Campus A Low Hum 2010

I went to Campus A Low Hum over the weekend, and it was amazing! One of the best weekends I've ever had. There were so many amazing bands, and cool stuff that happened; it was so much fun.

Some of my favourite bands were The Ruby Suns, Signer, Parking Lot Experiments, A Dead Forest Index, East Brunswick All Girls Choir, So So Modern, Dan Deacon, Polka Dot Dot Dot, Jens Lekman and Tommy Ill. Phew! Lots of amazing bands, and super sweet times.

Amongst all the things that happened, there was a mixtape swap. I crocheted a CD cover, and I think it looked sickeningly cute. I'll upload the mix shortly. I put the blog address on the track list - if you received my mix, it would be nice if you left a comment.

My wrists

Here is a picture of my wrists. My sister and I were talking over chistmas - her wrists are adorned with jewelery from the store where she works; mine are a little less expensive.

1 - A friendship bracelet my friend Hollan made for me.

2 - A piece of bungy cord I found on the floor in the lounge, which I wrapped around itself, making it self adjusting.

3 - The skinny part of an old neck tie, safety pinned together. I've worn this (and predecessors) for years.

I think it adds a bit of life to my fairly slender wrists.

Days

I feel like I have much to talk about, and at the same time, right now, I feel like I've got nothing to say.

My friend Sophie went back to Adelaide today. I'd had coffee with her on Sunday. All I could say as I farewelled her, was "Hold on to your dreams. It's okay to want to do everything - I know you will". Sometimes I feel like a motivational speaker.

On Friday, some bands played at our flat. It was Part Two of our Friday Kitchen series, but as it was sunny, bands played on the front lawn. I had a really great night with my friends, especially talking with Daniela. She's amazing, and her and her girlfriend Elsie, as a couple, are just wonderful.

My friend Alana gave me a beautiful second hand tie when I went to visit her. I feel lucky to be her friend. She's able to give the most amazing advice, and sees the world in a wholly unique way.

Beth is in town, and it's been lovely to spend time with her. We explored some cool graffiti-laced alleys, and found a cheerleader baton with flashing lights in a rubbish bin. I can't imagine why someone would throw it away.

I had coffee with my friend Joh. She is lovely, and I feel a real connection with her - I talk about things far deeper than I normally do with many other people.

I have many beautiful girls in my life, and I love them all, in special and wonderful ways.

Eamonn and I interview each other

My flatmate Eamonn and I are good friends, and we decided to interview each other. He blogs at Eamonn's Fashion/Craft blog.

1. You and I didn't know each other very well before moving in - Can you remember what you first thought of me?

Yes I first met you sometime mid year 2008, I didn't like you very much from my first impression. To be honest you just seemed too happy to be real, everything seemed to have a positive outlook and it just didn't feel genuine to me, how could someone be actually be like that? But then I realised after spending a bit more time with you that it was completely genuine and I was being very unfairly judgmental. Once I spent even more time with you I realised you were human, not everything was always completely positive but you always try to put things in a good light. I think this is one of your best qualities and I am really happy that I didn't hold onto my first impressions of you because you are now one of my best friends.

2. Although there's some overlap, out musical tastes are quite different. What kind of things in music appeal to you?

It is quite hard to say what kind of things appeal to me. I think it is similar things to what appeal to other people; Beauty, emotion, catchy hooks, lyrics I can relate to or find them funny, and intensity of the music. I just think I see different things in music than some other people. For example I see A Silver Mt Zion as an incredibly beautiful band despite the out of key vocals, droney chanting, and strange song structure. Pretty much all music I listen to has something from the list above which appeals to me.

3. What would be in your ideal sandwich?

This is an amazing question. It is a difficult question. Firstly It would have to have hummus, I'm loving feta and baby spinich hummus at the moment so it would probably be that. Sundried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, falafel, sweet chili sauce, garlic mayonnaise, some sort of salad made from lots of different types of greenery and salt and vinegar chips which go in every sandwich. The bread would have olives, sundried tomatoes and garlic baked into it.

4. Did you have a favourite book from your childhood?

I was a huge fan of Dr. Suess books. I think my favourite was The Sneetches and Other Stories closely followed by The Lorax. This was probably the beggining of my hippyish roots.

5. What do you think are some things that will make you feel happier?

I am no longer really sure, I think change makes me feel happy for a short time. I have had a dream of moving cities which I have kept mostly to myself, I'm not sure if this would help at all but getting a fresh start would be nice, I am just worried that If I move I will no longer have any of the support networks that I have built up in Christchurch, I would be too scared to live without them. The other thing which I for some reason think would make me feel happier although I know it wont is having a girlfriend, someone who can be close to me and I can share anything with. I know however that happiness comes from within not from external factors, I need to be more comfortable with myself and who I am in order to be happy and I have no idea how I will manage to do this, it will probably take a lot of work.

6. What frustrates you the most about other people?

That people are ok with what they are doing, the idea they have that one person cannot make a difference, that they are the same as everyone else. The lifestyle most people live (including me) is sickening. I wish people would think more carefully about what they are consuming, where it has come from, who they are hurting, how much resources it takes. Just because it is easy, legal and everyone else does it, it does not make it morally right. We are the reason the world is like the way it is, the consumers, big business may be evil but we are the ones that have made it like that. If we didnt make it possible for them to be like that they wouldnt be able to survive. I just wish people would think more.

7. Finish this sentence however you like, Love is....

...incredibly confusing and probably not worth it.

8. Do you have a favourite movie? why is it your favourite?

I have a favourite movie that I haven't actually watched in a long time. Dancer in the Dark by Lars Von Trier. I like pretty much everything about it, the storyline is incredibly sad but amazing, I like the music, the incredibly lo fi way it is shot. But I think the reason why I love it so much is the memories I have of watching it. The first time I saw it was with my class in Denmark when on a class exchange in Copenhagen, the second time I saw it was with Clare and her family one night when I used to spend a lot of time with her. I think it was the first time I held her hand.

9. Can you draw a picture of yourself in MS Paint

See attatched

10. What do you think the future holds for Eamonn Marra?

At the moment I can't see anything changing from where I am at the moment. I have tried to change my life and I always end up back in the same situation, so I have given up trying to change and just waiting to see what changes naturally. Long term I would like to do a lot more work for not for profits, working more with Red Panda and music in Christchurch. I would perhaps like to get into local body politics at some stage to try and work with the Christchurch community, I think community is really important and it is something which isn't looked after anywhere near enough. I would also like to live overseas again for a while, If I don't return to this city I would like to do similar things in whichever place I end up

You can read Eamonn's interview of me here

Perception

On Saturday, I had a really fantastic day - Josh, Alice, Fran, T'Nealle and I went for a drive to the carnival in Timaru. It was a really nice day, fantastic company, and a nice wee adventure (I've realised that I don't like cars, but I love being driven places). You can read a nice story about the carnival here.

We had to head back to Chch, as I had a four hour shift at work. Afterwards, my friends picked me up, and we went to see some bands play in Lyttleton. It was a really great day.

At home, lying in bed, I felt the strangest sensation. I was listening to National Radio, and felt quite aware, but it felt like my consciousness was tiny, and my memories were immense. The 'me' seemed to be absolutely minuscule, a microscopic idea somewhere down inside my physical self. Meanwhile, I was confronted by gigantic, swirling memories of my day, that grew so large as to completely surround me. I thought about Alice, not what she looked like or anything, but 'her self', being so infinitely larger than how I was feeling. These thoughts changed - and grew and grew. It seemed like it should be really scary, but it felt quite natural.

After half an hour, I rolled over and went to sleep.

Hapy New Year, Wellington

After spending a week in Palmerston North, I drove down to Wellington with my parents on the second to last day of 2009. We had lunch on the waterfront, and then went in to town to find Beth. We met up on Cuba St, and had an amazing hug. I don't think I could ever get sick of seeing her after an absence, though I'd probably prefer not to be absent from her at all. Here are some things that happened:

-Beth and I found a large sheet of bubble wrap. The kind with the big bubbles. We popped them as I walked her to work.

-On New Year's Eve, I spent the day with my bros - Simon, Adam, Luke, and Derek. We played Trivial Pursuit (I won $4 from Simon), and Mario Kart 64. I got very drunk, and had a terrible hangover on the first day of the year.

-Beth moved in to a new flat, which has a cool deck, a nice window box, and little bedrooms.

-We watched Me and You and Everyone We Know, District 9, and The Devil and Daniel Johnston. I enjoyed each one more than the previous one.

-I had some beers with Simon. He is an outstanding guy, and a great friend. He may be moving to Chch, which is exciting.

-Unicon XV, the world unicycling champs, were on while I was in town. I saw the team artistic final, and the downhill - both were pretty amazing.

-Simon and I bumped in to Darian and had a cup of tea. Darian is one of my favourite people I know in Christchurch, and he and his girlfriend Lucy were planning their year's on napkins.

-Beth and I typewrote messages on to white address label stickers, and placed them around the CBD. Artistic/inspirational/surreal quotes, and messages that you can imagine I would write. It was awesome.

-I played Wii Sport Resort with Beth and her friends. I was quite good at frisbee, and canoeing.

-I saw Ponytail and Telepathe play. Ponytail were an amazing live band - everything I'd hoped they'd be.

It was a great holiday.

Flying

I'm back in Christchurch now - I was in Palmerston North for christmas, and spent an amazing week in Wellington. I'll blog about the latter later, but I'll just write about my return journey here.

I met up with Simon and Luke, who drove me to the airport. "Thanks for everything", Beth and I said to each other, which is all we can ever say, instead of goodbye.

The plane out of Wellington took off steeply, over the city. I had a window seat, and just stared. I could see the Basin Reserve, and Beth's house. The plane turned around to head south. Flying over the Cook Strait, the water was covered in white caps, which looked like an immense school of fish; or an immense collection of rubbish.

Nearing Christchurch, a nor'wester was blowing, so the plane flew over the whole city. It was so beautiful. I saw my flat, and followed the path of the Avon River. "It's a good day for flying," the air hostess had said, echoing one of my favourite Belle & Sebastian songs.

Beth once said, "I don't know how people can read or fall asleep on a plane. It's so fucking beautiful."

2009 In Review - Pt 4

Welcome to 2010! Two thousand and ten. Twenty ten. I've not had internet access while I was in Wellington, so here's my last look at the previous year.

• I was a subject for my friend Alice's photography project Learning to Live Here. It's a wide angle shot of my bedroom, which looks quite cluttered, in an interesting way.
• Fell in love. Had my heartbroken.
• The Crackhouse 5 played a show in my bedroom.
• I had some goals in Mid-September. Achieved - interview one of the Brunettes, not wash my hair for the rest of the year (seriously. Say, "goodbye, shampoo", and "hello, shiny, healthy hair"). Not Achieved - interview one of the Mint Chicks, interview Gareth Campesinos!
• I became the kind of person I've always wanted to be.
• Saw some really good bands play, and heard lots of cool music.
• I started writing this blog, and made blog friends/crushes.
• Told some of my favourite people "I love you".