getting back to the music

Yay. Live music feeds my soul. Went out with my friend Michael on Friday night for a night of music and beer. Such a good combination. Oh, and one cigarette which I bludged off my busker friend Simon on Cuba St. Started with a a couple of beers down Courtenay Place (nasty nasty street on a Friday night) and then on to Happy where there was live electronica with Delete! - improvised I'm guessing. Very small crowd - well, I guess you couldn't even call it a crowd. Eight people I'd say. Next to Bodega to see The Inkling. They were great - reminded me of Mogwai in a way. I've decided that I've lost touch with the Wellington live music scene and it must be remedied! It just feels so good to hear live music - when it's good music that is. On Saturday I dropped Michael off to the airport - he's off to Rotterdam, Berlin and then Paris, working for the Film Festival, spending days on end watching movies. Oh, what a hard job! Actually, I would say it would be very hard to stay focused and objective, making judgment calls on what audiences back here would like to see in the Film Festival. He's lent me a bunch of CDs while he's gone. He is the biggest buyer of music that I know. Lucky me - twelve new CDs to listen to. Mainly hiphop imports. Yay.

A very big insect

This very big insect was sitting on my path this morning. I'd never seen anything like it before and freaked out and rang the Ministry of Ag and Fisheries, thinking it might be some foreign invasive species that you hear about every now and then in the news. The guy on the phone first said I should look up the protectnz site, and then suggested I put the insect in the freezer overnight and then send it in to MAF for identification. Well, I'm glad I didn't go along with that advice, cos it turns out it's a lovely harmless native dragonfly, or kapokapowai. It's so pretty! And so fucking huge! It normally hangs out in wetlands, so I'm not sure what it was doing hanging out in suburban Wadestown. Maybe the horrendous winds we are having at the moment blew it off course. Check it out - these guys mature in the mud for five to six years in their larval state.

postal service

Postal Service sound quite a lot like the Pet Shop Boys. I like Postal Service. This does not compute.

I couldn't help myself

The lure of the fireplace was just too much. I know it's summer (well, it's fucking meant to be innit) but it really was slightly nippy this morning. And I really really love open fires. The warm glow. The crackel. You know the stuff. And the people that vacated had left some chunks of macrocarpa. Nice and dry. Oh yeah! I kept it burning for a couple of hours just cos I could. It made the early morning start behind the computer seem quite okay.

old houses are nicer than new ones

This old house I'm now living in feels like a comfy old cardigan. There's a funny smell in places that hints at mould. It's only a hint, mind, and I think with some open windows and sun it'll probably disappear. There's some really bad wallpaper. Sitting on the stairs the other night talking to Ang on the phone I could see three different floral wallpapers. I think there was a major attempt at redecorating in the mid-eighties when there were all those matching friezes available. A bit naff, but the house itself was built in 1914 and has the sweetest layout. Loads of room - three living areas that open onto each other through double doors, so you can close the areas off if you wanna. Nice. Oh, and an open fireplace. Marshmallow toasting! Oh yeah. I've been trying to get some paintings up on the walls, but haven't got many up there yet. Still got boxes to unpack yet, so that takes precedence. All I want to do all weekend is unpack and settle in, but no! I have to do stinky work, and that's exactly what I should be doing right now, but instead I'm procrasting by blogging. Think I might go to bed soon and procrastinate some more by sleeping and then try and make it an early start in the morning.

...and life goes on

Hmm, looks like 2005 is going to be a trying year if the first couple of weeks is anything to go by. Firstly, SOD and I are having a break, so have moved out of what my friend aptly called "Camborne 90210", and good riddance (to the house that is, not SOD). I'm not entirely sure that moving there was a good move at all. It was too far from the city and was not at all my style of house. It was like being in a big ritzy holiday home all the time. Might sound nice to some, but it's not conducive to normal living and working. Anyway, now in an old house in town - just me and the kids. Next, found out late last year that I have an almighty amount to pay back to the tax department. Nasty. Then, just before Christmas, my little red Rover crapped out. It's been in for repairs now for almost a month because of the holiday break and they are now telling me that it is going to cost $3,600 to get fixed and my warranty won't cover it! And of course, this house shifting has cost me both in downtime and moving costs. Oh boy, is it going to get any worse? I had this feeling on New Year's Eve that there was a little to celebrate the coming of 2005 - something tells me this is a year to consolidate and work as hard as possible. How incredibly dull.

Are we all glad it's over?

Yay, another Christmas bites the dust. It's taken me a week to get the strength back to blog. And now it's almost time to start back into some work. The crap thing about being self-employed (and I'm sure this isn't the first time I've moaned about this) is NO PAID HOLIDAYS! All you lucky lucky lucky people out there being paid to swan around at the beach by your employer - well, I guess I should stop moaning and remember that I can swan off to the movies or shopping any old day I want to and not have to think up some lame excuse for my boss...

Anyway, I've decided that next year I will have to change the name of this blog, because I'm going to get an office again. Woohoo! This is making me happy now even just typing these words. It's been a weird year working from home. In fact, it hasn't even been a year yet. I've decided I'm just not suited to working in the confines of my living space. I need the feeling of "coming home" at the end of the day and also the feeling of entering my creative office space at the beginning of my day - somewhere near a busy cafe! So, in the New Year I'll be looking for a place with some friends in the city. Looking forward to it.

Ugly Blogs Make Me Vomit

And this one wins the biggest pool yet.

Does anyone really enjoy xmas?

Dunno about this - of course, we all loved it as kids, but a) we got presents (usually lots of 'em) b) we could escape the adults after the big lunch when they'd get drunk or nap - then we could go play with our new toys and c) we didn't have to do all the work and spend all the goddamn money. Right? So this year it's just me and my three kids. We're chilling by ourselves - no pressure from relatives, no huge meal to cook, not small talk to be made. Just better prepare ourselves with some movies - can't possibly risk having to watch xmas television. Even SOD's not gonna be here - house sitting for some friends so he can get some painting done. Lucky old him. He can even ignore the entire 25th of December.

Madness!

Just got an email from a friend of mine who is spending an interesting two weeks driving through the Sahara. She's going as part of the Hoggar. Check it out - it's mad.

Evil Paisley!!

Okay, just stay away from paisley. That's what they tell me on this site. I think my sister has a paisley shirt - I'd better tell her not to wear it any more!

got a new look

Just got my hair cut. Lots of hair fell on the floor. It was freaky. Got it cut at Buoy.



Am now at home and listening to cLOUDDEAD. On my headphones cos the kids are watching the box. Going to see Garden State tonight. Went to see two plays this week. Upping the culture content of my life.

I've started a new blog

Not a replacement one, no, but an extra one, purely to document a bit of Wellington Street Art. Go check it out.

retail therapy

Just got a nice chunk of money from a job, so decided it was time to buy a few new clothes. Got three nice tops from Artikel, one of them by some great Wellington guys by the name of The Stitches. Also a cute little Lisa Ho skirt and an Italian paisley muslin shirt with odd little bits of embroidery on the yoke and cuffs. Very happy!

RED-LIGHT VORORTROMANTIK ARCHITECTURE DEATH

Four of our friends had a show out at One Eye Gallery in Paekakariki last weekend. Here's some pics of some of their work.

These two are from the lovely Jo Russ.





Sandra Schmidt's little plastic houses:



Stephen Clover's drawings and photocollage





And from Matt Couper, a couple of large works on paper.

Underland and more

Nick Cave music with ballet. Who would have thought, eh? Well, they did it with The Fall (I Am Curious Oranj) - I would have loved to have seen that one - dancers in Doc Martens... Anyway, went to see the Sydney Dance Co dance to the music of Nick Cave in Underland last week and it was pretty stupendous. Some glorious moments. And what else have I done of interest lately - oh, yes - went to see the director's cut of Donnie Darko. Great to see it on the big screen again and all those little extra bits that fleshed out the story were worth seeing but I'm not sure if it made it any better than the original. Just worth seeing cos I'm such a Darko fan.

american art in nz

Harry from Tennessee asked me in a rare comment if we see much in the way of US art in NZ. Well, Harry, I had to really think about that one and try to dredge up what would be the last piece of American art I have seen in a local gallery and I'm guessing it would be an exhibition of Tony Oursler installations. We get a bit of UK stuff here - saw a Tracey Emin exhibition not so long ago. But we are far away from anywhere so we don't get a lot from overseas really. But the local art scene is pretty strong so who cares!!! And also, I guess, it's why NZers like to travel...

cafenet

This is cool. I'm sitting working in a cafe in town and can check my mail.I've just hooked myself with a cafenet account - there's a big list of places about town (mainly cafes, but other spots as well) where I can connect to the net with my wi-fi card. Sweet. Got my car in being fixed so I'm hanging out in town trying to get some work done. Just thought I'd blog, just because I can!

and much blood was spilt

Anyone been to see Zatoichi? Man, how was all that blood. Started to make me feel a bit queasy, and that's saying a lot because I have a pretty strong stomach. Very entertaining nonetheless. Of course, it was one of those films I missed during the festival that I am now trying to catch up on before the onslaught of the next festival (which comes round only too quickly).

my brand new brand

Well, I've finally done it! After much deliberation (getting votes from family and friends) I've come up with the brand to represent my design business. I do miss my old logo, but it really was time for a change after three years with my old pink victorian version. This is a bit fresher. I've gone all out on stationery - letterhead, compliments slip, envelopes and business cards. Now I just have to get the website designed to complete it all. That's the work for this weekend.


I've started up a bit of a health regime for the summer - a daily swim or walk (or both if I can manage it). Let's see how I get on. I'm pretty unfit at the moment, so it's a bit of a struggle.


SOD's bro, Ben Cauchi, has an exhibition on at the moment - Ghosting - I think he's already sold quite a few of the works. The opening was fun as usual - a chance to catch up with people and to down a few wines and scoff some bread/cheese/olives. Check out the pdf of the catalogue. I helped him out with designing the invites and catalogue - always a nice job cos I love his work.