Lo-Fi Way

The funniest thing I have seen all day

2009-10-01T09:55:42Z

Four grown men singing the Bel Biv DeVoe classic "Poison" acapella. Thank you GLEE for bringing the gleeeee!!!

Seriously.... what is going on with Cadburys!!!

2009-09-30T04:49:34Z

Been a Lindt freak for a while, mostly dark chocolate... love love love that stuff. Lately though I have been craving the good old Cadbury's milk chocolate. Had not bought any for a while, relying on the grocery package each week to have some baby Lindt bars or whatever was looking good to Mumsy when she net-shopped.

So the other day, in anticipation of a munchies night, I went and bought the most sickeningly sweet milk chocolate bar I could think of, Cadbury Snack. Noticed that the packaging was now a thin cardboard envelope instead of the plasticky-paper wrap of old. Interesting development maybe, not sure how it rates environmentally, but no longer will you get the odd fluke 'double-wrapped' bar that was like a little bit of Wonka Magic in your own home.

What shocked me, and I still bought the bar despite being horrified, was that the 'Family' block, reposing in its new cardboard envelope, was now a paltry 220gm !!! WTF Cadbury !!! Where is my other 30gms of unnecessary fat and sugar !!! The Snack bar is filled chocolate, each filling sweeter and pinker than the last, and the new 'thinner' bar does not hold the same sweet ratio of chocolate to sugar-creme... not even close.

And ALL the bars have changed to the new thinner, lighter, cardboard wrapped atrocity. But the price ? oh that remains the same.

CD # 1

2009-09-28T05:01:33Z

WALKING ON A DREAM - EMPIRE OF THE SUN

Cover art is awesome. That's about as far as I have got. Lappies CD player has decided to die so I have to rip it onto another computer, stick files on USB thingy then add files to lappie and import to iTunes and then sync to iPod. Such a chore.

Did wake up at some point yesterday afternoon to find my Mumsy playing it while she cooked. Great, it's 'mum' music. Actually, my mum has fairly decent taste... she loves Ben Harper for example, and Pink (who doesn't love Pink, really).

Am already planning second purchase, tossing up between The Gossip (US) and Ladyhawke (NZ).

Ughhh.. I can't stop sneezing and my snoz itches madly. Resin fumes are not helping.

They're Their There

2009-09-25T12:10:57Z

They're taking their picnic basket over there.

It is not rocket science grammartards. Print media, you know I'm talking about YOU!

How I plan to kill the guilty feelings

2009-09-24T13:15:39Z

I read a blog many moons ago, back in my south isle days, by a guy who was trapped in the new technoworld of having anything and everything (of a musical nature) you ever wanted RIGHT NOW. He wrote about how this apparent abundance of instant access file sharing actually lessened his experience of and appreciation for the music he was listening to. As he collected more music song by song, measuring success by the size of his iTunes library, he lost the intangible benefits of the tangible things like album art and liner notes, or just the experience of hearing the music the way the artist intended: from first song to last, a trip through a sublime musical garden, carefully plotted to provide a distinct aural journey. With the occasional bonus of an unlisted final track hiding behind 17 minutes and 47 seconds of silence... the kind of surprise that leaps out from your speakers right when you had forgotten the album was even playing in the first place.

His solution to this problem of over-abundance was to go on a musical diet of sorts, self-enforced scarcity. He decided to, for the period of 1 year, purchase just 1 album a month, and to listen to that album, start to finish, and that album only, until he knew it backwards, frontwards and sunday-sidewards. Or until he got thoroughly sick of it and the month-meter ticked over and he could buy a new album. I really would have liked to repost his blog here, but unfortunately my forays on the googlator have produced no results of relevance, just a shit-load of economic forums, god-loonies and random hypnosites (you will obey the hypno-toad!).

Basically, I had completely forgotten about his blog. It made an impression on me at the time, but I had recently purchased my first iPod (the white shuffle, $220nzd for 520mb, it was early 2005 I think?) and was only just discovering the unearthly delights of Limewire+Broadband+iTunes. Since then I have embraced file sharing with the gusto of a gourmand in a Tuscan deli... no song was too random, no artists work free from my desire to pillage and plunder the hard-drives of my fellow audiophiles. I eventually got jaded, hitting the "What's New" tab more and more often to find something fresh (an 80 year old ragtime song complete with background hiss, that's mad cool!) something tasty (Norwegian gansta rap totally lacking in irony, awesome!) something I hadn't heard before (wait, is that Arabic or Aramaic?). My iTunes reached critical mass and my Mac Mini suicided. Not to worry, by then I had a 30gig iPod video, juuuuuust big enough for my music collection, but only if I removed all other file types and podcasts... so I did. I had a problem.

I then moved back to Australia, and into a household where music was regularly purchased and constantly played. My iPod was the little engine that could, and did, despite repeated interactions with the downside of gravity and two replacements of the battery. I got a laptop, transferred my multitude of files (bolstered by the addition of housemate music) and promptly had my iPod stolen from my (stupidly) unlocked car.

**for the person who stole my iPod, I really hope you appreciated what you got with that little powerhouse and didn't just sync it all away**

So this brings me up to the last year or so of musical laxity. I have been most remiss in following anything other than the loudest musical trends. I love the new 'more 80's than the 80's' sound, and I love a lot of what is happening in NZ/OZ music, but my latest iPod (8gig nano) suffers from the inability to hold my entire collection. So I have reverted to the high-rotation of about 200 songs, most of which have been downloaded as just that 'songs'. I can't remember the last time I bought a CD. I think it was 2006, Blunted in the Backroom by The Nextmen. Or even the last time I listened to an entire CD start to finish, maybe Xmas 2007? The Fratelli's or early Kings of Leon.

My point here, and I do have one, is that I am now aware of what that guy was trying to say (and do) with his blog. I think I have it all, and I really just have empty musical experiences, songs absent of context.

Then there is the file-sharing = stealing argument. Recently this exploded into a minor war of tweets on the twatterverse, with Lily Allen as frontspiece for the "independent artists" vs nasty little downloaders and "big ticket musicians" who give it all away. Some independent artists have come out in favour of the file sharing system and some big ticket musos have put their 2 cents behind the labels. I still don't have a definitive view on downloads, but... I do think that I have lost when I thought I was winning. And now to my point. I too am going to go the lo-fi way. My guilty tummy rumbles shall cease and desist as I hereby state, with the interweb as my witness, that, for a period no shorter than 12 months, I will NOT download music. I will then one-up my simmering conscience by following this with the decree that, finances permitting, I shall purchase one (1) album each fortnight, and shall listen to that aforementioned album as its creator intended, start to finish, high rotation. I may even have to down-tech to a discman to achieve this aim (can you still buy discmans?), so be it!

The third and final caveat in this challenge to my voracity is that the purchased album shall be by either a Kiwi or Aussie artist. I have no sympathies for Jay-Z and his 99 problems, 'cause I just know his album sales ain't one. Lily too can wave the flag of independence all she likes, but it don't change the fact that her "dragged up from the mire of MySpace" story was complete EMI engineered poppycock. Canadians may get an occasional look-see, or indeed anyone from the smaller isles (scilly, man or sark for example). Oh fudge it, basically NZ/OZ get initial attention, then all others are open for the running except for US/UK. Nah, I will take anything I like the sound of.

Oh, and I shall post a review of each album on here after having given it a complete and thorough "listening to". Watch this space.

Yours in musical perpetuity.... The Born-Again Downloader. (TV shows however... game on).

Post from mobile portal m.livejournal.com

Wearing the cranky pants in a dust storm

2009-09-23T05:54:09Z

The dust storm was cool at first, the incredible orange light and tiny little white sun. Now my throat kills, I can taste grit on my teeth and it's all making me too cranky for words.

Then I get an email requesting a proof of artwork for a duplicate order when NOTHING has changed and I have just emailed them (okay, a stupid fucking HER) to say the order has been sent. Seriously, you couldn't have asked for a proof when you placed the order?. Ughh... you are so not worth the hassle and I cannot figure out a way to reply to your email without sounding like I am lecturing a 3 year old.

RANT DONE. Feel better? No, not really.

goddamnit my phone just died !!

2009-09-21T08:27:41Z

was going to write this whole epic that i saved as a note in my phone last night but its dead and i should go home and have dinner and pretty soon the alarm is gonna set itself so whats the point really. i should try and show up to work before midday once in a while and then I might just get a few things done.

been awhile

2009-09-20T12:30:13Z

Just trying this out from the mobi ... since free data is something the telco was nice ( read: dumb ) enough to offer.

Facebook is fun and all but I miss the unrestrained glee of LJ fandom.

Wonder if this will work? Should I switch to mobile posting. Hmmm too much to think about.

bye bye Zeppo

2007-03-30T04:39:16Z

Today my car went to it's new owner. I traded it for cash. Now I have a Prelude shaped hole in my heart. I miss him already. Not having a car sux! I feel totally lost and stranded and I had to walk to the post-office, and I have tossed out all my walking shoes so now I have blisters and WAH WAH WAH.

So to my car, the adorable Zeppo, I say thank-you. Thanks for never breaking down at an intersection. Thanks for not rolling down that embankment I skidded over when I spun out on loose wet gravel. Thanks for getting me from A to B to C and further in relative comfort and security. Thanks for starting every-time I turned the ignition (except for that 1 time at Uni... but I am over that). Thanks for the awesome growly noise you made when you hit 7000rpm and shifted gears. Most of all, thanks for not crapping out before I got the chance to sell you on.

I should also say sorry. I'm sorry for letting your oil run too low. I'm sorry for spending about 6 months only filling the tank when you hit empty. I'm sorry for driving you home the day I got you with the handbrake on. I'm sorry for immediately backing you into a tree when I first parked you. I'm sorry for every subsequent scrape and bump and dent that I gave you due to my utter inability to park. Finally, I'm sorry for not keeping you and taking you to Australia with me... but that was seriously unfeasible.

We had some great times together Zeppo. All those long straight runs on country roads. The thrill of whipping you around the twists and turns of the Port Hills and Southern Alps. The time we out-raced a motorbike at the lights... hehe, he was surprised! And all the day to day moments of zoom-zoom fun we had running around town with the sunroof open and the wind blowing and me singing along (very badly) to whatever latest tune I was thrashing to death on my iPod.

Bye Zeppo. Here's to your new owner loving you as much as I did.

A huge Hi !!! and *BIG WAVE* to the new people on my friends list. Sorry I have not gotten round to commenting and introducing myself properly yet. I'm moving country in 2 more sleeps and things are getting a little frantic due to my procrastination. I promise to get up to speed as soon as I get moved and have internet access. I am stoked to have you all on my flist and I look forward to getting to know y'all better very soon. Yay for Supernatural! The best way to meet very cool people :D

In Eric Kripke's Thrall

2007-03-26T13:13:17Z

2.17

Wow. It's taken me this long just to get over that episode enough to even say what I thought of it. I think I have already flogged Silent Lucidity harder than I did Renegade. The opening notes still tear me up.

Eric Kripke, you trully deserve the title of magnificent bastard. Joss Whedon himself couldn't have done better. 'Heart' just ripped me to shreds. I was totally lulled by the brother humour, the werewolf angle and of course .. the hottest SEX ever!!! (seriously, Sam/Madison blows Dean/Cassie right out of the water). The 2 J's really really knocked it out of the park this time.

The final 6 minutes I watched over and over. And I cried every damn time. So much pain. Tear soaked Sam looking to Dean, asking him to wait, Dean's face as the shot is heard. Arghhhhh!!

In other news. I have sold my car. It goes Friday morning. Gave my DVD's and CD's to Sarah. Sold my books. Tomorrow is 'tackle the wardrobe' day. The goal is to have it and my dresser and set of drawers empty by dinner time. Then it's off to have the first good-bye dinner with my Bio-Dad, Step-Mum and other non-blood-related sorta family members. I really don't like saying goodbye, I'm too used to it, I always feel like I don't seem sad enough or something.

This time next week I will be on the Sunshine Coast. Getting ripped with the cuz and working out how to show-up at my Dad's to say 'Hi, I'm back!'. This is my lame-arsed way of avoiding having to deal with him on the phone. I figure by just showing up out of the blue he will be too surprised to get all upset about me quitting Uni for a semester. Hmm... it's gonna be interesting if nothing else.

Also, ummm 300 .. hello, I so cannot wait for that movie to get here!!! Hot, sweaty, half-naked and bloody men.... yes please. Plus, Gerard Butler... *guh*... I've had the biggest crush on him ever since seeing Dear Frankie. That, and Black Sheep (a kiwi horror movie about genetically engineered bloodthirsty sheep) are pretty much the only trailers I have seen lately that have made me consider actually going to the movies.

My bags are packed and I'm ready to go...

2007-03-20T12:39:35Z

Okay, not entirely. Bags are not yet packed. But I am ready to go.

In a move which has shocked pretty much everyone I know except for my mother, who is used to my rash decisions by now, I have decided to go back to Australia a little earlier than previously planned. Actually, alot earlier. In less than two weeks I will once again board a jet plane with all my worldly possessions distilled into one (far too small) backpack and a carry-on.

I am going home.

To Townsville. A place I once swore I would never again live in. Those types of blanket statements always seem to come back and bite me in the arse. Atleast summer is almost over. So I will not die of heat exhaustion as soon as I disembark the plane. I am flying into Brisbane on VirginPacific, which I hate. But 4 hours of cramped and noisy misery is a small price to pay for getting the hell away from this country. I will not even complain about the screaming baby that will inevitably be seated right next to me. I really don't like people who fly with small children. I feel sorry for the kids, but even sorrier for me having to listen to them.

I plan to spend about a week or so in Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast visiting friends and family before getting another flight north. Probably on VirginBlue, 'cause they are cheap and usually available for any date. Then, after another 2 hours of cramped, noisy misery (I have yet to fly long-haul, the thought of 24 hours on a plane terrifies me, I think I would go mad and try to open the door) I will be in beautiful, sunny and warm tropical north Queensland. Living with my mum (and her husband who hates me) until I get a flat and a job.

So now it is a mad dash to clean up, get rid of all the sundry crap I have collected over the last 3 years, sell my car, find someone to take over my lease, and cancel my enrolment at uni. I have already listed my car and room on trademe (NZ version of eBay). Hopefully someone will want to buy my rusty hunk of junk, and hopefully I will get my bond back... 'cause that is all I will have to keep me fed until I find work.

The worst part so far has been telling everyone, it's hard to say good-bye, and sad making. I know they are disappointed in me not staying and sticking it out until the end of the uni year. I am going to miss alot of people here. I am also going to miss NZ. Just not as much as I currently miss Australia. I will come back again I know. If I make it to retirement age, this is where I would want to live, I even have a spot picked out on the West Coast where I will build a cosy little house and fill it with cats and Franklin Mint collectibles. Heh... there's a slogan for ya, NZ: Great place to retire (shitty place to be young).

Ten terrific things that start with 'T'!

2007-03-18T21:04:27Z

Okay... here goes... from the lovely sing_outloud91 who gave me the letter T and the rules of the game.

Temptation - 'Cause you so want to, but you shouldn't, but you want to, 'cause it's so tempting
Toast - I think toast is the best thing since sliced bread *is lame*
Tool - Yes, colour me bogan, but I love Tool and have done since I was 16
Towels - All warm and fluffy, giant bathsheet towels are heaven in woven form
Twix - Hmm... a gimme, only chocolate bar I could think of that starts with a T, yummy though
Ties - I don't have to wear them, and I think they look hot
Toungues - Useful and fun, couldn't talk without them for a start
Telephones - Maddening at times, but a century (+) old technological gift that just keeps giving
Tobacco - I love the smell and the smoke
Tomatoes - By far and away my favourite vegetable that is actually a fruit

Kids at home, you can play along too! Just leave me a comment and I will give you a letter, then you can make your own list of Ten Things you love. *joy*

It has been a while since I last posted

2007-03-18T16:43:04Z

And yet, although stuff has happened, I can't really think of anything to write about at this stage. Then again, it is 4.23 in the morning, which is really 5.23 'cause daylight savings ended last night. I should be asleep. Heh.. not likely. The hamster in my head just keeps running on that damn wheel.... round and round and round and round and, well, you get the picture.

So here is what I posted just now in 5gratitudes

5 things that made me happy today

There was a big storm today with rain, hail, thunder and lightning.
I saw the clumsiest cat in the world try to catch a moth and instead land on its butt.
A friend made me toasted hot-cross buns with lots of butter.
I spoke to two friends who are overseas, and both said they miss me.
The guy at the petrol station correctly identified my accent (this does not happen often).

SPN 2*16

Okay, I really enjoyed this episode. I have yet to watch it again, and most reviews/recaps I have read suggest it gets even better with repeat viewing... so thats on my to do list.
I loved the darkness, the woods and creepy log cabin/abandoned house etc. Such horror movie staples, complete with damsel in distress.
I loved the slight exaggeration of Sam and Dean, the continued and expanded upon theme of their differing views towards those they hunt.
The final line slayed me. The sunrise shot at the end was beautifully coloured. Trisha Helfer was an excellent guest star.
Dean got some classic lines. My fave was 'you can call me Dean'. Sam got some great Captain Empathy moments. Especially when explaining the 'why' of ghosts to Molly.
I did not watch the preview for next week and still I managed to get a little bit spoiled. Oh well. Still can't wait for Friday.

Today In Review

2007-03-08T10:06:58Z

Happy Making :)

Spongebob Squarepants is back on! and in other TV related news... Grey's Anatomy did not suck.
My 4 hour lab only took 2 1/2 hours ... so I got to watch Spongebob *glee*
I had an afternoon nap and dreamt I lived in a gorgeous apartment with all the girls from The L Word
kroki_refur posted a new chapter of The Crow in The Cradle AND With Spit and A Prayer bliss... thy name is fanfic!
I went shopping and bought underwear .. yay! and a Starbucks Caramel Frappucino ... evil!yay!
Parked on campus almost all day and did not get a fine ... take that campus security
Had a totally awesome Evolution lecture all about geological time and fossils and stuff, it was fun+
Saw this picture ... neck porn. Mmmmmmm neck neck neck neck neck ... *guh* I didn't lick the screen I swear (wanted to though).

Happy Taking :(

Being stuck behind a really nice new sporty little MG ... doing 40 ... in a 60 zone ... with the left indicator permanently on. I'm all 'so, not that street, maybe the next one eh?, no, not that one either.. bit lost are you? still indicating... still doing 40, are you even in there? oh... your an old hat-wearing male. Nuff said'. Bastard does not deserve a car that sweet.
I bought a pack of cigarettes. Total time "quit" ... less than 2 days.
My nose started bleeding spontaneously in lab... we were already playing with (unspecified) mammal blood... it was a blood-spattered mess.
Car registration expired ... boo.

Munted .... just totally frakkin' munted!

2007-03-04T10:27:44Z

So there is a lunar eclipse soon.

Do you see NZ on that map... ya, thats right, it's in the 'No Eclipse Visible' zone. I'm sad now.

But as compensation... today I got to see the most spectacular sunset. Probably the best I have seen in a good year. It just fully lit up the sky with gold which darkened through all shades of fire until it was a deep burnished red. Seriously AWESOME !!!. I wish I had a digital camera, then I would now have pic's to show you... oooh... I wonder if I can find any on google-images.

*runs off to trawl the interweb*

Okay. So I didn't find any from today. But I found a few that look pretty much like what I saw this evening.

Kinda like this in the beginning.

What it looked like towards the end.

And then Bye Bye sun.... see you tomorrow.

Yeah... that made my whole day! I was driving at the time. Led Zeppelin blaring in my ears, cruising along, so busy checking out the sunset in the rearview mirrror that I topped out at just over 70 in a 50 zone... on the same street where I last got done for speeding no less... not smart! So I did the sensible thing and pulled over just to watch it set before heading on my merry way.

In other news. Today I politely informed my body that, due to budgetary (and waistline) constraints, it is forthwith going to be denied its two recent drugs of choice. Nicotine and McDonalds. It did not take the news well, and immediately stormed off to have a cigarette (2nd last) to calm down. Following the (oh so delightful) smoke was a goodbye trip to Macca's. Farewell oh purveyor of all that is good, greasy, salty and sweet. No more shall I see your brightly logo'd and spent soft-drink flagons littering my humble residence like the detritus of a giant inflatable sea monkey. In all honesty, I have been mainlining the stuff lately, and that is just sooooooooo not healthy. Hello fruit... long time no see. Yay!

Now it's time for me to try and sell last years text books on TradeMe to get rent money. I love being a student XD

Ooooohhh.... Pretty Bloody Dean in the Moodtheme.... I <3's me some Bloody!Dean.... that man looks damn good in red!

Hmmmm, that was kinda fun.

2007-03-03T04:23:47Z

Get Your Sexy Name

The Week In Review

2007-03-02T13:00:52Z

It's 1 am and I just went out into the kitchen. Front door is open, back door is open. On the kitchen counter there is an empty bottle of vanilla vodka which was full this evening, 13 empty bottles of Red Bull and a rapidly melting bag of ice. On the lounge room table there are 2 pipes and 4 empty beer bottles. This was all consumed by 2 people. Who right now are probably alternating between rapid-heartbeat alertness, and stoned-drunk sleepiness. The ice I put in the freezer, the rest can serve as a nauseating wake-up call in the morning. Bloody kids!

First week of Uni is done and dusted. Apart from the usual administration fuck-ups it went pretty well. Only had 1 lecture that the professor didn't show for. Only had to spend 1 hour in the School of Science waiting for someone to do an enrolment system update that literally took 30 seconds. Only had 1 building black-out during the middle of a computer lab (doing linear regression crap in excel) which, of course, happened BEFORE I saved my work. I still have not purchase my lab manuals due to the extreme inefficiency of the print-house distribution system. Figure I can hopefully take care of that 1st thing monday. All up... no worse than last year XD.

Made some new friends. Whose names all seem to begin with S. Weird. Had a nice little catch-up dinner with last years lab crowd. Most of whom are now majoring in Biol or Geol. I seem to be the lone Chem major. We ate ridiculous amounts of chocolate, got slightly pissy-eyed on champagne, and watched Grey's Anatomy ... during which the only male in the room promptly fell asleep. Poor dear. I have had to face the fact that my fave boy from last year is not returning to study. I will miss him. He was so very tall (6'6"), and had all the same classes as me, so I always knew I was in the right place when I saw him poking up head and shoulders above everyone else. Bye Tibbles :(

The house-of-hell seems to be disintegrating before my eyes. James will be gone in less than 3 weeks. Colleen has disappeared house-sitting somewhere, and I haven't seen Mark for over a fortnight. The landlords have sold us too. Nothing will change really, but now they don't give a crap about things that are breaking left-right-and-centre. Grrrr... I bet the new guys put the rent up as soon as my lease expires. Plus Jackry is back from China, so the car-parking situation has reached critical mass. I nearly ran over a bloody skateboard in the driveway a couple of nights ago! But more amusingly, Ellen's dad came over from china to visit her. He didn't speak any english at all. Now he knows 'Hey/Hi' and 'Howzit Goin' ?' and 'Sweet As'. He's way cool!

Sheesh .. It sounds like someone is chainsawing something a couple of houses down. At 1.30am. Nutso!

In happy making news. I have finally started to convince people here to watch Supernatural. We have only just started on season 1. I think my friends are just getting sick of me hassling them every Friday, 'cause they are starting to watch it!. Tonight it was Skin. An excellent introduction to the show. It was delayed by an hour because of stupid fucking waste-of-airspace Idol. But I got a several txt messages from people saying they were FINALLY watching the show. NZ doesn't count for shit in the grand scheme of ratings etc (I don't even know if they do ratings here?), but atleast I now have people in RL that I can bore stupid with endless commentary on how awesome this show is :D.

Fox news is talking about some college baseball team in a bus crash in Atlanta? Sounds awful, 6 dead. And tornadoes in Alabama killed 5 kids in a school and possibly over 20 all up. Tragic day. Kinda puts my whinging in perspective. Any day above ground is a good day.

On that note, I'm done.

GODDAMNIT!

2007-02-27T15:54:45Z

I just accidentally got spoiled. I am so pissed.

Grrrrrr !!! Seriously. I was on TWoP forums trying to find something out. Instead I get myself slightly spoiled. They have black-out stuff for that you know. Ughh.

Oh well. Just needed to vent. Will be staying well clear of anything remotely SPN related from now until March 15th.

Fanmix - Downloadable (I hope?)

2007-02-24T15:35:49Z

Okay, So I don't really know if this is going to work... but here goes.

This is the first time I have made a fan mix and tried to make it available to others. Also, I have a mac, so I don't even know if that makes any difference to the files. Plus I don't have photoshop or basically any way of making album art or whatever for this. So it's all up just a little pick of songs that are around for the taking if wanted.

The file is 65MB on MegaUpload. There were so so so many songs I wanted to use, as you can imagine, but this is just my first attempt... so it's kind of a jumble of fave SPN songs. A little old, a little new(ish) etc.

I hope it works. If it doesn't, let me know. I probably won't be able to do much about it though, I'm a bit clueless like that. Oh... and if anyone does like it and makes their own cover-art... post it so I can see, I love other peoples creativity :-). I don't even have a printer... yeah... I'm that sad!

Here's the goods.

1) Simple Man - Lynyrd Skynyrd

I have loved this song for many years. Now though, it makes me think of Mary and her sons.

"All I want for you my son,
Is to be satisfied."

*gulp* ... *tears* ... every damn time

2) Soldier of Fortune - Deep Purple

Dean's song. 'Cause he is a soldier, in an unseen war. It's so melancholy.

3) Enter Aretha - Rolf Schraa

This is a mash-up, and was in a very good fanvid that I can no longer find. It's Aretha Franklin and Metallica (Enter Sandman). And it frakkin' rocks out. Plus, it has bits of dialogue. It makes me think of the night that everything changed for the Winchesters and the new life they embraced.

4) Ballroom Blitz - Blue Oyster Cult

Sammy song. Okay, so Dean is more the BOC guy. But this song is trippy and fun. And it makes me think of Sam, so ... umm ... yeah.

"Oh it's been getting so hard
Livin' with the things you do to me, aha
Oh my dreams are getting so strange
I'd like to tell you everything I see"

5) Living After Midnight - Judas Priest

"Got gleaming chrome, reflecting steel, loaded, loaded
Ready to take on every deal, loaded, loaded
My pulse is racing, I'm hot to take
This motors revved up, fit to break

Living after midnight, rockin' to the dawn
Lovin 'til the morning, then I'm gone, I'm gone"

6) Low Rider - War

One for the Metallicar. Maybe she's not officially a low rider. But this song is all about the car love, and SPN's got alot of that.

7) Wake Up - The Arcade Fire

Poor boy's. All getting ripped to pieces wither physically or emotionally or both. This songs lyrics are quite appropriate, but it's also damn anthemic (is that even a word?).

"If the children don’t grow up,
our bodies get bigger but our hearts get torn up.
We’re just a million little god’s causin rain storms
turnin’ every good thing to rust.

I guess we’ll just have to adjust."

8) Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin

I would really like to hear this on the show. Probably not gonna happen. So it's on my playlist instead. It all about Vikings and Valhalla and stuff. It kicks! I can totally see Dean and Sam toolin down some back road with this blasting.

9) Red Right Hand - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

YED's song.

"You'll see him in your nightmares,
you'll see him in your dreams
He'll appear out of nowhere but
he ain't what he seems

You're one microscopic cog
in his catastrophic plan
Designed and directed by
his red right hand"

10) Sinnerman - Nina Simone

On the run from the FBI, the YED, maybe other hunters and even themselves. This song is all about the boys seeking sanctuary and answers.

11) Like A Stone - Audioslave

"By a freeway I confess
I was lost in the pages
Of a book full of death
Reading how we'll die alone
And if we're good we'll lay to rest
Anywhere we want to go"

12) White Room - Cream

John's song. It makes me think of him becoming a hunter, fighting to avenge Mary and waiting to join her again. Now, of course, he's in hell... who knows whats gonna happen next.

"I'll sleep in this place with the lonely crowd;
Lie in the dark where the shadows run from themselves."

13) Laugh, I Nearly Died - The Rolling Stones

Saw Bloody Mary again the other night. I love this song. Did not even remember it being on that episode, but there you go. It plays as the boys are leaving town and Sam sees Jess.

14) 24 - Jem

It's about dying. In 24 hours. Its sad. Makes me think of Dean's acceptance of death as an inevitable part of the job he does.

"Plans that I made
Start to fade
The sun's setting gold
Thought I would grow old,
It wasn't to be"

15) ? - ? ... Random track I found the other day. I can just imagine Dean playing this to piss Sam off... over and over and over again. It makes me giggle. Could just be a temporary lapse of judgement caused by too much caffiene and not enough sleep.

Here 'Tis

ENJOY.

Can you handle your jandal ?

2007-02-22T19:57:54Z

I love collecting colloquialisms. My new favourite is 'Can't handle his jandal'. It means, basically, you are just not hardcore enough to party and stay awake.

I first heard it last night. It's distinctly Kiwi (the use of 'jandal' being the big clue, in Oz they're called 'thongs' in the US I think it's 'flip-flops').We were having a little Thursday night session, and poor Alex definitely could not hande his jandal, he passed out almost mid-sentence slung back in one of the chairs with a bottle of beer resting lightly on his stomach. I commented we should remove the beer. I was naysayed. The beer inevitably ended up on the floor. Alex however proved to be together enough to steal the couch at the first opportunity, and then was completely immovable. I got a phone call from Oz, and spent most of it in giggly hysterics after James came inside, kicked the couch to try and wake Alex up, and only succeeded in completely breaking off one arm. This was AFTER he spent about 15 minutes chasing flies and moths with can of flyspray and a lighter. I am still stunned that he didn't burn the house down. There are a few random scorch marks on the kitchen ceiling though. Landlords gonna love that.

Oh, and incase you are wondering just how many flatmates I have, 'cause I seem to talk about quite a few different people. I have 8 flatmates. Eldest 35+, youngest 20. Everything from dock-workers through to students. Sometimes I think we are just a few shy of a commune round here. Last night our carpark reached critical mass. There are 8 car bays. We had 12 cars and 1 motorbike in there. At one point you had to move a minimum of 3 cars just to get out. Ridiculous. But I am sad. James, the baby of the house, is going to be moving out in a month. To a place that has a double garage that he can use to work on his motorbike. It's one of those terribly fast creatures that does 280k/hr without breaking a sweat, very scary if you ask me. I am going to miss him. He's alot of fun. He can handle his jandal.

Probably the coolest thing I have seen in a good while ...

2007-02-20T09:49:15Z

Influences

Celebrate your failure, 'cause it makes others look good.

2007-02-19T22:44:27Z

Ughh. What a schmozzle. And it's not even midday yet.

So I had my chem final today. I know I have failed. And I know that it is my own fault. But I am surprisingly okay with this. It will fuck my GPA a little, but I already have all my pre-requisites for this years subjects and only did this to get a bit of extra credit. Which I need, but can get later.

I knew I was screwed pretty much straight away. Usually the first few questions are cruisy. Todays exam, yeah, not so much. I looked at the 1st question and mentally said 'oh crap', second question 'double crap', third question 'oh crap crap crappity crap'... and it was all downhill from there. Probably should have gone to more lectures. Studying would have been a good idea too :)

Yesterday I decided to pull an all-nighter. This cunning plan consisted of me having an afternoon nap, getting up at 7.30pm and watching TV until 11.30pm. Then I went to the supermarket to stock up on sugar and caffeinated beverages. Then I spent 5 hours writing unnecessary emails, uploading pics, and playing with my LJ layout. 5am saw me organising my notes. 6am was breakfast and some study. 7am was shower. 7.30am I sat at the kitchen table and wasted 1/2 an hour trying to get 1 answer to match my lecturers before realising her answer was wrong. By 8.30 I gave up, went to uni, ingested MORE caffeine and engaged in chit-chat with fellow students.

Atleast it's fine out and I got to drive home with the sunroof down and Back in Black cranked up real loud!

Now I plan to get some hardcore sleep.

i <3 the brothers mcleod

2007-02-19T12:28:50Z

Spamland #2

I love this soooooooo much!

Confessions of a disintegrating mind

2007-02-18T14:33:19Z

It's 3 am. I cannot sleep. So I'm reading fic and randomly cogitating.

1st Topic

Dean and the chipmunk cheeks. CGI or real?

I was perusing the Television Without Pity forums. I am addicted to the motivator thread. It was how I first read about Supernatural. This was way back when there was a whole series being done based on the Dean Winchester = Chuck Norris gags. I thought, "my, what a fine looking fella" ... and eventually found a way to watch all of season 1's episodes, which I churned through in about 4 days.

But I digress. So, I was reading peoples thoughts on Tall Tales in the forum, which was basically a whole lot of squee and Bobby love with the requisite few naysayers. What surprised me though was how many people seemed to think the whole cheeks choca with candy chunks scene was CGI. I mean, SERIOUSLY! people... have you never played 'Chubby Bunny'? If you had you would know that you can fit a ridiculous amount of food in your mouth and still talk relatively intelligibly.

*note: chubby bunny basically involves filling your mouth 1 marshmallow at a time, and after the addition of each new marshmallow saying 'chubby bunny'. It is inane and stupid but completely hilarious. The winner is the person who can fit the most marshmallows in their mouth and still say chubby bunny. I used to play it with my brothers many many years ago.... umm.... maybe it was only 'our' game. eeeek... cringe*

Conclusion - I will eat an entire bag of marshmallows in 1 sitting if this scene was CGI. I vote method acting all the way!

Topic the 2nd

The Inner!Dean voice.

Has anyone else noticed this? You say something or hear something and your inner monologue all of a sudden turns into Dean?

This happened today. My flatmate has gone on a baking binge. She is not working and not studying and has ALOT of time on her hands. So she bakes almost daily. Mostly muffins, sometimes cakes, sometimes both. Todays muffin flavour was Date and Coffee ... interesting combo, better than it sounds, really.

Anyway, I was generally hanging around the kitchen making a nuisance of myself waiting for the muffins to cool down enought to eat. Then I just had to pick at one. It was very yum. So I said to her ... 'I love your muffins'. Inner!Dean immediately responded with 'that sounds vaguely dirty, but thanks'. I blame the fact that it even sounded vaguely dirty on having watched Mean Girls last night (ya know, the whole 'butter your muffin' scene).... and, ughhh, sorry ... this is now just sleep deprivation rambling. Sheesh!

- Am actually kinda freaking out at the moment 'cause I found out today that I have an exam at 9.30am on Tuesday, which my course handout said was on at 1pm Wednesday. And its worth 50% of total grade. And I did not go to a single lecture all last week. And I have not studied AT ALL. So panic is my middle name right now. Expect a rather maudlin post on Tuesday arvo which I shall write as I cry into a bottle of champagne (I'm all about celebrating failure).

Home ... it's the place where I keep my stuff.

2007-02-18T05:41:13Z

Life has been giving me a good kicking lately. Most of it I deserve. I am financially extremely irresponsible, and just now beginning to pay for my past sins. But over these last couple of days I decided I have had enough. I am making my plans to leave New Zealand. To go back to Australia. My adopted homeland and the place where I still keep most of my stuff.

I moved back to New Zealand on the 28th of February 2004, after living in Australia for over 12 years. During that time I became an Australian citizen, got an Australian passport, and accent, and tax-file number, and student debt, and major drug habit. I came back to NZ to clean-up, dry out, get my shit together. I came back because I thought I was 'homesick', because I had had no choice about leaving back in 1991, because I needed to be far far away from the life I was living in Aus. And it was a good thing to do. I got clean, got sorted, got work and then started a new avenue of study. Now I am so over this place it is not even funny.

New Zealand is beautiful. Scenic and stunning and quite unspoilt. But it is also small, and kinda boring, and a total nanny state (seriously, it's about to become illegal to spank your child.. really!, most kids I see around these days need a damn good smack). The wages suck. The tax and student loan systems bite. The cost of living is (to me) quite disproportionate to income levels. I will admit it. Australia is better than New Zealand. And it took living here for nearly 3 years for me to realise that. To realise just how good I had it in 'the land of plenty'.

I want the things I took for granted back. I want my $20 an hour standard wage. I want my $6000 tax-free threshold. The $35000 student loan repayment threshold. I want my 9% employer paid superannuation. I want the $1500 government paid voluntary contribution bonus. I want my medicare goddamnit. Cheaper consumer goods and better TV programming. I want it all. But most of all I want to go 'home'.

I just REALLY miss my family. I miss hanging out with my brothers. I see them once a year now. It's like I don't even know them sometimes. I miss my neice Ziah. She is nearly 4. I don't want to be an absent aunty. Someone she sees for maybe 2 weeks a year. I want to be someone she grows up knowing. I miss my Dad, and my Mum, and their partners, and Bags our cat. He is 16 now. He will have to be put down soon. I don't want to find that out by phone. I miss my 3 best friends so much it hurts. I miss the easy connections we had. The commonality of sharing everyday life. Last time I went back to Aus it took me a few days of being around them before I began to relax and feel at home. I did not like that at all. Emails and phone calls are great. But they in no way compare to just hanging out for the hell of it. I miss my cousin and aunt, whom I lived with for a year or so when they first moved to Australia. My cousin and I spent alot of time together growing up. We are like sisters. I miss going up the coast for 3 days just to chill out, watch crap movies and tag along as she went about her day.

I miss other things too. The sunshine is a BIGGIE. I miss the smell of the ocean, and the salt halos around the streetlights. I miss hearing the Aussie accent. I miss summer thunderstorms. Watching sugar cane burn. The lightning. The smell of hot wet bitumen. Mangos and lychees. The absolute perfection of a Queensland winter. The surreal golden skin parade of a Sunshine Coast summer. I actually miss being hot. Steaming away in 99% humidity. I miss the outdoors lifestyle. The fact that everything comes alive after sundown. I miss Rainbow Lorikeets and Cockatoos and Geckos and Blue-Tongue Lizards. I miss the sound of thouands of cicadas just belting it out in the gum trees. I miss frangipanis and eucalypts. Palm trees and Norfolk pines. I love the mountains here, and the prettiness of snow. But that is about it.

And I really think it says alot about my time in NZ that, even after 3 years here, most of what I consider important (and most of my stuff) is on the other side of the Tasman. I had to come back to New Zealand to discover that I am really an Australian. I will finish up this year of studies, 'cause it's too late to transfer now, and then come November I will be going home. I can't wait! I won't even complain about the heat once... I promise!