I'm a lucky guy, blessed by good friends. This weekend has been a prime example of it!

After work yesterday I hooked up with Dustan, Lupie, Wolven and Anon prior to the Blue Moon Festival's Saturday night event, the music/fashion combo that whilst poorly rigged for sound was filled with exciting people and creative movements. From trippy bohemians to austere and beautiful Victoriana-era goths it was a feast for the eyes, the kind of event that strikes me with my creative naivete.

Was great seeing people like Clay Bear again, and catching Dustan (a contributor to the fashion on show, a good one at that) up there with others from the Newtown crew modelling and making it an even better night. Props to Smacky and crew for their gothy fabulosity, as well as Angel Kitty for being his usual straddling-the-line-between-fiendish-and-elegant self.

Fast forward to today and the culmination of a group bday present (thanks to everyone who contributed) in which Aussie Husky, Temba and myself went to the Capitol Theatre to see Wicked (after being so kind as to shout me to lunch at a lovely Japanese place nearby by the name of Yumei)! A review might come later, but to put it simply the main cast sung beautifully, comedy was balanced with an intelligent plot, the costumes were detailed and rich, the set was constructed well and suited for the tale being told...

And it somehow made me appreciate Bert Newton (who plays the Wizard of Oz). Craziness I know! Now I'm back at home, happy to see Zwabbe back and seemingly content with his reprieve from voyages to sea, and hearing a great bit of trance from Weasely.

I'm surrounded by creative and generous people, without whom I'd be a very unhappy person, so in this glow of warm and girly glee I'd like to say thanks to you all!

 

Whoo, I haven't been to OC Remix for a while. For those who don't know, they're a bunch of composers who do arrangements of videogame music. They're well selected and judged, so it's rare that anything lame slips through, and it's great to hear what modern technology and a different context can do to classic songs in gaming.

At the moment I'm digging synth and electro, so hearing the Pokemon series being given a happy synth medley (look at my listening to: field) is like cocaine without the itchy nose.

Otherwise, making for a cinematic trifecta this week, I saw Up 3D with the spotcat on Thursday afternoon. It was great! Using a simple melody in varying arrangements throughout the film made it feel like a delightful little opera.

Sure, the concept of a man flying his house to South America with helium balloons seems childish, but the fact he's doing it after losing the love of his life, whilst confronting the hero of his childhood and finding release for his bottled-up paternal instincts makes for good viewing. It's well animated with lots of sillinesses, like the villain's dogs (able to talk due to specials collars) and the insane female bird named Kevin, to lighten the mood and keep things fresh.

Like any good family film it tells a mature story in a way that doesn't exclude anyone, very groovy.

Ah well, yay for lazy Sundays, peace out!

First, musicians of note:

• Streetlight Manifesto - Because ska will never die, just get angrier. Here's an example.
   

• La Roux - Synth pop wonder-duo, everything that made the 80s great with the production values that make the 00s great. Look for the violent 'Tigerlily', the anthem of stalkers everywhere, and the dreamy 'As If By Magic', where only mind alteration can allow escape from unrequited love
   

• Regina Spektor - Eccentric ex-Soviet musician who does unusually paced and eerie tracks as part of an anti-folk movement. Gotta love one of her songs doing the rounds on Triple J at the moment, entitled 'Machine' for its odd references to the artist made into machine, and 'Blue Lips' for some of the most evocative imagery I've ever heard in a song
   

• Lily Allen - Not that anyone needs to be made aware of her existence, but Lily's mix of accessible pop and subversive lyrics, like "Everybody's at It" as an ode to drug culture, and "22" as the grim reminder of age and society's view of women affected by it, makes her surprisingly cerebral

Secondly, this comic series, and in particular this edition:

Kids Say The Most Existentially Horrifying Things



Thirdly, ignorance. I've heard it's bliss, I'd like me some of that. Can anyone hook me up?

Hooray for new character pics, the face of which is seen as my new avatar, and for people aging!

This weekend marked the celebration of aussiehusky's birthday, with dinner at a nice Indian place in Chatswood, nibbles at his place and Harry Potter the next day. Thanks to him for both aging and for hosting an enjoyable evening, and to the as always enjoyable attendees (you know who you are!)

Harry Potter was good, but suffered from too much to show in too much/too little time (2.5 hrs is long for a movie, but short for the material) and often felt confusing or rushed.

Hooray for Temba being back from the US, glad to hear he didn't get mugged or eaten by roving hordes of wild unemployed stock traders. Good to see him and catch up, now for the vast crime spree we've been meaning to get around to!

Check out a musician by the name of La Roux who's doing the rounds on Youtube and in the UK at the moment, she's like David Bowie's love child, who got into a car crash with heavy 80s synth and modern production values. Very nice.

Anyway, off to rest I go, best to all of you and take care! 

Hey there, quick "OMG EUROVISION POST". Leading up to the finals my favourites are...

• Sweden: 'La Voix' by Malena Ernman - Beautiful soprano singing and typical Eurovision pop song
• Estonia: 'Rändajad' by Urban Symphony - Amazing violin, cello and vocals, truly artistic
• Albania: 'Carry Me In Your Dreams' by Kejsi Tola - Nice vocals, green sequined gimp suit!
• Ukraine: 'Be My Valentine (Anti-Crisis Girl)' by Svetlana Loboda - Fun song, cool choreohraphy and cool industrial props

Russia's put on a good show, seeing my two favourite straight lesbians, TATU, performing again was cool, and the greater cultural familiarity with Russia means I can appreciate the eccentricities more than I could when Serbia hosted last year. Their modular, LCD/hair fan/pryotechnic set is a dream for EV performers, and I think it's made for a more entertaining show than last year (though I was facing a breakup and foodpoisoning during EV last year, so it's hard to be objective).

In other music related stuff, I just purchased Green Day's new album '21st Century Breakdown' which makes for a great follow up to their US 6-time platinum album 'American Idiot'. 21st Century Breakdown is an even split between martial anthems and sad/reflective looks at lost hope and identity; with rousing tracks like "Know Your Enemy", with its cheery infantry chant, juxtaposed with the defeatist and hindsighted number "21 Guns". There's an interesting narrative structure in it all, and makes for a good purchase, especially as JB is selling it for $19 on new release! Hooray for uber companies screwing independents over with new release discounts!

Here's hoping you're all well, I'm off to bed to nurse my poor smashed knee! 

Kate-Miller Heidke might be the best musical export Australia could offer to the world. For those not in the know, she's a 28 year old singer and pianist from Brisbane, trained originally in opera but now leaning towards eccentric pop and rock. She's known for being able to blend eccentric and socially relevant lyrics with an amazing vocal range; as well as working fantastically with her band; composed of her partner Keir Nuttal on guitar, Nicole Brophy on acoustic guitar/backup vocals and Steve Pope on drums.

She and her crew played at the Metro on George Street last night, dustandfox, his friend Susannah (who gave us the heads up that it was happening, thanks Suze!) and myself attended.

My verdict?

Fan-frelling-tastic!

The venue was okay, no seating, it was standing room only by the end of the night anyway (the gig had been warmed up by a lovely girl-with-guitar crooner by the name of Leena, and the suprisingly decent rock band End of Fashion). Drinks were expensive, but by Sydney standards that means they were normal. Everyone came on when they were meant to, and the gig lasted for around three hours.

Sound and lighting were fine, we were sitting right behind the sound guy, mainly because if its the best place for him to tell if the sound's right, it's probably where it's at its best!

Kate was what everyone was there for though, and she was wonderful as always. From 'You Don't Even Know My Name", a song about delusional love where she used the phrase 'front bottom' (first time I've heard it used in a song), to 'Are You Fucking Kidding Me?' a new title in which she lamented that the ex who who broke her heart wants to add her on Facebook (the audience almost died of laughter as she sung it), she was at her best for humour.

She's well known for her rendition of John Farnham's 'You're The Voice', being able to carry from the lowest ranges to the highest, holding notes for minutes on end as the band thrashes out the archetypal Aussie hit from the 80s. She pulled it off with aplomb last night, milking the crescendo of the song so well that the audience was singing it before she was.

Other tracks included "The Day After Christmas", a nice old B-side she'd never performed before, her regretful look back on high school life "Caught In The Crowd", a cheerful parody of hippy culture "Politics In Space" and her encore performance of "Can't Shake It", a hilarious number in which she relates her inability to dance (followed by her and Nicole doing the best version of the sprinkler dance I've ever seen).

All up it was a great show, she could be touching and slow with "Caught In The Crowd", funny with "Are You Fucking Kidding Me?", bloody insane with "You Don't Even Know My Name" and then awe-inspiring with "You're The Voice". The band kicked arse too, Keir handling FX pedals and guitar effortlessly, Nicole being a talented singer and guitarist (she did a tribute to the Beastie Boys track 'Killing In The Name Of') and Steve turning the drums into a weapon of mass distraction.

Too much to rant and rave about how good it all was, so I'll leave it at that. Kate's albums are good, so check them out, but she's tons better live!

Susumu Hirasawa!

That is all.

If that's not enough... He's an electronic/technopop artist from Japan in his 50s who specialises in vaguely classical numbers that deal with metaphysical issues, as well as some rather cynical takes on society. Look for tracks like 'Shizuku No Ippai Kioku' (The Parade of Terror) that warns about the looming threats of illiteracy and dependency on SSRIs, or if you're feeling nice 'The Girl in Byakkoya' (The Girl in the Tiger Lily Field), a stream of consciousness number about the world coming to life around a girl.

Aside from being 'deep' (you know, in that tripping off your face and thinking the word grandiloquent is deep way) his work is often innovative; be it the fact he builds his own sample machines for concerts, that he uses Amigas for his album production, or that he's produced entire albums using only solar power (and performed his pieces while powering his gear with a bicycle generator).

Look for his work in anime director Satoshi Kon's (Tokyo Godfathers, Millennium Actress, Paprika) works as well as the series' Paranoia Agent and Beserk. He's made a lot of albums otherwise, under his name and his group works as part of Kaku P-Model.

If he has any flaws, it'd be the same ones that artists like Jamiroquai are labelled with, high quality but a feeling of same-ishness in everything he produces. Be it happy, sad, surreal or mundane you can immediately spot a song from Hirasawa, showing he's got a damn solid style but also that he rarely moves out of his audiological box (his lyrics and 'set pieces' tend to be what vary from album to album).

I recommend him to people who like experimental music that doesn't suck, users of hallucinogens and people who want to be pretentious and quirky but don't like being threatened too much by their choices. 

Hi guys, Katy Perry wrote a song about me...

"You change your mind, like a girl, changes clothes. Yeah you, PMS like a bitch, I would know. And you overthink, always speak critically...

I should know, that you're no good for me...

Cause you're hot then you're cold, you're yes then you're no, you're in then you're out, you're up then you're down.

You're wrong when it's right, it's black and it's white. We fight, we break up; we kiss, we make up..."

Totally my song!

Anyway, going to Rubber Ball tonight with various perverted furs, it should be fun! This unusual bounciness is brought to you by caffeine, good weather and a decent day at work! Take care all!

Hey there, aside from journalism, an interest of mine is politics. I'm considering looking into politics as a minor or as a secondary preference if I can't get into a journalism course. I'm also pondering joining a political party, probably the Greens.

Also, there's a rock song about rain by Elizabeth Mary McGlynn (an American voice actress/voice director for film and cartoons) that I think really suits the weather/life in general lately. Here be the chorus.

"On the sidewalk, in the city,
Are my screams just a whisper?
Busy people, going nowhere,
See me soak in the rain.
No compassion, nothing matters,
My resistance is waning,
Like a flower, in the basement,
Waiting for a lonely death."

I knew I'd find you here! Guees what?

I went to a furry dinner/movie event last night (though only 4, Wolven, Enigma, Aussie and myself ended showing up after a flood of cancellations) which was rather nice (thanks to Aussie for the idea). Went to a Japanese restaurant in Broadway that overcharges for its sake, but does nice tonkotsu (pork bone) soup so I'll forgive them.

The movie was Superhero Movie, made by the delightul fellows who made Scary Movie 1-4, Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans etc etc, and it was garbage. Amusing garbage though, much like teenage masturbation its something you think is awful and base and oh I could sneak a few minutes in before anyone gets back I'm sure...

Acting was hammy and bland though Ryan Hansen makes an entertaining super villain, and Leslie Nielsen is funny even when he's not trying (or trying too hard as is the case here).

Special effects were lame and I pray to god they wanted people to notice it, because there were some tiny little gaffes in the structure of sets and lighting effects that were just off, and I'm hoping they were parodying old Batman episodes because otherwise someone needs to get their position reevaluated.

The plot was generic though Hourglass is an interesting villain concept, one I'm half-tempted to believe was "borrowed" from less popular material. It does the required parodies of Spiderman, Batman Begins, X-Men and the Fantastic Four while mixing in culturally relevant or *shudder* hip technological referances such as YouTube, Facebook and blogging.

Its better than some of the work put out by its creators as of late but that's hardly saying much. If you're inclined towards seeing it I recommend a DVD and a bunch of friends, its mindless, guilty fun that I'd give 2 stars.

Oh, and the music I have listed as what I'm listening to at the moment is by a friend of mine in the fur community by the name of Alex Coe, he's solid, as a friend and musician. He does solid dirty house tracks, good dance stuff, unique, though I don't think he's distributing yet.

See 'yall on the flipside!