Swinging

One thing I really love is swinging on a swing. Like, at a playground. It's so endearing and frivolous, and also a great time to reflect on things. I enjoy watching the scene around me change as I sweep a parabola through the air.
As a kid, I wasn't a very good swinger. It took me ages to get the hang of it, and I was always pretty wussy about going too high. Even now, after years of experience, it takes a while for my insides to feel okay about flying up and down. And at 27, I wonder if there's an age when it's no longer acceptable to swing. While playgrounds are the domain of children, swinging is enjoyable (and light exercise!), and it feels too arbitrary to simply stop. You needn't let things slide into an unrecoverable childhood nostalgia. Stay young at heart, you're never too old to have fun!

Camp A Low Hum 2012

This past weekend I went to Camp A Low Hum in Wainui. I think it was the best Camp I've been to, and one of the best weekends ever. The more I think about it, the more it makes me happy, and though it sounds cheesy, it feels like I've 'been a part of something special'. Euphoric times, and I was very lucky to see a whole bunch of (new and old) friends from NZ and abroad. Weather on the first day was wet and pretty bleak, but there was heaps of great music. My friend Dove and I chose what the other would wear: he got a a shirt with a cat and his name on; I got an incredible kaftan. Mysticism ensued, and my sunshine ceremony may have helped, for the remaining two days were beautiful.
There were heaps of musical highlights: So So Modern (epic in the rain), Kikuyu, Terrible Truths, Dan Deacon, Aa (maybe my fav show?), Castlecliff Lights, Guerre, Shenandoah Davis, Kirin J Callinan, Hawnay Troof (killer party/killed my voice), Spring Break (Sexiest Pool Party), Jon Lemmon, The Shocking and Stunning, All Seeing Hand, Prince Rama.
And there were heaps of non-musical highlights: crazy dancing with friends; palm readings (love dat Party Line); thanking Kikuyu for playing and having her remember me from Camp '09; corn chip sandwiches, a capella bleep bloop accompaniments to songs; playing The Ninja Game, The Fruit Game, Wrestle Quest; getting an amazing mixtape-in-a-coconut; finally learning to 'whooooo' at a concert.
Such an incredible festival! I'm in complete agreement when people say it's one of the world's best, and I'll be back next year

Treasury of We

When I moved to Melbourne in May, I was impressed with the amount of gigs. 'It's nothing', I was told: 'wait for summer'. And true enough, there have been a lot of great shows. Here are some thoughts on a bunch I've seen
Fran bought me a ticket to see The Gin Club play a christmas eve eve show. They were great, all ten (or so) of them. Big band, good sounds
I went with my friend Jasmine to see Metronomy at the Hi-Fi, and they were phenomenal! They played every song I could've hoped, and were thoroughly entertaining.
John Maus and Dan Deacon played at 'Fright Night'. Maus was amazing, playing his tracks via a sampler while he yelled/sang over the top. Really atavistic performance, shouting and self-hitting. Wow. And Deacon was absurdly fun, his live band involved three synths and two drummers. Tears in my eyes during audience participation in which we were asked to think about the person we loved the most. 
Julianna Barwick played a Sugar Mountain sideshow at The Toff, and I went with my flatmate James. Great voice; a haunting show
Fran and I saw Feist's Laneway sideshow at the Palais Theatre (amazing venue!). She was great, very entertaining, and a great performer. My Moon, My Man was superb.
And off to Laneway yesterday. A really brilliant day out, I really enjoyed Girls, Givers and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Cults were spectacular, and worth the price of the ticket alone. And I felt the same about Glasser, who was better than I could've hoped. The Horrors played a great set, with all the songs I wanted (a good theme of the day) before I snuck off to catch Toro y Moi play Elise (yuss). Washed Out were fab, full of feeling, and I headed over to catch the last M83 song (Couleurs!). I boogied my way through the crowd, and the girl in front of me turned around: it was Naomi! I'd not seen her in months, and here we were, among thousands. I was spun out, it was a poetic moment.
All of this leads on to next week's Camp A Low Hum in New Zealand! Also coming up: Neon Indian, Slow Club, St Vincent, others

Minutiae

At my work I find there are a number of things which seem trifling, and these are the things that really delight me. As Hank Scorpio said, 'it's the little things that make up life'
-Wineglasses are suspended in groups of three, upside down on rails. When you replace a row, they swing and hit each other, producing chimes. The beautiful thing is that they continue swinging for many minutes, and faint 'clinks' can be heard long after you've walked away. I love the harmonic, periodic nature of the swings, and the sounds they produce seem like the music of the spheres.
-Rainbows! The wineglasses, glass shelves and mirrors by the benches produce rainbows. So simple, so stunning.
-At the end of the night, the coffee machine is cleaned. Part of this involves emptying the grinder, and grinding a handful of beans to 'season the machine' the next morning. You hear the blades grind and whir, and as the last of the beans go through, the blades spin unimpeded. It sounds like a perfect moment.
-Coffeemaking, it's fun to try and make pictures in the foam. I'm still learning, but it's often best to simply interpret the shapes that arise. I've 'made' pictures of a moustache, question marks, and a hyperbola.
-Customers. People are beautiful and strange. It feels like every interaction has the potential to revolutionise how you relate to others.

Socks

My whole life, I've put my socks on a certain way. I simply pulled them on: toes in the opening, the rest follows naturally. If the sock were inside-out, I'd half turn it the right way out, then whack the balled up sock in my hand, like a poi. People have teased me for this. I see that it's not ideal, though it gets the job done.
My whole life, my dad has put his socks on a certain way. Starting with the sock inside-out, he makes a dent in the toes, and pulls it back over his foot, inverting it as it goes. He stands up; his socks are on.
Recently I changed methods. I adopted the Dad Method. Faced with an inside-out sock, I calmly slide it over my foot, and carry on with my day. No more whacking socks to make them comply. I put on my shoes and leave the house.
As I walk, I wonder if I'd ever been taught a certain method. I was always aware of how my father dressed his feet - had he always been like this? Or was there a point at which his method changed, presumably to that of my poppa. At 27, what did this change mean to me? I was acutely aware of it, though it was seemingly triggered by nothing.
At 27, my dad was a recent father of twins. He'd been married a few years. And he'd been working as a carpenter for close to 10. He was unquestionably a Man. How do I compare? With my life, I feel like a man, though definitely not a Man.
I sit down on the grass at the park, and take off my shoes and socks. I leave the socks, inside-out, on top of my shoes, ready for when I walk home.

Christmas

I made a crochet tree for a friend. Hope you have a lovely christmas. I'll be spending it with a few friends, then working at the cinema in the evening

2011

In the last couple of years, I've had reviews of my favourite musical releases. As I didn't work in radio for most of the year, I felt rather disconnected from what was happening musically, so decided to branch out my reviews (also inspired by these guys)

Gigs of the Year
4 - Parking Lot Experiments @ Workers - a great way to cap off my first week in Melbourne
3 - Wintercoats @ The Evelyn - far exceeded my very high expectations
2 - Caribou @ CALH - kinda 'lost my shit'
1 - Beach House @ Laneway - I was covered in shivers the whole time

Albums
5 - Memory Tapes - Player Piano
4 - PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
3 - Cults - Cults
2 - Tennis - Cape Dory
1 - John Maus - We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves

Songs
Glasser - Ring (Delorean remix)
Summer Camp - I Want You
Neon Indian - Polish Girl
Rhianna - Only Girl
Shocking and Stunning - Salvia Gravity
Atlas Sound - Te Amo

Best Books I read this year
Sherman Alexie's The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven blew my mind. And I loved David Foster Wallace's Consider the Lobster

Favourite Films of the Year
Midnight in Paris was delightful. Source Code and Tyson were probably my fav dvds

Food items of the Year
Anything from La Panella (vegan bakery!), Log Cabin nachos, Gina's bagels, vegan licorice all sorts from Northcote IGA

Best Kebab
Abbott House of Falafel (aka 'King of Falafel'), Coburg. $5 of incredible

Girlfriend of the Year
Gina - Practically Perfect in Every Way

Suburb of the Year
A tie between the wonderful St Albans, Chch; and Northcote, Vic

Art Gallery Shows of the Year
Stabs @ Backwoods
Nior @ No Vacancy NGV
Eveline Tarunadjaja @ No Vacancy QV

Clothing of the Year
Probably a really nice fitting white polo I got from Tasman Traders. Also, cut-off shorts were the only way to short in '11

Most Aussie Thing
A drunk guy saying 'fair dinkum' regarding my review of Tyson

Event of the Year
Without doubt the earthquake. Changed most parts of my life, and was a very big motivator for the runner up: moving to Melbourne

Overall Trend
Learning that things will happen and people will do things that are totally outside your control, so you've just got deal with it the best you can

Moments

It feels like the last 24hrs have been quite interesting in a bunch of ways. Yesterday I went to the Northcote Library, and then the Fairfield one to track down a book about infinity by David Foster Wallace. The afternoon was very warm, and I stayed inside, read, and cut pretty shapes in paper. I went for a walk down High St and looked in some fancy boutiques. I saw a girl I work with, and the girl who cut my hair - real community feeling.
In the evening I cycled in to town and explored the old Carlton Brewery. It was pretty cool, and I watched the sunset from the roof. I walked around town for a few hours, up and down laneways, and had some dinner. Town was busy, the air was warm. I walked up a dark, intriguing stairway, only to set off a deafening alarm. -10 Ninja Points. I walked back to my bike calmly and headed home.
At home, Mr Cat caught a baby mouse. My flatmate Tangle grabbed the cat, and I held the mouse. It looked okay, but must've been in shock as it gasped half a dozen times, and then was still. Watching a baby mouse die in your hands is so surreal, and achingly affecting.
Today I rode in to town with the expressed aim of winning a bike from a mobile phone company. They were doing a scavenger hunt. I checked the net at the State Library, read the clue and figured it was only a few blocks away. I jogged over, found the bike (and company reps) down an alley, and won a bike! Neato. I rode up to Fitzroy and met Netta for lunch ($4 pizza!). We talked and walked around, it was really great. Later on, I met Annie for an early dinner (tacos!). It was really nice spending time with some of my favourite people. I rode home, and went to work

Bands

As mentioned previously, I like having stuff on my wrists, so perhaps it was only a matter of time before one of them was tattooed. I'd been wanting some wrist bands since seeing the singer from A Dead Forest Index, and also Hugh Jackman in The Fountain. On Halloween I went to visit Kiri and her fiance Mj, the latter being a tattoo artist. The band widths are related by the mathematic/aesthetic idea of the Golden Ratio, which is believed to be pleasing to the human eye. In a really neat self-confirming way, I didn't have a ruler when drafting the lines, and just went with what looked best. Measuring them later they were spot on.
 

Northcote

I've moved house. I'm now living in Northcote, and it's great. I live with three other vegans, and my work is only a few minutes bike ride away (instead of 30+). It's a really nice suburb, lots of cool places to check out, and riding to town is easy. The people I'm living with are super nice, and it feels like this has been a good move (both logistically and... emotionally, I think). I'd been in a bit of a strange mood for the last few weeks (didn't really feel like I had nice stuff to post about), but things are back to normal. Now it's time to meet some cool Northcote people and make the most of living here.

Summer plans

I was walking through town the other day, and it was warm and sunny and beautiful, and I felt like flying through the air. I felt really positive, and like things were fizzing and shaking, trying to leap out of me. Here are some plans for the summer months, some which will definitely happen (*), and others which range from achievable to 'pipe dream'.

1 *Move to a cool new flat in Northcote with three other vegans. Close to work, and a great part of town, yeah!
2 *Go to Melbourne Laneway and Camp A Low Hum
3 *Work over Christmas/New Year at the cinema
4 *Get a tattoo
5 Paste stuff pretty much every night
6 Find work at a cafe, max out my barrista skills
7 Swim more/learn to swim
8 Pash 100-200 babes. One a day would be pretty ideal
9 Explore more abandoned buildings
10 Collaborate with people creatively
11 Learn a few bits of some European languages
12 *Ride my bike heaps

How is your summer looking? If you'd like to be a part of any of these (especially 8 or 10), hit me up

Conceive

A while back, my friend Kiri called. What I'd not mentioned before, but is relevant to this story, is that we broke up because she realised she was gay. We're still really close, and her and her fiance MJ have a lot of gay friends. She mentioned that a couple she knew were looking for a sperm donor so they could have a baby. They'd described the kind of person they were seeking, and Kiri decided that I could be up for the job. It was a big suggestion, and something I thought about a great deal. I thought about 'fatherhood', and what it would mean in this instance. I thought about having a child that was biologically mine, but that I'd not nurture. I thought a little about morals, and felt that the 'right thing' would be to help and donate. And at the most basic level, I saw this as an opportunity to help by providing a key ingredient, so agreed to meet Bec and Michelle.
And it was great. We were on the same page about everything. I would be an uncle/godfather kind of guy; they'd be very open with the child about where they came from; I'd be the donor, they'd be the parents (on the birth certificate, etc). They're a lovely couple, we were all happy, and agreed to go for it. I made two donations of Baby Magic (he he) for Bec, who was going to carry. I guess we make a good combination, as she's pregnant!
They're hoping for a boy, and are due in June. I knew that I was happy for them, but when I noticed my arms flailing and that I was shouting the news to Fran, I guess it really hit home that I'm a part of something really cool and special. I'll keep you posted.