This Is The Last…

We’re going to the land down under for our friend (and co-author of Thisisthelast) Quinton’s wedding. I’m SO excited. I’ll post pictures when I get back!!!

Like I’ve said before, I love everything John Darnielle writes, and it seems he never stops touring. He was here earlier in the year in April with the release of an Australian only EP entitled ‘Babylon Springs’, and since then the new full length ‘Get Lonely’ debuted.

Now, the Mountain Goats are back for a few dates:

2 January -Perth, WA, Club Capitol
3 Januray -Adelaide, S.A., Fowler’s Live
5 January -Melbourne, VIC, the Corner Hotel
6 January -Sydney, NSW, Century Theatre (formerly Metro Theatre)
7 January -Brisbane, QLD, the Zoo

And in case you need an excuse to visit Sandra, the Mountain Goats will be in Copenhagen on 5 April 2007.

I was in the pub after work when I saw over the news that Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin was killed earlier today by a stingray attack in Northern Queensland while filming a documentary on tiger sharks. After being struck in the chest by the stingray, Irwin was unable to be revived when paramedics arived at Batt Reef, off Port Douglas.

Despite sometimes being the subject of criticisim and jokes here in Australia, since his death, Irwin is being memorialized as a conservationist, family man, and Australian ambassador. I’ve always liked the guy. Sure, he’s a bit out there with his TV shows, but he was a great personality and fun to watch. He’ll be missed.

The attack is being called a freak accedent, and even that sounds like a stretch. Stingrays are known by experts to be non-agressive animals, and there have only been 17 recorded deaths (2 in Australia) from the stingray barb.

I just read this on Yahoo news. You Aussie’s should kick out of this…

A drunk driver just 100 yards from Australia’s iconic giant monolith once known as Ayers Rock stopped police to ask the way to the 1,100-foot-high rock.

The headlights of the man’s car were actually shining on Uluru, which has a 5.8-mile circumference, Northern Territory police said.

The 44-year-old man, whose car was also towing an aluminum boat, has been charged with drunk driving and unlicensed driving.

The Art Gallery of NSW is hosting an exhibit on the works of French impressionist Camille Pissarro(1830-1903). While he is lesser known than his contemporaries Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Pissarro is regarded as the father of impressionism and forwarding impressionist thought. Before visiting the exhibit I knew very little about Pissarro, impressionism and altogether thought it might be boring. But Pissarro’s work is completely breath-taking when standing before oversized canvases portraiting workers in French country sides and crowded Paris streets. In 1870 Pissarro fled his home when the French-Prussian War reached Paris and later received word that his home had been ransacked, and from 800 paintings only 40 survived.

Camille Pissarro was also an anarchist and sympathetic to the plight of working classes and the oppressed. On the evening that I visited the exhibit the Gallery held a lecture by Andre Frankovits, a human rights activist and fellow anarchist. Frankovits spoke about the political climate durring the 1880’s and 90’s in Europe and Pissarro’s thoughts as an anarchist thru letters he wrote to his children. The after effects of an industrial revolution and a depression were taking its toll on French workers and their families, and the state was making things worse. Frankovits told great stories of that time period and had an oversized audience very captivated.

Afterwards the Art Gallery held free screenings of 1940’s and 50’s French films based on the novels of Emile Zola and Guy de Maupassant. Contemporaries of Pissarro with likeminded ideals who highlighted social injustices and their negative influence on human development. I watched about half of a very funny movie called ‘Pot-bouille’ (House of Lovers, 1957) and left to meet Anna for coffee.

I just finished reading In a Sunburned Country. This book is about the journeys of travel writer Bill Bryson in Australia. I’m not surprised that I really liked this book; I’ve yet to read anything by him that I didn’t like. His writing is funny and insightful, including many historical facts told in an interesting way. Bryson’s got a knack for telling a good story. A couple times I actually laughed out loud, while reading this book. This is a terrific read.

Bryson tours the outback, the big cities, the coastline. Bryson relays his fixation on the dangers of Australia (from being stranded in the outback and having to drink your own urine, to jellyfish, poisonous snakes, and stories of crocodile attacks). I thought it was amazing how there’s so much of Australia that is still untouched and unexplored. Australia has so much to see and do, but its like we forget that Australia’s there.

One of my favorite stories out of the book, is when Bill and his friend, Allan, end up spending the night in Daly Waters (a very small town). There’s nothing to do in the town so they hit the bar and start drinking. They have a drunken night of fun and Bill wakes up remembering very little. The next morning Bill asks Allan, “Did I disgrace myself?” Allan says,”No, but you’re doing a house swap next summer with a family from Korea”. Bill says,”You’re making this up, right?” Allan pulls a business card out of Bill’s pocket that says “Park Ho Lee, Meat Wholesaler”. Underneath it in Bill’s handwriting it said, “June 27-August 10. No Worries.”

The last paragraph of the book says…

Australia is mostly empty and a long way away. Its population is small and its role in the world consequently peripheral. It doesn’t have coups, recklessly overfish, arm disagreeable despots, grow coca in provocative quantities, or throw its weight a round in a brash and unseemly manner. It is stable and peaceful and good. It doesn’t need watching, and so we don’t. But I will tell you this: the loss is entirely yours.

It seems like Bryson is pleading with his readers, don’t overlook this place. Not that he needs to, this book has more than whet my appetite. I’ll admit that previous to reading this book, my knowledge (or should I say ignorance?) of Australia has been limited to INXS, Nick Cave, and Vegemite. I never knew what a mix Australia is of American and British influence. Save for the things Quinton and Daniel have told me about their journies, I knew very little about this country. This book is great. One of these days, Jason and I are just gonna have to go and see for ourselves.

Last night we saw Sons and Daughters at the Gaelic Club. As good as their records are, this is a band that has really perfected their live show. Singer/Guitarist Scott Paterson performs like Mick Jones from the Clash but with better looks and a voice like a crocodile. And your eyes never seem to leave lead vocalist Adele Bethel as she dances/runs/convulses around the stage and lets her voice hit full-blast; her voice is so loud and penetrating. It’s really fun to watch them get a room full of people excited about music on a Tuesday night amongst a city devastated and in shock over riots. By the time they played the song ‘Johnny Cash’ from their first EP the crowd was going crazy. It’s a nice feeling.

My wish has come true. Sigur Ros have extended their touring schedule to include a second trip through Australia and New Zealand early next year. They’re going to be in Japan in early April, and they figured since they were in the hemisphere they might as well drop down again. I’m so excited and I just can’t hide it.

Here are the dates:
april 09 • west coast blues & roots festival, perth, au
april 11 • the palais, melbourne, au
april 12 • the enmore, sydney, au
april 15 • the tivoli, brisbane, au
april 17 • st james, auckland, nz

No news on when tickets will be available just yet. I’ll keep you updated, or you can check out the Sigur Ros tour page.

And for your dining pleasure, the Sigur Ros show in Reykjavik from last week is available to download here. Even if you’ve seen them before, I recommend you check it out. The band said it was the best show they played all year.

To my delight, Sleater-Kinney are heading down to Australia and New Zealand in support of their new album, The Woods. I’ve seen them a hand full of times, and nearly everytime Corin would tell a joke from stage. That’s where I got my ‘peanut’ joke from. Most of their dates are part of the Big Day Out tour, which I can’t really recommend, but if that’s your only option, try not to miss them.

Here are the dates:
Jan 19 | Auckland, NZ @ Kings Arms
Jan 20 | Auckland, NZ @ Ericcson Stadium (Big Day Out)
Jan 22 | Gold Coast, AUS @ Parkland (Big Day Out)
Jan 26 | Sydney, AUS @ Sydney Showground (Big Day Out)
Jan 27 | Sydney, AUS @ Gaelic Club
Jan 29 | Melbourne, AUS @ Princes Park (Big Day Out)
Feb 2 | Melbourne, AUS @ Corner Hotel
Feb 3 | Adelaide, AUS @ Royal Adelaide Showground (Big Day Out)
Feb 5 | Perth, AUS @ Claremont Showgrounds (Big Day Out)

Little know fact: Sleater-Kinney’s first show ever was in Sydney

I take the 504 bus to Rozelle at 7.25am for work. I like the idea of using public transportation everyday. The bus ride takes around fifteen minutes, depending on traffic. It gives me a chance to read a few pages and see how loud my earphones can go. I get off where Victoria Road meets Darling Street. I pass a discount rug store where someone wrote on the wall with a marker, ‘I’m not emo, I just hate people!’ Walking on my way to work I pass four bakeries, three churches, a nice used book store, and a seven year-old wearing superman pajamas with a Uruguay flag for a cape. (tonight Uruguay plays Australia in a soccer match to decide who will advance to the 2006 World Cup tournament)

I work in a health food market/café in Rozelle called About Life. First I was hired to drive catering orders to clients around the city. For two days I delivered late food to the wrong places. Now I stock the shelves of the store and fumble my way thru an explanation of ‘bio-dynamic’ brown rice to customers. I help people find saffron and serve coffees and boysenberry spelt cakes. I love my job, but they play strange music over the speakers. I heard Portishead, Moby, and a cool Bjork remix yesterday, but mostly it’s crappy modern jazz.

Anna met me after work and we headed down to the London Hotel in Balmain. We had beers on the balcony and watched it rain, on and off, for a few hours above the street, overlooking the harbor bridge around sunset.

from Wednesday, November 16th, 2004