Just to confuse things

Okay,

I am unsure why I was given this choice but it was presented to me and I have made my decision.

I'm not moving to Aro Cafe! I'm staying with the new owners of Malo (which from henceforce will be called 'The Recovery Room'). Lots of reasons came into it and it definately called for a pros and cons list in order to come to a decision but in the end money, time and comfort overruled. Its also a hell of a lot of fun to be quite closely involved with revamping a cafe.

Aro Cafe was still very tempting but the urge to make money, pay off my loan and save for travelling (hah! who am I kidding? Saving for travelling? I'll probably just buy more vinyl) overruled.

And plus I'll still have all my regular coffee drinkers around.

So all those planning to visit me at Aro .. don't! well .. actually, you should go to Aro as it's a really nice cafe and my friend Will is the chef and he's a bloody awesome chef/guy so go and say hi to him .. then come see me at the Recovery Room!

hmmm sounds like we're going to have a hell of a lot of drunken louts hanging about ... maybe its a little too close to Rehab Room. Hah now that could have been hilarious.

Moving on

Just for those of you who want to know, I am in my last three days of working at Malo. A change for 2006 - moving on from student to worker (ugh, the more I say it, the less I like it!) - so I'm moving cafes. Actually the sale of Malo forced me to look further afield but even with employment offers from the new owners, I'm venturing out from Newtown.

If you want to come and visit me next year, you'll find me at AroCafe instead. mmmm, yum coffee, organic milk, recycling left right and centre and divine food (as organic and GE free as poss).

What more could you want?

Think about it

"It will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need and the air force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber."



http://www.progressiveportal.org/resources/stickers.html?ref

The Best PROFESSIONAL Advice I Have Recieved

"If you can't write well, write shittily. The only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts. All good writers write them. This is how they end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts"

Wolcott, H. (2001). Writing up qualitative research. London: Sage Publications.

In other lucky news

Yesterday, one of my placements recieved funding for a music therapist within their Special Education Unit. I am very excited to say that they have offered me a job for 2006!

To be able to continue working with these young beautiful children is definately a blessing.

Camping with the Hookers (not the seals)

It was a cold and blustery evening. At approximately 6.00pm, Gitika and Rebecca make their way down to the Marion Street Post Shop. They set up base camp in the doorway of the shop, receiving continual stares from those passing by. Obviously they were oblivious to the excitement about to unfold in 15 hours from then.



During the next several hours as darkness crept in, visitors began to drop by.

First of all, Paddy the Irishman brought his mattress down to mark his place in line ...

Jess bought Hot Chocolate in a thermas ...



Marianna and Hugo bought Havana coffee and chai tea ... (Hugo isn't normally that small .. I just cut and pasted him in, just so you know)



Femke came to sleep over ...



But it wasn't until the wee small hours that the excitement really kicked in.

Here is a photo of us just after we had talked to a man/woman street worker (I mean no offence to someone if I use the wrong terminology) about a Johnny Farnham concert - we never figured out what the hell he was talking about. Those were the only two words we understood but she seemed satisfied with our conversation.



Significant points to remember:

12.35am Man in a company (an inter-island ferry company) van picks up a male street worker. IN A COMPANY CAR FOR GOODNESS SAKE!

12.55am Four girls in ball dresses and a guy in a suit jump (all about 14 years old) leap out of a car and get changed into 'going out' clothes, on the street. Marion Street. Could you possibly think of a worse place?

Finally Gitika realises she really should sleep and she climbs into Femke's car (Femke had been sleeping for awhile by now, inbetween the chairs).

Trevor (another irish man .. is that bizarre or what!) joins the queue after I spend 45 minutes on "my own" reading and speaking to the StreetWise people. He has an IPOD and kindly shares it with me. We listen to U2 (of course) mostly. It's nice to have some company and I don't feel so scared now with two males around. Okay Paddy has been sleeping since about 9.30pm so he wasn't going to be much help should we have had people decide to mug us :)

Eventually the sky lightens and more people start to join the queue. It's getting exciting now with people bustling about everywhere.



We are front of the queue when the doors open at 8am and to pass the time inside we look at the plan to decide what tickets we want. Having had our heart set on the $199, we were pleased to learn that the General Admission were centre field and only $99. So we went with them.

Gitz kindly takes us through the Five Minute Quiz.



The boys strike a pose out of boredom.



THEN ..

We counted down (hey it made it pretty exciting) and I was first there. I must thank Gitika for her amazing kindness in letting me go first. Long story short (too late many will say) .. I WAS THE ONLY ONE TO GET TICKETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I tried not to leap up and down and look too much like a moron in front of the other 40 people still lined up in the shop. There were A LOT of disappointed people here as I'm sure there are everywhere in NZ.

Unfortunately all my tickets are spoken for and I have no more that I can pass on to all the wonderful friends I want to come with me!

But guess what ...


SHITE!!!!!!!
I'M GOING TO U2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And i'm still so hyped I can't sleep. In fact .. I'm not that tired .. wonder when it will hit me.... 30 hours awake and still counting...

oh and just so you know, tickets on Trade Me average about $500 each.
Crazy.

The End

Festive season of Concerts

Thought for the day

War is God's way of teaching America geography.

(Spoken in the halls of the Conservatorium by an American himself)

Cool friends

You know ..

the ones that keep it real.

"i can't believe that i slipped back into the student routine so easily, i told myself that i was gonna be thankful constantly that i wasn't working full time any more, but already i'm like "oh woe i'm a student so busy so poor so hard boo hoo" which is total bullshit of course. i am just lazy and if i didn't procrastinate i would have freetime coming out my backside."



the ones that make comments that rhyme.

"spinsterhood schminsterhood. it's not SPINSTERHOOD, it's sassy single-hood."



the ones who create new words completely suitable for the situation and should be put into the 'Buzzword' section of Sunday magazine

e-bothering : repetitive and unwanted communication through electronic media



and sometimes, they even have really cool names ... like Kelly.

Needs no introduction

Unless you are living under a rock and don't have a cellphone, you'll know by now that U2 are playing Auckland's Ericsson Stadium on March 17th 2006.

It's been 12 years, so it's about time the boys brought their songs down here for us to rock out to, and on such a celebrated date the good times are bound to be a-flowing.

So who's up for the all night (perhaps even several) stake out of the Ticketek booking offices?

Dance

Dance, when you're broken open
Dance, if you've torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance, when you're perfectly free.
Struck, the dancers hera a tambourine inside them,
as a wave turns to foam on its very top, begin.
Maybe you don't hera that tambourine,
or the tree leaves clapping time.
Close the ears on your head
that listen mostly to lies and cynical jokes.
There are other things to hear and see:
dance-music and a brilliant city
inside the soul.

- Rumi

Scamming the scam

Recieved in the post:

I Was Amazed When I Saw How Much Money Came Flooding Through My Letterbox ... I Turned $194 Into $78,190 Within The First 80 Of Operating This Business Plan

The idea is simple. Send a gift (that makes it legal) of $10 to the guy at the top of the list, send out 200 copies of the same letter with your name at the bottom of five (cost approx. $194 for photocopying, stamps and envelopes) and if 3% of those send out 200, then 3% of those send out 200 etc etc ... you will recieve 'gifts' totalling $77,740 in $10 notes!!!!!!!!

wow!

But wait til you read the testimonials ...

Mrs B Simmons says that "this works like lotto except it is more fun because you are GUARANTEED TO WIN!"

Mr. L Scrivener recieved $73,782 and said "IT'S UNBELIEVABLE FUN!"

Mrs. C Clark said "I recieved $71,953 after two months!"


Sounds pretty good to me! Except .. can someone explain how you recieve $71,953 or $73,782 if everyone is sending out $10 notes???

But that aside, here's my next idea:
* Find 200 free postage paid envelopes
* Change the amount you send to $20
* Put aliases and addresses that all lead back to me or my friends in the five spaces


BINGO!!! Hello vineyard in Tuscany!


Who's with me??!!!??? ... guys?

....


guys?

The innocence of youth ...

Was walking home behind three little children. Conversation goes as follows:

Child One: Ohhhh have you seen the seal yet?
Child Two: Nah I haven't.
Child Three: If you see him you get fifty bucks. thats heaps. I'm sure I've seen him somewhere
Child Two: Have you really seen him? Where did you see him?
Child Three: *reads sign out* ... see it says you get $50!
Child Two: Where did you see him?

Beck walks past and up the pathway

Child One: Oh man you should go and tell the lady that you've seen him!
Child Three: I don't know where I've seen him.
child Two: Where did you see him!?
Child One: If you go and tell the lady you'll get heaps more money coz seals are worth heaps! Go and tell her!

they continue to argue about whether or not to tell me and whether or not Child Three has seen the seal as they continue to walk up the road.

Practical jokes

What else are you meant to do with a picture such as this, kindly left behind by the previous tenants?

We have erected it outside our house by our letterbox. Living near a primary school, I can't help wondering how many mothers/fathers had children wanting to go out and find the lost seal ...

(Smog) and Joanna Newsom

18th October, Indigo Bar, Wellington


Packed full with standing room only, which is quite unfortunate because you can't exactly rock out to Smog. Perhaps a more intimate setting with cushions and lamps would have been more appropriate? Still, perched on the edge of a couch with a view for most of the gig was good enough for me.

His voice perfectly matched his cds. Low and full. His manner towards the microphone was sometimes odd, with several moments of strange dancing - ducking and swaying. Highlight was Dress Sexy At My Funeral. His songs are sensitive and reflective, sometimes bizarre but definately worth checking out ...


http://www.alwaysontherun.net/smog.htm



Heard of Joanna Newsom?
Well, she and her harp travel around, singing extremely long songs that use a lot of pretty and emotive words. Following a line of thought through some of her songs was difficult, but each verse on it's own cut its own picture out of the imagination. Her voice is a little of Bjork-ish, unusual and quirky, but delicate.

http://www.dragcity.com/bands/newsom.html



She's played with Devendra Banhart, another guy worth checking out...

http://www.younggodrecords.com/prodtype.asp?PT_ID=71


ps, I'm not planning on giving up my day job to become a music reviewer - this one is terrible! but hey, at least you've got some more bands to check out, right?

Coz I know you'll be looking

Top 10 things to do while bored working at Vodafone Palmer- I mean, at work.

1. Bring a TV remote control to the office and try to 'change the channel' on people's computers. When it doesn't work, mumble something about 'cheap Japanese crap.'

2. Walk into people's offices, taking a careful look around. Talk into your shirt, saying 'No sign of him yet, Chief.'

3. When the phone rings, answer by saying 'ZM, you're on the air.'

4. Page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice

5. Send e-mail to the rest of the company telling them exactly what you're doing. For example: "If anyone needs me, I'll be in the bathroom."

6. Every time someone asks you to do something, anything, ask them if they want fries with that.

7. Get in the elevator and pretend to hold the door open for invisible people.

8. Secretly switch the coffee to decaf. Wait for 4 weeks and then, switch to espresso.

9. Put your trash can on your desk.Label it "IN."

10. When someone says "have a nice day", tell them you have other plans.

Gig Guide

Heading out tonight?

Connan and the Mockasins are playing Tupelo.

Never heard of them?

"This band is the most cheeky and exciting band to hit Wellington in years. Lead by Connan Hosford (of Grampa Moff fame), the heavily Hendrix influenced sound will have you smiling for days. They already have a reputation as the most fun band of all time, and everybody knows, fun rules. Keep an eye out for these dashing young lads!"

"Frontman Conan Hosford literally wears moccasins and the attraction doesn't just stop there. The trio continue to woo audiences across the country with their cutsie-pie cheeky, 60's pop-rock songs about naughty summer holidays and Conan's reputation for being one of the best live guitarists in the country."




Appetite for more bands?

OdESSA have just released their album Oak Park Avenue. The CD release party is on Saturday night but it's already in stores.

www.odessamusic.net

go on .. you know you want to.

Who is that?

Incase anyone has been wondering, I've finally done it.
I think I've been threatening since sixth form ... it's only taken seven years.





I'd just like to thank Dolores and Amelie for their constant reminding me that I really wanted my hair short...

I hope you like it

Dominion Post 24th Sept 2005

Espresso

Malo
16 Riddiford St
Newtown






When it opened several years ago, Malo captured the imagination of multiculturalists, as both decor and menu sought to express the Newtown location: it offered a spicy Asian-Pacific infusion, including taro chips and some of the best whole Portobello mushrooms I've yet tasted (oven-poached in olive oil and then left to steep at room temperature till needed). These days, the funky decor still survives in its original state, with the feature wall and the bar fronted with patchworks of Samoan fine mats.
However, the lime green walls now show a few dings and the painted concrete floor is in transition, from the distressed look to outright baldness; needless to say, the original owner has long since sold up and departed, along with his chef. The menu has become markedly less adventurous, for dinner and especially for mid-week lunch, aiming for mainstream safety with burgers and fries, steak-and-onion sandwiches and the like. The best reason still to come here is the coffee, which remains great; the barista is kept pumping and nowadays there is an interesting point of difference in the beans, from Gravity - an Auckland roasting heavyweight that has not made many inroads into the tight Wellington market as yet. Gravity's main blend show lovely full, broad flavours and good acidity, but the real standout is its texture: a short black from Malo has a full body that carries through to a long, lingering finish, creamily smooth and free of bitterness.

David Burton





Comments:
Ahh, all I can say about this is OBVIOUSLY Gravity paid this guy a lot of money. No harm done to us though :) Mmm and who is that drinking the coffee in the front of the picture???

New Music

La Varda

Official website:
www.lavarda.net/


(though unless you are talented in reading French, you'll have to translate it)

Interested in listening to music that is unlike anything I've heard in ... ever? Kindly introduced to me by a close friend of mine.

Loosely defined as alternative folk. Fast paced melodies. Pure happiness. Poetic texts evoking history.

I highly recommend.

My mum wins - hands down!

Nothing can ever beat my mum's parcels - as alot of you know.

Well she COMPLETELY outdid herself this time. Even without caramel slice. My floor lies strewn with Organic yum yums of all varieties. Breakfast has so far has consisted of a dried fruit bar, chocolate ... soon to be followed by Raspberry Granola, yoghurt and rice milk. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!


MUM, YOU'RE THE BEST!!!


(even if the courier did deliver at six thirty AM and was a pretty fine looking young lad who knocked extrodinarily loudly and laughed at my sleepy, "I'm awake I'm awake" joke)

Research

Ethics.

It makes sense to protect everyone involved - researcher, participants especially.

But honestly, is there any need to bring down several trees in the process? A 15 page document. 1 original plus 12 copies to be sent in.

It was tough enough the first time with a $30 photocopying bill. Now after it has been assessed, sent back, amended by moi, it has to be sent back again ..

you guessed it.

1 original plus 12 copies.

Goodbye forests .. goodbye money.


I shouldn't complain really.
At least my thesis is one step closer to being started.

This is going to be a long year.

Bloody good music

Mark Mazengarb and David Shanhun


LIVE IN CONCERT
ONE SHOW ONLY

9TH September 2005
7.30pm

at the Speirs Centre
Palmerston North Boys HIgh School


Adults $10 Students $5
Tickets available at the venue

Fire

There's a fire within that consumes.

Friends and Carnage

The RoadTrip:

There were babies ....




singing ...




animals hitchin' a ride ...




a random mission to rescue a poor starving kitten eating road kill (actually it was so fat it had a hard time running away from me when I came to 'rescue' it ... )




crazy antics in trees with our new friend Jess ... she's from Belgium .. could that have explained something? ...







tall people around mountains ...




an extremely cool van ...




more babies ...




a beautiful lake ...




a beautiful mountain ...




a snap-happy-finger-on-the-trigger person finally on the other side of the camera ...





Enjoy.

Road Trip

The van ...



(Thanks to Andy for the photos)

Visiting old haunts.
Walking through old memories.
Creating carnage with memories still alive.
Staring out windows with a soundtrack playing to the landscape.
Black and white shots turning travel into art.


Beginning: 12th July
Ending: 23rd July

What game?

An quote taken from Andy Pandy Pants (who said, 'Don't quote me on that')

the english game that, you know
small boys on the playing field,
jerseys for goal posts,
rush goalie,
four four in the back
three three in the front
two in the middle,
ones gone home for lunch,
beans on toast.

Art understands how sadness and remorse can give you depth and character.

Thomas Moore

Self-induced Crises

An evening of acoustic melodrama with
Beck Travaglia
and Michaela Manley


Here at MALO,
Wednesday 22nd June
8.30pm

Marianna. A poem by Beck and Zoe

Oh Marianna, she has gone away.
Zoe and Beck, they have had to stay.
Oh it wasn't such a fun game meiow meiow meiow
Waving goodbye to the aeroplane meiow meiow meiow
Saying goodbye to Marianna.

Zoe and Beck, they can get pretty sad.
Visitors have come and that made them glad.
But no one does the dishes meiow meiow meiow
Or clean up little spillages meiow meiow meiow
Or makes them coffee in the morning.

Oh Ollie, he has come to visit.
He joins Beck for a hot chocolate.
But his visits are all too brief meiow meiow meiow
And soon he has to leave meiow meiow meiow
Leaving Zoe and Beck alone.

They are counting down the days to go.
Being so lonely only makes it slow.
Oh they hope she bring them pressies meiow meiow meiow
For being such a meanie meiow meiow meiow
And going away for such a long time.

Life goes on, and Marianna is having fun.
Tripping round Europe, visiting everyone.
Practicing Swedish to her 'family' meiow meiow meiow
Visiting friends in the 'Switzy' meiow meiow meiow
But please come back to us Marianna!

Isn't that just life?

I sit now at the beach.
Delirious with the sea air.
The sound of the waves roaring in my ears, forcing me to concentrate while trying to pry thoughts out of my consciousness.
My eyes sting from the cold salty air but the breeze is gentle and forgiving. The waves, however, are relentless.
The light is fading as I fruitlessly search out any sign of the South Island.
Nothing.

The clouds are becoming pink as I am suddenly all too aware of the smell of dog shit that now resides on the bottom of my shoe.

Caterpillar Girl

Flicka flicka flicka
Here you are
Cata cata cata
Caterpillar girl
Flowing in
And filling up my hopeless heart
Oh never never go
Dust my lemon lies
With powder pink and sweet
The day I stop
Is the day you change
And fly away from me

You flicker
And you're beautiful
You glow inside my head
You hold me hynotized
I'm mesmerized
Your flames
The flames that kiss me dead

Zoe-kitten

To all of those who have heard about one of the cutest kittens in the world .. here she is.

This .. is Zoe.

Zoe likes to eat a lot (calls it 'putting on her winter coat').
Zoe likes to meiow at the window at 5am.
Zoe likes to lie in ridiculously stupid positions.



But damn she's just so cute.
Oh yeah, and she's a total hussy. Any male comes into the house, she immediately leaps up into their laps for a hug. Blatant use of her beauty to get any food but Jason didn't fall victim to her artistry. Dave, however, wondered why he couldn't get other girls to leap into his lap like that ...

Music is the last true voice of the human spirit.
It can go beyond language, beyond age and beyond colour ...
straight to the heart and mind of all people.

- Ben Harper

The mystery of love is greater
than the mystery of death.


Oscar Wilde

The Young Ones Flatwarming

Pollution


Pollution
all around
Sometimes up
sometimes down
But always around.
Pollution, are you coming to my town?
Or am I coming to yours?
We're on different buses,
pollution
But we're both using petrol ... bombs!

For a rainy day ..

Here's an idea:

Send your friend a kareoke machine for a belated birthday present (of about 3 months), make out that you are roadtripping around your country of residence for awhile, but really be returning back to your University town ... then sneakily make your way to your friends house, knock on her door and casually say, "hey hows it going?".

Guaranteed to make your friend scream and talk incessently about not believing their eyes, in a high pitched voice for about 32 mins.

Then bring on a guitar/piano jam of course.

To talk to the expert, call Dave. That's if he's still in NZ of course ...

Piano name

Polls have closed.

Voting is finished.



Her name is Leah.

Straitjacket Fits

The last time these guys toured was 11 years ago. And still, they can come together and deliver a performance that leaves the crowd stamping and shouting for more. The place was packed. HDU opened (for all you Dunedinites) and were great. Managed to score a place right up the front thanks to the tall guys letting me move forward. Armed with a camera, scored some good pics of the band - even a video of 'She Speeds' (what else would you want?!). Gutted for you guys who missed it because it was a worthy performance of some great kiwi music.

Piano ...

The newest addition to my family is a 1920's (suspected) Haake Hannover. Specially manufactured for the British & Continental Piano Co- Wellington New Zealand. She has character, soul and is currently the obsession in my life.
Hopefully the neighbours don't mind.

Now all she needs is a name ...

New Piano