they are, three old mates from Newcastle now in their late 20s, back with their first album in five years, Young Modern, which hasn't looked like leaving the top of the ARIA charts since it was released a month ago.

Talk about reinvention. The band's fifth album is a morass of sounds and styles, ranging from breezy and grandiose operatic pop, to glam rock, cabaret and whimsical circus ditties.

Despite the undeniable chemistry between drummer Ben Gillies and bassist Chris Joannou, this was the Daniel Johns show.

While humble and appreciative of the crowd's reception, he thanked them in the first person. "Thanks for coming to my show" he said.

When his lilting falsetto booms out on the pulsating single Straight Lines, he sounds as though he is fronting the best band in the country.

And his cover of Midnight Oil's I Don't Want to be the One, reaffirmed his support for Peter Garrett.

Johns seemed happier following his flamboyant, adventurous spirit than pumping out gloomy grunge by numbers. You get the feeling his best is yet to come.

The crowd, me included, were  happy to join him on his latest crazy adventure.

8/5/2007 - Life has a way of....

12/4/2007 - Happy Easter Everyone!!

11/4/2007 - Living as a Melbournian

28/3/2007 - Haha I have business cards and other observations

23/3/2007 - Will edit this post after gig ok now its edited!!

23/3/2007 - i survived til payday!!

1. Made a list of what I wanted to buy (involved trawling the designer shops along Bridge Road - where I work...)
   
2. Scratched my dream list and wrote how many bills I neglected to pay for the last three weeks (These included: rent, credit card, electricity, mobile phone bill, my sister, my house mate, 2 tyres and eBay purchases that I was receiving emails about DAILY saying I was a horrible person - imagine that?!)
3. Then logged on bpay and watched the 4 digit number dwindle away. It was a horrible sight!
4. Then remade my wish list and pasted it above my computer willing the next fortnight to slip away like a dream.....
5. Then scraped my wish list and made a hard core saving list towards a trip I really want to take overseas for my birthday, realising I would enjoy the trip better than if I spend my money on frivolous little nick knacks.

Now I am going to go out and drink away whats left and watch one of my favourite bands the fumes.... hahaha.....I cant really laugh, as I am going by my self as apparently a computer game is more entertaining than people in the real world....(ah this story is sounding like a broken phone message guys...) Sometimes I think I am in an episode of Hitchhickers Guide to the Galaxy.

18/3/2007 - Getting into the Spirit of St Paddys Day

18/3/2007 - Work - its what makes the world go round

9/3/2007 - also that dreaded uni business.....

9/3/2007 - mmm the feathers are starting to grow...