diggsville

2012-01-18T10:57:00.001Z

I'm on a train home after watching a screening of Young Adult. All I really want to do tomorrow is NOT go into work and spend the day drawing, listen to kick arse music and maybe hanging with the wolf pack (wife and dog). Maybe play some D&D and read some comics in the evening.

Unhappy Hipster

2010-01-28T22:57:00.002Z

Even though I've had an extremely eventful last few months, I can't seem to be arsed to write about it.
Just briefly though:
# Xmas we saw the true face of ugly. Something so ugly that it should not be allowed to live, yet it's ugliness was so unique that it should be preserved.
# NYE was chilled
# Pre-wedding MADNESS!!!
# THE WEDDING.

You may have noticed above that I got married. The biggest event in my life. But instead of writing about that today I'm going to be lazy and lame and just post some links.

Unhappy Hipsters.

The things that once so defined him — shag carpeting, Room & Board sofas, monogamy — now suffocated him.

(more at the site).

Bored To Death

Title Sequence

Created by Jonathan Ames, the series follows a writer based in Brooklyn who moonlights as an unlicensed private detective.

Could this be my new favourite tv show? Not sure, as I haven't watched it yet- but it sure checks some good points!

1. HBO- CHECK!
2. Raymond Chandler and Dashell Hammett references- CHECK!
3. Zach Galifianakis- CHECK!
3. Zach Galifianakis as a comic-book artist- CHECK!

2009-12-05T07:44:00.002Z

I just bought a nutsack protector and a sweat headband.

Either I'm getting serious about a sport or I'm gearing up for stag-party/Xmas hi-jinks.

Animation fix.

2009-12-04T05:34:00.006Z

I've been feeding a little bit of an animation hunger lately and had the opportunity to visit some nostalgia cartoons from my youth.

Both He-man & The Masters of the Universe and Thundercats were a little disappointing. I found the stories in both instances pretty lame. I don't know if I was expecting HBO quality stories- but just found the plots and resolution of way too lazy. I guess they WERE glorified ads for the toy-lines.
However the character designs were still AS exciting as when I was a kid. The Masters of the Universe especially have such a rich line-up of cool characters, it was fun just watching them on the screen (even though what they did and said was lame.)

On the other-hand, I also watched Hellboy: Blood and Iron.

I quite enjoyed this and found it a much better adaption then the live-action films. The plot, the characterisations, the humour and the performances were so much more palatable too.

Although it didn't seem sanitised for the kiddies (Still plenty of blood, fights, murders and scary bad-guys) it lacked the suspense and mystery of the comics. Both the films and animations seem to drop the ball on one of the major charms of Mignola's original stories- and thats the menacing weirdness of his stories and world that comes out in his artwork and the pacing/set-up.

Correspondence from Iraq

2009-12-02T07:07:00.002Z

Here's an email I received yesterday:
War is totally hell.

Dear Sir/Madam

My name is (staff Sgt.) David Bruce i am an American soldier, serving in the Military with the army's 3rd infantry division.
i have a very desperate need for Assistance and have summed up courage to contact you.
I found your contact through internet serching and I am seeking your kind Assistance to move the sum of Five million United States dollars (us$5,000,000) to you, as far as I can be assured that my share will be safe in your care Until i complete my service here.

Source of money: some money in US currencies were discovered in barrels at a Farmhouse near one of saddam’s old palaces in tikrit-iraq during a rescue operation, and it was agreed by staff Sgt Kenneth buff and i that some part of this money be shared Between both of us before informing anybody about it sinceboth of us saw the money first.
This was quite an illegal thing to do, but i tell you what! No compensation can make up For the risk we have taken with our lives in this hell hole, of which my brother in-law Was killed by a road side bomb last time.
The above figure was given to me as my share, and to conceal this kind of money become a Problem for me but with the help of a British contact working here and with his office Enjoying some immunity, i was able to get the package out to a safe location entirely Out of trouble spot.he does not know the real contents of the package, and he believes that it belongs to a British American medical doctor who died in a raid here in Iraq, And before giving up, trusted me to hand over the package to his family in country.

I have now found a very secured way of getting the package out of Iraq to you at home For you to pick up, and i will discuss this with you when i am sure that you are willing To assist me and that my money will be well secured in your hand.

I want you to tell me How much you will take from this money for the assistance you will give to me.

One Passionate appeal i will make to you is not to discuss this matter with anybody, if you have any reasons to reject this offer, please and please destroy this message as any Leakage of this information will be too bad for the u.s. soldier's here in Iraq.
I do Not know how long we will remain here; month of May was the deadliest month for us to be out Here. Totally, we lost 127 men and i have been shot,wounded and survived two suicide Bomb attacks by the special grace of god.

This and other reasons i will mention later Has prompted me to reach out for help.I honestly want this matter to be resolved immediately, please contact me as soon as Possible with my private e-mail address which is my only way of communication (email:sgtdavidbruce1@yahoo.co.jp)

May god bless you and your family

From David Bruce.

Jazz (We Have It)

2009-11-30T08:53:00.000Z

A little jazz- mix sampler.

Shopping List

2009-11-19T22:48:00.002Z

#1- Blood's A Rover by James Ellroy.

Here's a clip of book designer rockstar Chip Kidd extolling the virtues of James Ellroy and vice-versa. (With thanks to Doug for the link)

#2- The Spirit of Apollo by N.A.S.A

Here's a beautiful animated clip of the track Spacious Thoughts featuring the epic team-up of Tom Waits AND Kool Keith!

The Greatest Adventure.

2009-10-31T23:36:00.003Z

Awhile ago I wrote here that perhaps I'm not bloging much because I'm not having as many adventures. While it's true that I haven't been on many travels of late, I have begun the biggest adventure any hip, bachelor playboy could do... and thats to enter into a monogamist marital life commitment with another.

I'll just let that sink in for a moment and hope that you'll continue reading regardless of where you might think this is going.

Now anyone who'd been through it already will tell you that organising a wedding is a huge endeavour. The logistics, the cost and the relationship minefield are pretty insane. Our original intention was to have an occasion where we could invite everyone we wanted for as cheap as possible.
However once you get into it, you find that your original wishes will be chipped away by family demands, venue capacity, and, of course, budget. Once you start thinking about other people's concerns the event can start to become about accommodating other people and not you two. Pretty much every step has been a minefield and you have to remember to reign it back into what we want.
Maybe the worst thing is ending up with a limited capacity for guests. We ended up with enough room for our large families, but probably not enough for all our friends. Which simply sucks.

Despite the drag of all this, we have had a lot of fun at times organising our day. We've come up with (usually- admittedly- while drinking) some damn exciting ideas to make our day special and unique.
I thought I'd share some of them.

*Arrival of the bridal party
We've come up with a lot of ideas for this.
The ceremony will be by the water on a small strip of beach. So there are MANY options for us:
1. By scuba. Ala James Bond/Charlies Angels, we emerge from the water unzipping our wetsuits to reveal our dress suits underneath.
2. Water ski.
The below configuration would work as we both have 2 groomsmen/bridemaids. We'd be at the apex.

3. Jet ski with a beach assault landing.
4. Being carried through the water on the backs of dolphins.
5. Arriving by horse back charge.
6. Arriving in a sled drawn by miniature goats. The goats MUST have their horns painted gold.

#Music for the ceremony
-Too obvious to actually use, but worth mentioning- The bride could walk down the aisle to this.
-On celebrating the end of the ceremony I'll turn to the crowd while pulling out a stoogie and say "I love it when a plan comes together", then this will play.
- OR, this will play, while the guests shoot pistols into the air.

*Mixing of sands ceremony (variation of).
Mixing of a cocktail. e.g gin martini (gin + vermouth).

*Releasing of white doves (a variation of..)
Some people release white doves, butterflies or balloons as a beautiful touch at the end of the ceremony.
I thought instead, we could release bees.
I'd LOVE to see the guests reaction when it's announced. I wonder how long it'd take for them to register that perhaps they should run. This idea is especially tempting as I heard that scientists have worked out that bee's have facial recognition with humans..... so you could train them to "attack" certain people.

Thats just a sprinkling.

Jazz at The Laundry

2009-09-16T12:08:00.003+01:00

Strictly for YOUR information only, here is the setlist from the gig I did the other night at The Laundry, Johnston St, Fitzroy.
I got there a bit early and as there were a few people also there, I started to play some pre-set room warmers. I wanted to get the atmosphere up and swinging while people arrived, got their drinks and settled in. It was also a good excuse to play some fast hot stuff (with the exception of the 2 groovy tracks- Slims Jam/ Dupree's Blues) and lots of Fats Waller!
The dancing set started properly with Cab Calloways Oh! Grandpa.

Track/Artist/Album
Snake Rag (Instrumental)- Sidney Bechet - Sidney Bechet et Claude Luter
It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)/ Duke Ellington/ Introducing Duke Ellington Disc 2/
Dinah/ Fats Waller & His Rhythm/ If You Got To Ask, You Ain't Got It!
Slim's Jam/ Slim Gaillard/ The Legends of Savoy, Vol. 2
Dupree Blues/ Woody Herman and the Swingin' Herd/ Blues Groove
'Tain't What You Do (It's The Way That You Do It)/ Fats Waller & His Rhythm/ If You Got To Ask, You Ain't Got It!
Shag/ Sidney Bechet/ 1924-1938
Old Grand Dad/ Fats Waller & His Rhythm/ If You Got To Ask, You Ain't Got It!
Oh! Gram'pa/ Cab Calloway/Are You Hep To The Jive?
Shake, Rattle and Roll (Afternoon of a Moax)/ Charlie Barnet & His Orchestra/ 1940
Silks And Satins/ Count Basie/ The Complete Atomic Basie
Jump Session/ Slim & Slam/ Lindy Hop Jamboree Part 3
Turn It Over/ Bus Moten & His Men/ Kansas City Blues 1944-1949 Disc 3
Blow, Man, Blow/ Calvin Boze/ Jumpin' Like Mad: Cool Cats & Hip Chicks Disc 2
Back Room Romp/ Duke Ellington/ Ken Burns Jazz Series: Duke Ellington
Four Or Five Times/ Woody Herman/ The Great Swing Bands (Disc 2)
'Til My Baby Comes Back To Me/ Blue Harlem/ Talk to me
Where were you?/ Nat King Cole with Pete Rugolo/ Now that's Swing
Ooh Wee, Then The Lights Go Out/ Jimmy Witherspoon With Jay McShann And His Band/ Goin' To Kansas City Blues
Your Feet's Too Big/ JB Scott's Swingin' Allstars/ Just Swingin'!
Potato Chips/ Slim Gailard/ The Best of Slim Gaillard: Laughin' in Rhythm
Talking That Talk/ Jimmy Liggins/ Jumpin' Like Mad: Cool Cats & Hip Chicks Disc 2
Viper Mad/ Sidney Bechet/ 1924-1938
Hold Tight (Want Some Seafood Mama)/ Fats Waller & His Rhythm/ A Handful of Fats: Original 1929-1942 Recordings
Laughing in Rhythm/ Slim Gaillard/ 1947-1951
Spreadin' Rhythm Around/ Billie Holiday/ Lady Day Swings
Le Jazz Hot/ Jimmie Lunceford / Lunceford Special
Summit Ridge Drive/ Artie Shaw/ The Complete Gramercy Five Sessions
I Can't Stop Now/ Blue Harlem/ Talk to me
Savoy Blues/ Louis Armstrong/ See You Later ...
Loose Wig/ Lionel Hampton/ Swingstation
A Viper's Moan/ Willie Bryant & His Orchestra/ Willie Bryant & His Orchestra
Sugarfoot Stomp/ Kid Ory/ Kid Ory Plays The Blues - Live Broadcasts From The Hangover Club In San Francisco
Blues My Naughty Sweetie/ Sidney Bechet/ The Blue Note Years
Hot And Anxious/ Fletcher Henderson/ Ken Burns Jazz
Shorty's Got To Go/ Lucky Millinder/ Apollo Jump
Up a Lazy River/ Bobby Darin/ Aces back to back
Sugar Blues/ Clyde McCoy/ Mixed Swing
For Dancers Only/ Junior Mance/ Happy Time
Bucket's Got a Hole in It/ Kid Ory/ 1944-1946
Whoa babe/ Lionel Hampton/ Swing - The Ultimate Big Band Album
All Night Long/ Sam Butera And The Witnesses/ Wild Cool And Swingin'

This might be the last lindy hop gig at the Laundry as they're closing for 6 weeks while the venue undergoes refurbishment under the new owners. Quite fitting perhaps as I played at their opening night only a few months ago.
It's a great location and a pretty good room except for the hard concrete dancefloor upstairs. Personally I find it too punishing to dance for long on it, and as a dj I've noticed that people won't tend to dance non-stop all night there. Thats OK though, as it gives people a chance to socialize and get drinks etc.
Never-the-less, it was a pretty good gig! The floor was always full and there was a high energy happening. I ended up playing both sets as no one told me to stop.

My old friend.

2009-09-10T07:04:00.003+01:00

After spending last night djing some hot swinging jazz for lindy hoppers at The Laundry in Fitzroy, I'm feeling the influence of that old faithful friend- Indie pop nostaligia!

Listening to Stone Roses: Stone Roses and Primal Screams Screamadelica and Give Out But Don't Give Up on shuffle.

After 3 years in the same pad we're moving house tomorrow!
New Diggsville HQ!!

2009-08-20T08:44:00.003+01:00

I've just finished off a job, code name: Ass-mo.

To celebrate I got onto another job for a mate that I've been neglecting for way too long.
I've also cracked open a beer.

Take THAT Facebook status update!!

The good kind of touching.

2009-08-12T12:23:00.003+01:00

Actually I DO have a Diggsville-worthy anecdote from last week.
I've been experiencing some dizzy spells and mild headaches of late and last Wednesday I woke up with a particular knotted shoulders and stiff neck that was causing my head to hurt, so I went and got a massage.
During my treatment I was unsure whether or not the masseuse spent an unusual amount of time on massaging my arse or not. And then she left my buttocks exposed for about 20 minutes while she worked on my arms and shoulders.
WAS SHE USING THAT TIME TO PERVE???

Plans are in the works to determine if that was her usual technique or if she was just copping a touch and a feel.

The Death of Meaning.

2009-08-12T10:27:00.002+01:00

I was just lamenting to Ainslie that I don't blog much anymore, after I spent some time goofing off this afternoon by re-reading past entries and revisiting old times!
I blame Facebook.
In the past if I had a train of thought on a subject or had an adventure, I'd think about how to retell it here. Where as now I'm thinking of how I can reduce my anecdote to a 2 sentence status update on Facebook.
This is where the future is taking us.
Also to blame is perhaps the fact I'm not getting into as many adventures nor having as many thoughts worth re-telling.

This post was actually going to be a rant about seeing a "news story" on msn titled "Paris Hilton Grocery Shops" with a bi-line "Paris Hilton goes grocery shopping in pink heels and leggings with a matching pink bag."

I really need to stop using Hotmail.

RIP John Hughes.

2009-08-07T01:31:00.000+01:00

You made some great 80's films.

Topiary Tales.

2009-07-03T08:05:00.004+01:00

In a thin effort to dust off the cobwebs and re-validate the BLOG, here's a scan of a photo taken from a photobooth last Saturday down in Hobart at a pretty cool handmade arts/craft/design market.

Normally those kind of events are quite lame and tacky... but this one had a lot of really cool stuff, including a stall by Chris Downes and his wonderful auto-bio comics. If you're not checking his stuff out daily you're really missing out on some honest, funny and beautifully drafted comic work.

But I digress.

I should bring the topic of conversation back to ME. And my HAIR.

Look at how curly and wavy my hair looks in those photos. Whats up with that?

My regular trendy and expensive hairdresser and I have stopped being on the same page the last few haircuts. Getting a tad bored with my short/bike-helmet-friendly style I've been rocking the last few years and wanting to capitalise on the length of my over-due-for-a-haircut head topiary, I've asked him to do something with the length.
Which has ended in mixed results.

To cut to the chase of it he wants to get all trendy with my head while I seem to be heading (no pun intended) for more conservative styles.

To make matters worse, by hairdresser is a really nice, sincere Japanese lad who gets really upset at himself if I request any changes.

Afraid of him committing Japanese hairdresser ritual suicide (Japanese have a ritual suicide for any occasion), I cheated on him last week.

Throwing caution to the wind I went down to a local Italian barber. I walked in and asked for a haircut thinking I'd have to come back later in the week. (At my old place I'd have to book in at least a week in advance.) But NO. I got one right there and then.

While I missed my usual shampoo and head massage from Yuski's lean but strong deft fingers, the Italian barber experience wasn't too bad. We made small talk about the weather and shaving
techniques (That morning I'd given myself a rare clean shave). Discussed the finer points of the cut-throat razor and such.
I was pretty happy with the final result, and paid less then half what I would've normally spent!

It was always a bit of a fantasy of mine to go and get a $5 haircut from a barber. Needless to say the price of a simple men's cut has gone up over the years, but I have only ever gone to a cheap mens barber (as an adult) twice before now.

The first was in 1998. I remember it well. I went in, asked for a short back and sides with a little off the top and walked out with a STEP.
This was in 1998, I remind you. Not the 80's when it was fashionable. And I was 24 years old.

The resulting stress of that bowl haircut gave me the Shingles. True story.

The second time was a few years ago when I was in London, unemployed, poor and in desperate need for a haircut. A reckless desperado, if you will, willing to pay the littlest amount possible for (once again) a short back and sides. A classic haircut that will never go out of style and (one would think) be impossible to mess up.

I ended up at a 6 quid barbershop run by some ex-communist Eastern Europeans. I may have already told of this story before somewhere in the archives. (Maybe around late 2005??).
Long story short, I paid my 6 quid and got a pretty rough haircut and an offer to buy a satellite dish. Go look it up in the Diggsville archives if you want the longer story.

Anyways.... like I was saying before I was rudely interrupted by my own red-wine infused rambling diatribes (YES, thats right! It's after 5pm on a Friday! It's ALLOWED!), I'm pretty happy with my current haircut.

Don't get me wrong- I'm not going to win any cutting edge (once again, no pun intended. Really.) style contests but trust me when I say I MAKE IT WORK.

The other weird thing is that people have been telling me I look younger.
This might have to do with the haircut and my clean shave or my daily moisturising routine.

BUT THATS ANOTHER STORY.

STARTLED!

2009-06-09T00:55:00.002+01:00

I just opened up this blog and was startled to see that huge photo of that young man staring with his dark eyes at me.
It took me a moment to remember what he was doing there.

I know I've been neglecting writing anything here for awhile. If it's any consolation, I think about it often.

2009-04-06T10:51:00.002+01:00

I'm not by nature a particularly violent human but, if I had the chance, I'd punch Zac Efron in the throat.
I'd be deluding myself if I said it'd be for his own good. Sure he MIGHT get something out of it, but really I believe we'd ALL benefit from his crushed windpipe.

Normally the likes of young Zac wouldn't even register a blip on my radar, but I came across some pictures of him while RESEARCHING haircut reference before my long-over due hair appointment last Saturday.

Incidentaly, I ended up getting a Hitler Haircut:
The thing I've since discovered is it's not very cool to have a Hitler Haircut if you look even SLIGHTLY like Hitler.
But the great thing about my current DO is it's versatility! With just a little bit of anti-grafity styling I can change my Hitler cut into something that resembles ME circia 1990.

And thats FUN FOR ALL!

Lie to me

2009-02-06T12:38:00.003Z

Here's something cheeky that Ainslie whipped up while hopped up on a heady mixture of Mexican beer, red wine and a hot Melbourne night!

She was going through some photo's and was immediately struck with the resemblance.

Bye Bye!

2009-01-21T01:50:00.003Z

To quote Lucky Millinder "Let the door hit you where the dog bit you"!

While the prospect of an Obama presidency is extremely exciting, I hope it won't be a huge let down (like our Rudd).

But fuck he's a great speaker and that was some speech!

2008 : A retrospective

2009-01-03T02:42:00.000Z

Instead of a proper recap of the year thats been, I thoughtI'd answer this meme that I stole from T-Bird the other week.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
Asked someone to marry me. Had an art exhibition. Dj'ed in Melbourne. Visited Tonga. Went to a Catholic Easter mass.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions and will you make more for next year?
While I don't remember making any resolutions I had 2 distinct domestic projects this year and I achieved one of them. I'd like to actually do the 2nd project sometime this coming year along with a bunch more. If I can get most of them done, it should be a good year!

3. Did anyone you know give birth?
Yes.

4. Did anyone you know die?
Yes.

5. What countries did you visit?
New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Financial stability. A dog.

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
I usually don't know what date it is that day, but I'll pick an easy one. 23rd of June. That was Ainslies birthday and I clearly remember what I did that day.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Some would say getting engaged. I'd also add I did some pretty great work. Had a few books published. Had a gallery exhibition. Went on a great OS trip. Spent some quality time with my family.

9. What was your biggest failure?
There were things that happened this year that I was pretty disapointed in, but I'm not sure if I should claim them as my personal failure. I dunno about this one. I guess I could've done more housework and I've kinda slipped off towards the end here on my motivation for my personal projects.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nope.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Baby got a diamond ring.

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Ainslies. She kicked arse this year in terms of her career and creative goals!

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Can't say who because I think they read this blog. No, it's not you.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent, food and booze. Restocking my fishtank.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Working with The Wayward Toonists in the first half of the year. Lately it's been dancing, jazz music, getting fit and my fish. Although I'd knock a few of the "really" off. Those last things I'm only midly excited about.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
Either "Your Feets Too Big" by Fats Waller, "Viper Mad" by Sidney Bechet "You Can't Rollerskate In A Buffalo Herd" by Roger Miller or "Rocketman" by ELton John.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: happier or sadder, thinner or fatter, richer or poorer?
Sadder, thinner and poorer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Working. Although when I was in my busy periods I think I was doing the equivelant of 2 jobs. But it's be nice if it panned out more evenly.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Waiting for people to get back to me.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Up in Sydney. Christmas Eve and morning no doubt with the immediate family and then the big lunch with the extended family.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Yes.

23. How many one-night stands?
Zero.

24. What was your favourite TV program?
True Blood, The Wire, Flight of the Conchords, Entourage, Angel, Battlestar Gallactica & Louis Theroux.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I ain't no player-hater. Feel me?

26. What was the best book you read?
True History of the Kelly Gang. Maybe.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Fats Waller, Sidney Bechet, Jimmy Liggins, the new Racounters album.

28. What did you want and get?
Cleared my credit card. Stayed out of the animation industry.

29. What did you want and not get?
To become the darling of the art world.

30. What was your favourite film of this year?
In a year of mediocre film releases and where dvd tv series were king, Iron Man.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Went to the pub. 33, baby.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A bigger bank balance.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Shabby-chic. Just like those bars in Melbourne that decorate with old worn couches.

34. What kept you sane?
Watching my fish.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Lucy Lawless.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
The Moreland City Council elections.

37. Who did you miss?
All the pretty people.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
The Monday Nighters, the newborns, the lovers, the players.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:
It's not easy being so good looking.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
Enlightened and excited with a new priority
I shift my gears on a race to eternity
Feeling ever closer to a sense of humanity
rocking like a titan in a big bad mystery

Christmas message

2008-12-19T07:04:00.001Z

The "N" word.

2008-12-17T00:25:00.003Z

We finally caught up on watching all the Battlestar Galactica shows. I think. The last one we watched was when they finally found earth.

I've recently been given the complete series of Buffy and Angel. While I find the pouty acting in Buffy a little too much to rewatch, I am enjoying Angel.
I missed a whole bunch of episodes when it was first aired, so I'm slowly making my way through them. I'm towards the end of the 2nd season.

Im currently quite interested in the creative possibilities presented in the current technologies in iPhones and other smart phones. I'm trying to get involved in some apps/games development.

To get my mind thinking about games development, I've fired up my PC version of Forgotten Realms: Icewind Dale 1. I spent last friday, saturday and sunday night playing it.

Speaking of fantasy, I've been working on an illustration that features an elf, a dwarf, a spellcaster and a human warrior surrounded by what lookes like either undead or skinny orcs. Maybe they're undead orcs?

For Xmas I've asked for a camping guide book and a php water tester kit for my tropical fish aquarium.

I haven't bought or read any comics for almost a year now.

GET YOUR JAZZ ON!

2008-11-05T00:05:00.003Z

I've been inspired lately to dig back into jazz music- with special focus on early swinging jazz (1920-30's).
I guess this has been spurred on by my re-interest in swing dancing and dj-ing. After an absence of about 2 years my current practise of (semi) dance practise and social dancing is starting to feel good. I'm liking the excerise.
The dj-ing is fun too as it lets me get music-nerded on. So far I've been playing at a pretty cool bar in Collingwood for swing dancers and I also did a speciel guest spot the other week on Hobart ABC radio. Got a set coming up at the Melbourne Lindy Exchange, which is meant to be one of the more exlusive dj-ing gigs in the country.

For inspiration I've been re-watching the AWESOME Ken Burns History of Jazz.
I've also been digging into my cd collection and discovering some great tracks that somehow I overlooked the first time.
CD buying (esp over the internet) isn't great at the moment due to the poor currency exchange, but I've been picking up a few cd's of late at local record stores. Good thing about olde jazz, is it's quite often very cheap!
I picked up just yesterday these:

All of which have been very cool on a first listening. Lots of hot and wild stuff!

If you haven't heard on the grapevine already....

2008-10-08T01:56:00.003+01:00

... I got engaged the other week!

Bent the knee. Made an honest man of myself and honest woman of her. Off the market.
Etc, etc.

Sydney art

2008-09-25T03:29:00.001+01:00

Amongst all the excitement and activity forgot to write the details as promised the other week.

It is with great excitement that I invite you to view (with the option of PURCHASING) some of my artwork in my old home town of Sydney!

These limited-edition digital prints (on 100% archival cotton canvas) consist of the same collection of works from the Jukebox Jam exhibit a few months ago in Melbourne- but with a few NEW additions!

WHERE CAN I TAKE A GANDER, I hear you ask?

Well, ARTLOVERS, get yourselves down to 62 Oxford St, Darlinghurst! The venue is IKU WHOLEFOODS!

I was up in Sydney the other week installing and having a look at the place. It's a great venue and excellent location- smack bang in the always happening Oxford Street strip!

Iku Wholefoods is a small chain of funky healthy takeaway stores and they've recently opened up a large store in Oxford St. (I believe a smaller version has been there for sometime). Wanting to add a bit more interest to the great space, they now are the proud exhibitors of some of my work!

(Pictured is the manager Andrew and my good buddy Steve who gave up an evening to help me hang.)

So get along and treat yourself to some great tasting food that your body will LOVE and while you're there- check out THE ART!

2008-09-04T03:20:00.002+01:00

I'm heading up to Sydney next week!
Got some business to attend to, but it'll mean good news for Sydney-siders who didn't make it down to Melbourne for my exhibition the other month.

All I can say at the moment is Me, My art, Oxford Street, Available for viewing/purchase. More info SOON!

One for the comic readers..

2008-08-29T02:27:00.002+01:00

.... so you "normies" are excused for now.

I borrowed Frank Cho's Liberty Meadows from the library yesterday, not having read anything of his before. I've seen bits and pieces of his lavish artwork around and have heard people rave about him.

But I think it's SHIT!!
His beautiful artwork couldn't save his book from being thrown to the other side of the room in disgust!

Discuss. .. (If you care)

Nicks 24th Mega Mix

2008-08-19T02:07:00.003+01:00

It was my younger brothers 24th birthday a week ago.
While he is young and relatively tech-savvy, he still uses cd's for his personal music listening enjoyment. So I made him a mix tape. It's full of songs that I think he might like or ones that I think might interest him. A range of obvious songs that everyone should own and a few slightly obscure ones.

In the interest of SHARING THE LOVE, I've made my mix available for download for a limited time, COMPLETE with album ARTWORK!

Part 1 HERE!

Part 2 HERE!

The iRiver shuffle

2008-08-08T02:33:00.002+01:00

Because Miss Mardi The Curatrix asked me to. And when she says jump- I jump!

You know the deal. Set your music player to shuffle, and the songs that pop up are the ANSWER to the following questions.
No skipping until a cool song comes up, this is what I got:

1. What does next year have in store for me? Purest Love by Blackalicious

2. What’s my love life like? Special Cases by Massive Attack

3. What do I say when life gets hard? Underneath it All by Money Mark

4. What do I think of on waking up? Cold, Cold Heart by Dinah Washington

5. What song will I dance to at my wedding? How About You? by Oscar Peterson

6. What do I want as a career? Horse Pills by The Dandy Warhols

7. My favorite saying? King for a Day by Faith No More

8. Favorite place? 1979 by The Smashing Pumpkins

9. What do I think of my parents? Sista Rebecca by Jimmy Smith

10. What’s my porn star name? Big Spender by Peggy Lee

11. Where would I go on a first date? Diga, Diga Doo by Artie Shaw

12. Drug of choice? I'm Sitting on Top of the World by Bobby Darin

13. Describe myself: Surrender by Elvis Presley

14. What is the thing I like doing most? Evidence by Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers

15. What is my state of mind like at the moment? Tangled up in Plaid by Queens of the Stone Age

16. How will I die? Chinatown, My Chinatown by Slim and Slam

Now it's YOUR turn!

In other news I'm a bit bummed out as I've been locked out of my Flickr account! I can't remember my yahoo email details as I only used it to get onto Flickr. I can't remember the password, if I used a real D.O.B when I registered or even what country and postcode I used when I signed up. (Was I in Hobart OR London??) All the information I need to log in. I was going to upgrade to a Pro account too.

In todays modern internet world there's TOO many passwords etc to try and keep track of. Between my normal hotmail address, the internet provider account, my pro-website account, the gmail email for Blogger, the LJ, the MySpace, the Facebook, the Flickr, the LinkedIn, the internet banking, the Frequent Flyers account, the Red Bubble and the numerous discussion boards account details..... HOW am I meant to keep track of it all???!!!!

Sometimes I yearn for a simpler time!

Vacation in The Tropics

2008-08-01T00:46:00.006+01:00

Just got back early this week from about 2 weeks away in Tonga and Fiji (with diversions to Auckland and Sydney).
The agenda was to go sailing with the Fraser Clan (Mum, Dad, my 3 brothers, Ainslie and I) around the island group of Vava'u for a week in the north of Tonga. Then, as we had to fly through it to get back, spend some time in Fiji where we ditched the parents at a 4.5 star resort while the Ains, the brothers and I slummed it at a backpackers style island.

Flying out of Melbourne in the morning we had to spend a night in Auckland to catch our connecting flight early the next day for Tonga. We also rendezvoused with the Sydney-based family at the airport.

Auckland Highlights-
-Having dinner with Ainslie's uncle and aunt.
-Good selection of duty free alcohol.

Auckland Lowlights-
-Not buying the hard to find alcohol at duty-free, expecting to find it at other duty free locations but not.
-Having to get up at 5am to check in for a 9am flight.
-Being stuck on the runway for 3 hours waiting for the fog to clear.
-Auckland. (Just joking! OR AM I??!!)

(The plane we were on for around 7hrs.)

Landing in Tongatapu (Tonga's capital) we made a dash through customs as we were running 20 mins late for our connecting flight. We had no idea if the other airline knew that we were held up in Auckland, and if they'd wait for 7 passengers,
A slight hold up at immigration where we all went through leaving mum behind without her passport. (Confusion at check-in and immigration points would be a running theme as, for some reason, the rest of the family let Dad be in charge of their passports etc. This lead to people actually loosing their passports, and at one stage Dad actually loosing his folder with all the passports, tickets etc behind. Ainslie and I choose to keep our passports with us.)
Then another hold up at customs where dad had to pay a bribe to get his vacum-packed meat through, even though it was all certified.

Luckily the local airlines run on local time and there for were not in any rush so we were able to make our next flight even though we arrived 30 mins after it was scheduled to depart. I quite enjoyed this flight as the excitement of the upcoming trip began to set in. There was plenty of leg room on the small plane with coral atolls and volcanic islands visible from our window and our first experience of Tonga and it's people was pretty cool and very relaxed.

Landing at the small shed that was the airport in Neifu (main city for the Vava'u island group), we were met by a taxi driver named Mathew Tonga who drove us to our boat moorings. Mathew Tonga had a knack of popping up in the most unlikely times throughout the next week when he was most needed! He also took my two younger brothers on a personal tour around the island.

After a period of skipper meetings, unpacking and organising the galley (that's maritime speak for the kitchen), buying of supplies and sorting of snorkel gear we raised anchor and set off for the next 7 nights at a large range of different anchorages amongst the coral reefs, palm-fringed beaches and turquoise lagoons.

Activities included snorkelling at some great coral reefs. The waters in this area quickly drop deep and combined with the exceptional water visability made for some dramatic underwater scenery. While the coral looked healthy and in abundance, the range and vibrancy of colour wasn't spectacular but the variety of fish, cuttlefish, rays and sea-snakes made up for it.

There were a few exciting spots, like Swallows Cave accessible only by water, and with the light streaming in through the gap made for dramatic lighting. After checking it out in the dinghy we later snorkelled through it.

Another interesting spot was the secret Mariner's Cave. The entrance is hidden a couple of metres below the water surface and it takes a bit of an effort to dive deep enough and then to swim through the dark 4 metre long tunnel. After 1 scary botched effort I got through. Inside the cave you experience a strange atmospheric phenomenon, where the incoming swell compresses the trapped air causing the water to condense into a heavy mist. As soon as another wave enters, the fog instantly vanishes. The air pressure in your ears are affected as well. The light streaming under the tunnel makes it atmospheric too.
We took a disposable underwater camera with us so it'll be interesting to see how the shots turned out.

Besides the diving we went whale watching. Tonga is one of the only places in the world where you're legally allowed to SWIM with the whales. We'd planned this trip specifically for this time of year due to being told it was a good time for the friendly humpback whale mothers and their curious calves. However it turned out we were about a week too early. Even though we saw plenty of them, and many full surface breaches, they weren't letting us get close enough to swim with them. They were the younger whales or males who don't tend to stick around the boats as much. The mothers and calves were still on their way to the islands. Disappointing, but probably worth the experience to see a 4 tonne animal flip itself completely out of the water and come crashing down again in a volcano-like explosion of water.

We also spent some time visiting a village where a lovely couple showed us around and introduced us to the whole village. Generally speaking compared to the gushing friendliness and hospitality of the Fijians the Tongans are slightly reserved but once warmed up are extremely friendly laid back people. Needless to say we spent some time eating and drinking in the traditional way.

Kava, which is drunk throughout the South Pacific is a brown, dirty dishwater looking drink. While it's neither alcoholic nor narcotic it has a very nice effect. I drank it in both Tonga and Fiji and I would liken it to drinking coffee- except the effect is the opposite. Instead of getting a buzz, it gives you a calm relaxation.

The local brewed beer, Ikale, was pretty good too! (I didn't order that fruity looking cocktail. I was just having a sip. HONEST!)
Travelling Tip: The good thing about drinking the local beer is not only will you not find it back home, but often it's better then the imported stuff and half the price!

Tongan Highlights:
-Swimming/snorkeling in warm, stunningly clear waters with some dramatic underwater landscape.
-Hanging out with my family who I haven't seen since Xmas and haven't spent more then a few days with altogether in the last 8 years. I was initially worried about spending a week ON A BOAT with them, but it all turned out well.
- Sailing/ cruising through the islands with such an experienced yachtsman as my Dad. The best way to travel and see that part of the world.

Tongan Lowlights:
- Really stretching it here, but the weather wasn't 100%. It was quite windy at times and the occasional dark cloud.
- Not swimming with whales.
- Some of the restaurants in the towns were pretty average.
- 1 instance of running out of petrol in the dinghy at night when the wind picked up and was quickly pushing us out to sea. We were laughing about it at the time, but then Dad said we could either yell for help now when people could hear us or wait until it got serious and then we'd be too far out from people. (Not really a lowlight as it makes for a good anecdote).

From Tonga we flew into Nadi, Fiji where we grabbed a boat ride out to the Mamanuca Island group. We dropped mum and Dad off at their fancy resort and we went to our backpacker/budget place.

(A local village dog was as friendly and hospitable as the (human) locals.)

There we drank, ate (they had a great chef in residence), swam, snorkeled, relaxed, partied, played volleyball and hung out with the other guests and locals. We had a few quiet nights and a few nights where they felt the FULL FORCE of Los Frase Bros. Hearts were broken. Dance-offs were fought and won. Bar tops were stood on and rafters were swung from. Much shit was spoken.

(Drinking games. Young Nick is sloshed!)

One afternoon we went for a walk along the tidal beaches with our cameras where we were checking out and taking photos of all the weird cool shit.

I was enjoying playing with the macro setting on my little Canon IXUS 70.
Hermit crabs became my muse as they were easily herded and cute!

(These strange aquatic crustacean/arachnid hybrids with their waving spiked tentacles were abundant in the shallows. )

See more photos of weird shit (and holiday snaps) at my Flickr site.
Naturally pro-photographer Ainslie got WAY better shots of just about everything then I did. However we're both inspired to get out more taking wildlife photography. I might even look at getting a D-SLR.

Fijian Highlights:
- The Fijians and doing things on Fiji-time.
- Fiji Bitter.
- Pimms on our porch
- The great food
- Spending time hanging out, goofing off and getting drunk with my brothers
-Meeting some nice people from all over the world. (mostly Canadians and Poms)
- Weird cool shit in the water

Fijian Lowlights:
- Snorkelling with a hangover.
-Shitty hotel we stayed in at Nadi on the last night as we had an early flight the next morning.
- Too many tourists
-Heavily populated snorkel spots complete with jet skis.

From Nadi we flew to Sydney were we TOOK the old shit-box Batmobile and drove to Melbourne the next day. Doing the trip in one day, it wasn't too bad. I do like a good road trip! It gave Ainslie and I plenty of time to debrief and plan our next trips!

Sydney Highlights:
-Scoring a car
- Collecting lots of old books and photo albums from storage
- Meeting the new family dog
- Catching up and going to a nice restaurant with new Sydney-siders Dave & Sam.
-Roadtrip

Sydney Lowlights:
-Coming back to winter
- Not hanging around in Sydney long enough to catch up with people.
-Having the holiday end.

Making every minute count

2008-07-04T08:41:00.003+01:00

Here is an article from SMH about 2 very good and old friends of mine and their life caring for a disabled child whose death is inevitable.

Their sad yet fulfilling story is well worth a read.

And for a bit of fun I've dug up a photo of me as one of their grooms men from 1994 ( I think). We were all of 21 yrs old.

(I'm the one on the far right).

Five-o busts ain't no thing.

2008-06-24T06:13:00.004+01:00

I just came home from having lunch with a friend and as I was riding up to our driveway I saw a police van out the front with a uniformed cop standing there. I was about to ask what was up (even though I knew what they were doing) when he told me to step to the side.
Then a plain clothes cop walked our next door neighbour up the drive and into the panel van.
I was caught in between wanting to rubberneck and just leaving them all to do what they needed to do.
Our new neighbours are pretty rough. They look like old jailbirds. I have no problems with them aside from having to smell their stinky chain-smoking odor. They've been straight up with me and I've had a few chats with them and even helped them hook up their (stolen?) Playstation.
However the other (young ladies) neighbours don't like them much at all.

I've been watching a lot of The Wire in the last week and while I ain't no player and not in the game- Five-O rousts don't faze me much.
Speaking of The Wire, all the slums, projects and public housing developments remind me a lot of various places I lived in back in London (but with more flashier cars).
Do you remember when the London Police were using our flat as a stakeout? And that was when I lived in a half-decent neighbourhood.

Trying to stay positive.

2008-06-02T07:59:00.002+01:00

I came across the Dear Catastrophe Waitress album by Belle and Sebastian today in my studio and thought I'd give it a bash.

WHO KNOWS..... I might have LIKED it and done another reverse.

How embarrassing I thought...as the first 30 seconds sounded pretty cool. But then it went down hill fast.

I could only get through the first 3 tracks until I really couldn't listen to it any more.

BUT... to balance out the negativity, here are some things I'm LIKING:

Music:
Yesterday I bought the new Raconteurs/Saboteurs album, Consolers of the Lonely and I'm liking it. On a couple of listen through I don't think I like as much as the first (i really enjoyed that), but it's still very good!
I also bought "The Curse of Lightning" by Melbourne band Wagons, which I'm digging too! (There's a track on it that'll be making an appearance in my exhibition.
I've also been getting into The Lucksmiths a bit.

Comics:
Devoured Blankets by Craig Thompson. A great read that crawled into my head and stuck around for a few days. I haven't read his stuff before and I can't remember- is Goodbye, Chunky Rice meant to be better then Blankets? Is it similar stuff?

Also read the first Sleeper by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips which was fun. Will go and get the other volumns.
Speaking of Ed Brubaker... I re-read a bunch of 100 Bullets and by being able to take a few steps back from the monthly read started to piece together what is going on in the over all story-arch. I feel like an obtuse dumb-arse.

Meow, Baby! by Jason was a fun romp. As was the re-read of pre-insanity Frank Miller's Batman: Year 1. Good to see that still holds up.

TV:

Bought season 3 part 2 of Entourage. Once you get into it this series is soooo easy to watch. I was only going to watch 1 ep today, but I think I ended up getting through 3. It's pacey, high energy format makes it addictive watching. Have to get tough and ration my viewing as I could easily get through it in another day or 2.

Season 3 of Battlestar is starting to get interesting too. About 3 eps behind the current USA release. For a series that has many lame-arse and bumpy episodes, when it gets good... IT'S GREAT!

EATING my hat.

2008-05-02T01:15:00.002+01:00

Long time readers would remember when a few months ago I made some sort of peace with my long term WAR against Radiohead.

And even LONGER readers might recall when I made a LIST of bands that even though I SHOULD, I didn't like.

Just to show that an old, grumpy spotty dog can infact change it's spots and ALSO learn new tricks, I'd like to amend that list.

Ella Fitzgerald is OK. In fact I'm not sure WHY I had her on that list in the first place. I've always liked her. I don't LOVE her like many people do, but some of her work I REALLY dig, while others leave me a bit cold.

The thing with all these old jazz-type artists is their HUGE body of work, so it maybe hard to get a good grasp of what they're like by only 1 album. It maybe that 1 album you stumbled across was a weak point in their otherwise good recording career. OR it's that 1 album that you really like compared to the rest of their body of work.
An example of this might be Miles Davis. His "Kind of Blue" album would be in my all time top 5 albums, but I don't really like much of his other work.

So in light of this I'm taking Fletcher Henderson of the list. I'm more and more liking his stuff.
Same with Sidney Bechet.

The Bloc Party have grown on me too. Even though I've had their (first?) album for a few ears now, there random appearance on my shuffle has ground me down into quite enjoying them.

Where as my enjoyment of The Arctic Monkeys was more sudden. They were on the cusp of stardom when I first arrived in London, and I remember the NME and various people "in the know" were billing them as the next GREAT thing but for some reason I dismissed them. But, I think it was a few months ago, I listened to them while I was jogging with headphones on. It's amazing what the difference the context of experience can effect your perception .
So Arctic Monkeys are off the list.
Thats not too say I'm a huge fan of either them or Bloc Party. But they don't deserve to be on the list. If a band came along with the interesting song writing of Bloc Party coupled with the gutsy rock stylings of Arctic Monkeys- then we'd have a fucking good band!

But thats about as far as I'm prepared to go for now.

THEY have to meet me half way.

2008-04-21T07:09:00.002+01:00

My apologises for that last post...

.... I think we can all agree I didn't know WHAT I was thinking!

HOWEVER..... that exhibition has left me wanting an old-skool console game.

I've found some nice looking Super Nintendos, NES Nintendo and some Sega Master Systems on eBay that I'm very tempted about!!

Sat 19th April

2008-04-19T14:53:00.002+01:00

Can you BELIEVE that April is ALMOST over??!!
Anyways... I made it home safely.... Don't worry Lyndall, I Bi-cycled home safely!!
To quote Egg-chan.. "It wasn't easy!"

I traversed the bright city lights and rode along Swanston St. PREVIOUSLY we went to check out the computer game exhibition in the city..... and then the BAR crawl....I followed some hippy chick who looked sober enough to navigate the crazy city streets but I had my come back if she decided to "diss" me on my "swervy" riding style.
ATLEAST I HAD MY LIGHTS ON, HIPPY CHICK! (Which she did not and I did).

There was a black hole in my trip where I can't actually remember which way I went but I DO recall passing a fellow bi-cycle rider and I was about to converse with him but he took an abrupt left-hand turn.

But thats OK, course by THAT stage I'd sobered up enough to ENJOY my ride (NOT sober enough to ride home SAFELY or LEGALLY ) but singing the QUEEN Flash Gordon soundtrack out loud certainly helped me get home!!!

I had to drop in to the BP petrol ST to get some Pringles for DINNER where I did CONVERSE with a smacky looking dude also on a bike. We exchanged glances and then shouted out "RIDE SAFE, BROTHER!"
Which, from memory, he gleefully accepted!
And then... and this is the BEST part... I rode round the corner (just moments from home).. and came across another female rider... with a GLEEFUL smile on her face!!!
I was about to greet her with a "RIDE SAFE, SISTER!" when I realised
SHE was MY Ains!!! Come out to meet me on the streets!!

YES!!!!!

How COOL was THAT??!!

Mices

2008-04-04T04:41:00.003+01:00

After coming back from Hobart at Easter we were SHOCKED to discover that we had some unwanted MICE squatters in our pad.
We weren't sure how many there were at first, as we only saw one running around our kitchen floor and leaving it's little evidence everywhere.
This was worrying enough, but then I discovered that it'd chewed through the plastic bag of my bread and ate a little bit if about half of the slices. Not only that but it'd also chewed through the metallic foil wrapper of Ains easter egg and had a go at that too!

THESE RODENTS HAD TO BE DESTROYED!

So we bought one of those no-mess traps where the mouse crawls into a trap and it all seals up so you don't have to deal with the blood etc.

But that didn't appear to work so we then escalated the level of hostilities and bought 2 old-skool traps. Baited them with smelly cheese AND smeared them in peanut-butter THEN sticky-taped it so the mouse would have to really work at it.
About midnite we were listening from the bedroom to a mouse trying to have a go. It took about 5 minutes before we heard the SMACK of the trap.

We crept to the kitchen expecting to see a bloodbath or maybe a headless mouse running around the room. But it was a nice clean hit. The bar went right through the mouses neck- behind it's skull. Probally killing it instantly.
I wrapped it all up in newspaper then in a plastic bag and then through it all in the bin.

Humans 1. Rodents 0.

VICTORY!

Or so we thought.....

.... I've gotten bored with this story so I'm going to end it here. The short version is we got one more in the no-mess trap, but because we couldn't SEE inside we weren't sure there was a mouse in there. Until it started to SMELL.
I caught the baby one in a box and released it into the park a few blocks away, next to a cheese factory.

Yes I am a pussy.

THE END.

Making with the funny!

2008-04-03T10:35:00.003+01:00

Normally I'm not that good at impressions but about every decade I can channel the spirit of someone and do, from what people tell me, a really good impersonation.

Last decade it was Garth from Waynes World.

This decade it's Gordon Ramsey.

2008-03-28T04:19:00.002Z

The Frase party Mega mix-master-tape!!

Take your ears on a 1-stop pleasure ride!!!

HERE!

Scotland: The Promised Land

2008-02-28T00:28:00.003Z

There's a Glaswegian singer being interviewed on the radio right now and I am in love her voice. Not her singing voice but her accent. It's not one of those heavy Scottish accents where you KNOW they're speaking the same language but still you have NO IDEA what they're saying. It's a lovely lilting accent.
It's bringing back memories of my short time in Scotland. When I left Australia in mid 2005 I travelled through America and ended up in London. Even though I had plenty of friends and a very cute lady-friend in London, I was never intending to stay there as I really had my heart on living in a smaller city. I had a job lined up in Glasgow and spent about 2 weeks there and Edinburgh. LOVED IT!
I still remember the first Scottish bartender who served me - I had NO IDEA what he was saying but it sounded awesome! And then there was the cute girl in the bottle shop (Maybe she wasn't THAT cute in hindsight but her accent was awesome) who got me pissed while taste-testing whiskies! In the short time I was there I also made friends with a few local jazz players. Good lads who I saw play in Glasgow and then we hooked up a few days later in Edinburgh. We were watching a Charlie Parker tribute night at a jazz bar in the cellar of a Chinese Restaurant and we went upstairs and had some food in between the sets. It's also the first time I had Chinese beer. I also made friends with a guy in Hungry Jacks one night. He was from Africa (can't remember where abouts specifically) and had been in Edinburgh for a few years. We were talking about what the city was like to live in and the weather compared to where we both came from. The subject got onto music and it turned out he was something of an accomplished jungle DJ. And the best thing was his name was "Tiger".
Anyways I returned back to London with the intention of moving back up there in a month or so when the contract started. But due to some tragic events beyond my control and my own fuck-ups the Glasgow gig fell through.
Despite my best efforts for the last 3 years I have not set foot back in the land of my ancestors. The weather maybe shit up there, but fuck- it'd be worth it to be surrounded by people talking with that accent!

Happy Hallmark Day

2008-02-14T01:29:00.002Z

Something I've relented to after years and years of bad Valintine's Day is to stop with the moral objections and just go with it. It ends up being much more enjoyable.

So I'm off to the shops to collect the ingredients for a 2 course fresh seafood culinary delight and suitable alcoholic beverages. I might even have a look at the chocolates. Which should be interesting as I don't eat the stuff myself so don't really know what to look for.

2008-02-13T23:23:00.002Z

So it's my 33rd birthday next week.
It's that milestone age for great people to die.
Even though I think I'm pretty GREAT, I'm not really worried about meeting a fatal ending sometime this year. But lets see how it pans out.

Now I've been thinking about what presents I'd like. I know that some of you readers unfortunatly don't get to see me often- or at all these days due to the tyranny of distance. Hell- some of you guys reading this have NEVER even met me. But thats OK. I'll still graciously accept your birthday gifts. And what a GREAT way to integrate yourselves into my life!
So this is what I want (I've selected dvd's for ease):

Battlestar Gallactica season 3
Entourage Season 3
Six Feet Under Season 5
Walking With Cavemen
BBC Planet Earth
Austin Stevins: Snakemaster

Thats all I can think of at the moment- but surprises are always nice as well!

GAH! More comics talk!

2008-02-08T01:02:00.000Z

I bought my first comic of the year yesterday.

Scud used to be one of my favourite comics and creator Rob Schrab was a strong influence on my own comic style.
However the series ended abrubtly a few years ago. This new series picks up where it left off and concludes the story in 4 issues. Haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

Also in the dreaded comic store I was pretty tempted to buy the new Groo The Wanderer series- but they didn't have the first issue (of 4). I think I'll wait for the trade.

I REALLY dig Sergio Aregones. Before he made it as a cartoonist he was a singing waiter in a NY resturant. FACT!

Project 02-2008

2008-02-06T05:03:00.000Z

My next project of 2008 is to try and sell a bunch of comics I don't really want anymore. Good stuff from around 2000-2005.

To that end I've JUST signed up to eBay.
I've never used it buy or sell before so I don't really know how it works.
What I was intending to do was either scan or take photo's of the books and sell them in the series (e.g Green Arrow #1-10 for $20).

Has anyone had any luck selling comics/books on eBay before?
Just WHAT do I need to know??!!

And when it's all up I'll OF COURSE let you guys know where and when so you can get in on the BARGAINS!

Radiohead

2008-01-31T02:08:00.000Z

I have not liked Radiohead for YEARS!!

However, just to lighten the old-man angst that seems to be a constant theme around here, I have VERY recently begun to ENJOY 2 of their songs.

They are "The Bends" and "Fake Plastic Trees" from the album "The Bends".
I added them to a playlist by random and it's not too bad. Dose not ROCK MY WORLD or anything- but I think thats the point of Radiohead. Pasty whiney Poms don't rock.

Who knows- I MIGHT give the whole album another try!

2008-01-30T09:36:00.000Z

The following people can kiss my arse:

"Dr" Gillian McKeith.
Ikea.
Cormac McCarthy.

To be cont'd.

Project 01-2008

2008-01-09T04:50:00.000Z

Today I had to euthanise one of our little fishies as it was taking a long time to die and the other fish were eating it. While it was STILL ALIVE!!!!

But thats OK... because I'm BUILDING a fish EUTOPIA where death and disease and cannibalism do not- nay, CANNOT exist!

2007:2008

2008-01-07T05:42:00.000Z

As I told Jimmy- my man at the bank today, compared to Melbourne Sydney has crap bars and pubs and you have to try hard before you can get a good meal. Also Sydney-siders are mostly soulless and they'd rather pretend you don't exist rather then chat to you on public transport.

But by god- you can EASILY forgive all of Sydney's faults for just one sunset at Manly looking over the water. Or a day on the Hawksebury River. Or a day on the Harbour. Or an afternoon at Warriwood beach. Or a walk/drive through the green, lush suburbs where you can't see the houses for the trees.

And besides- I don't like talking to strangers on public transport anyways.

With that in mind, we had a pretty ACE Christmas and New Year!
Very jammed packed and tiring- but I came through the other end better for it.

Highlights included:
Catching up with the Fraser clan (even though it made me weary due to my recent hermit ways). It was good to see Ains enjoying their company and getting to know them all better!(I think they're liking HER more over ME!) We even had a meeting of the Parents!

Becoming surprise underdog finalists in the Christmas Table Tennis Comp! Myself and my cousin Tim melded together as 2 mild-mannered silent ping-pong stars and defeated all the professional tennis players in the family. It finally took not one but 2 Newcombe offspring's to defeat us in the grand finals!

Boxing Day- we went out on the Harbour to watch the start of the Sydney to Hobart race. Very exciting amongst the chaos of it all. One minute we were in calm blue waters in between the Heads feeling pretty good to get that fresh sea air in my hung-over lungs and then suddenly the water turned into a washing machine with hundreds of crazy spectator boats, helicopters and yachts! Poor Ainslie got hit by sea-sickness though and swore never again!

Hitting old favourite Warriwood Beach for a late afternoon swim.

A day on the Hawksbury River with the family up at a fantastic spot that hasn't changed in 20 years!

Lots of prawns!

Picking up the big-arse fishtank and driving it back to Melbourne!
We left early New Years Day and spent the next 2 days leisurely cruising south via the coastal road with a night stop over in Merumbulah where we had the most amazing meal at the RSL of all places! SUPERB seafood and cheap Tooheys beer!!

Below: A Frase in his natural habitat- a road trip!

In the afternoon, I choose to drink....

2007-12-17T07:11:00.000Z

I finished a BIG project over the weekend. It has taken the last 3 months of my life. It was really fun, good pay and while I was pretty happy with the way it turned out- THEY (the clients) were even happier!
So after a few weeks of working til 2.30am in the morning I decided to take it easy today and crack open a beer at Beer O'clock this afternoon (5pm)!
(Amazingly we discovered a bottle shop that not only stocked San Miguel but ALSO Red Stripe- 2 of our favourite beers. Pity the shop is in Richmond!)

The internet is only narrowly saved from my drunk rampaging by my dinner cooking duties.
I'm bbq-ing some lamb, eggplant, capsican and maybe some marinated mushrooms and corn on the cob.

Best present ever?

2007-12-03T23:42:00.000Z

My very good friend Douglas has returned from a holiday in Europe and he brought me back this present from Rome!

The armour and shield are a little unwieldy while I'm trying to work, but I have not taken the helmet off at all.

Negative cool.

2007-11-19T00:05:00.000Z

On saturday night while dancing to "Disco Inferno" at a trashy bar I lost my sandal while doing a disco-spin.

NOTHING about that is cool.

2007-11-16T05:29:00.000Z

I'll turn vegetarian as soon as someone shows me a cow doing something more important than getting barbecued!

2007-11-15T04:14:00.000Z

It's a very nice afternoon and I don't want to do any work- which is really bad since I've got so much to do. I'm looking like I might slip behind on a deadline and I've just been given 2 other jobs I've gotto do as well.
But all I want to do is sit outside in the sun and drink beer. Or maybe throw the football around.

INSTEAD I shall waste time on the dusty old blog. It's been a bit neglected lately both by myself and YOU! Nobody reads this anymore anyway.
I was just renewing online my library books and thought I'd list the things I've borrowed this year.
Lists are always an easy blog topic. I get to show off my cultural superiority and you, the reader, most luckily come away with nothing but disgust and/or bewilderment with me.

Here we go:

DVD's:
The West Volume 1
The West Volume 2 (Ken Burns doco)
Blues masters Volume 1, The essential history of the blues
Lone wolf and cub 6, White heaven in hell
Red Dwarf 5 : byte two : quarantine
Grizzly man
Vietnam (The Australian tele series with Nicole Kidman)
The crocodile hunter : collision course
The crocodile hunter Volume 2, Steve's scariest moments
Musa the warrior (Korean sword-fest movie)
Six feet under : the complete second season
The Sopranos. The complete fifth season
Six feet under : The complete first season
Eliza Fraser
The Wonderful world of dogs
American splendor
The crocodile hunter. volume three
Last stand at Saber River (average Tom Selleck western based on a Elmore Leonard book)
Walking with dinosaurs/ Walking with monsters
Gladiatrix (doco about a woman wanting to be a gladiator in re creationists historical battles)
BBC Great wildlife moments

Graphic Novels:
Daredevil : the man without fear! : decalogue
Jinx
V for vendetta
War stories
Y the last man : paper dolls
Tank girl
Just a pilgrim : garden of Eden
Planetary : crossing worlds
Small Gods Vol1: Killing Grin
Hawaiian Dick : the last resort
John Constantine, Hellblazer : dangerous habits
Y the last man : kimono dragons
The long haul
De : tales
Battler Britton
Spike vs. Dracula
Eightball: Like a velvet glove cast in iron
Freddy Lombard
Negative burn : the best from 1993-1998

CD's:
All is forgiven - Tex, Don & Charlie
Everyone deserves music -Micheal Frenti
April in Paris- Count Basie
Robert Johnson: the complete recordings
Grace Knight: Stormy weather
Duke Ellington: It don't mean a thing Vol. 2 ; 1930-1934 : classic recordings
Sidney Bechet : great original performances 1924 tp 1938
Sly and the Family Stone: Greatest hits
Best of G. Love and Special Sauce
Tex-Mex: the full enchilada
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion: Plastic fang

Bit of a mixed bag up there, but thats whats great about the library. You can try whatever you want without having to invest any money so you can experiment a bit.

I'm not going to tell you the books I've borrowed because honestly it's pretty embarrassing.

The Brigadier Frase

2007-10-26T05:09:00.000+01:00

Drenched up from the archival files of that collection of rogues, scoundrels, egomaniacs and raconteurs from The Home for Wayward Children, est. 1907. Courtesy of The Baron Jones XIVth

2am

2007-10-22T07:32:00.000+01:00

Last night at about 2am I was awoken by Ainslie making retching noises from the bathroom.
When I got up and asked what was wrong she said she thought she swallowed a bug in her sleep.
Then she pointed to a spider that was on the wall near the toilet.
Ainslie has a pretty big fear of spiders so she was freaking out that she might have swallowed one.
Growing up in the bushy 'burbs of Sydney I've had plenty of VERY close encounters with our 8 legged friends. In the summer we'd have to walk around the pool to make sure there weren't any funnel webs (the worlds most deadliest spider- in case you didn't know) hanging on the bottom. It was common practise to bang your shoes well before putting them on if they were left outside.
I've had to deal with a very large and upset spider (I think it was a mouse spider) on the inside of the windscreen. While driving. Through the CBD of Sydney.
I've woken up with a Huntsman Spider-a pretty peaceful but LARGE and HAIRY spider- on my bare chest.
So while I'm not particularly COMFORTABLE with spiders I'm not unreasonable dealing with them. The big & dangerous ones I don't like around- but I try and relocate them rather then squash them.
But anyways... getting back to last night- that was the third spider of that kind we've found in our house in the last 2 weeks . I wasn't sure what kind it was. Small & black. Quite fast but not aggressive. So I caught it in a jar and released it outside then spent about half an hour trying to convince Ains that it wasn't a spider she swallowed.
Anyways, I just did a web search and found out they were WHITE-TAILS.
There's a lot of stories and urban myths about these guys and I don't think I've ever really seen one before. And now it looks like we have a few. Or it's the same one who keeps on coming back in.
Like I said before- I don't belief in killing spiders- but these guys can be pretty nasty. Symptoms range from no reaction at all large scale necrotic lesions (if you happen to be allergic to them).
Not sure what to do about it- but I will keep you INFORMED!

Nerdegeddon

2007-10-21T04:55:00.000+01:00

I went to the Nerdegeddon Pop Culture convention last weekend here in Melbourne. It was OK. I don't really want to talk about the con itself, but rather about the swag I got.
I should remind people that I'm not really buying comics anymore. Instead I like to borrow them from the library or from other peoples collections. I'm rarely moved enough by them anymore to part with my cash (I'm so Scottish in my old age!). Except for the odd local produce!
So this is what I got:

CHARACTER SKETCHES- Gestalt Publishing.
At a hefty $16, it is quite a lavishly printed and designed book. However like just about every anthology every created the contents are hit and miss. Lovely cover by Ashley Wood.... I mean Ben Templesmith... err.. I mean Justin Randall. The highlight story I've gotto say is by Christian Read and Chris-Bret-Burns-Bones which tells of Christians experience in a children's burns ward.

WITCH KING- Autobiography of a Dark Lord- Phosphorescent Comics.
I've been wanting to get this graphic novel for awhile but I've been out of the country since it was published. Written by Christian Read and art by Paul Abtruse- both these guys are friends with whom I rallied with in the Australian comic trenches way back when. Christian offered me The Witch King as an option to illustrate back in it's -and Phosphorescent's- infancy (for those keeping score I chose The Watch instead). I think I was Paul's very first publisher as I printed a pin up of Dollboy back in issue 3. (Paul came across the original art recently and gave it too me on the weekend).
Anyways this book took years in production before it finally saw the light of printed day and I actually really enjoyed it! I was surprised at how much I did enjoy it! Although Pauls art made it quite hard to follow the story in some places I was captivated by Christians story. I was reading it way past bedtime! My big secret is that I sometimes ...er... enjoy fantasy fiction- so Christians world building and retelling of the rise of the bad-guy was a kick! The ending came as a tad anti-climatic and while a sequel is possible, I guess that part of the story isn't the important bit. It's the HOWs and WHY's that was the focus.

KNIGHT EDGE # 4- Gary Lau
Even though this is only issue 4, Knight Edge has been a mainstay in Australian comics. It's about Ninja'a and romance etc. A very nice hybrid of Manga and western style comics- which fits Gary very well! I think the more titles Gary does the better the book will get. Very nice production values and a nifty shiny cover. PLUS a selection of pin-ups in the back the best of which is by Dean Rankine which MUST be seen to be believed!

Got a bunch of Holgate's books as well.

SURE SHOT Presents CHECKMATE WORDSWORTH/SPAGHETTI WESTERN- SureShot comics.
I really dig Mark Selans SureShot Presents series that aims to publish some of Australia's best cartoonists in little A5 mini's! Although I don't mind the lo-fi-ness of the publication I can't help but feel that colour covers would help the success tenfold. This flip-book features 2 of Holgates own stories that he's done in past 24 Hour contests and shows just why he's as good as everyone says he is. Both are very character driven stories and are very charming in the artwork. I've yelled at HOLGATE many times in the past for not rubbing out his pencil lines- but in Checkmate Wordswoth he's practically SLAPPED me in the face with his lovely artwork SANS-inks! Looking forward to MORE Wordsworth- a true international adventure hero!

THE AMAZING JOY BUZZARDS #5- Image Comics
I was beginning to really enjoy this title until the story kinda lost it steam a little bit around issue 3. Was really looking forward to this issue as it was exciting to see one of my best mates guest drawing one of the more exciting titles around. What SHOULD'VE been a mind bending comic that SHOULD'VE rocked the industry to it's knee's ended up being very low key. Don't really know what happened there and it's a real shame because Doug's art here is at it's BEST! Pity the story let him down as it was quite cliched and forgettable. How come people are dropping the ball when it comes to exciting Mexican wrestling stories?! ACE cover! Did I mention that?

PREHISTORIC AUSTRALIA- Random House
This is the first in a bunch of books focusing on "Amazing Australian" things. Written by Kevin Patrick and illustrated and designed by Holgie. This turned out very nice and the guys should be well pleased! A great present for any youngsters! Kevin's enthusiastic personality infects this book with his zest of cool and exciting facts and information. Lots of dinosaur drawings that hark back to our formal training as Plant and Wildlife illustrators. Good to see that Doug hasn't forgotten any of the old tricks!

And thats all I got.

Just between you and me (and don't tell anyone else) it's got me very keen to get back to doing my own comics again. I've got a few things in the works and my current paid work is a comic so WHO KNOWS what'll happen at the next Nerdcon?!

Flamin' Myer

2007-09-25T08:17:00.000+01:00

At the risk of incriminating myself, I was in the Hobart Myers last saturday and left disgruntled as they didn't have what I was looking for. I was also reminded how daggy and outdated the store was. It hasn't been re-decorated since the 70's.

An hour later it was evacuated and not long after the whole building burnt to the ground.

From Ains' mums house in West Hobart we had a good view of the spectacle as we partied on to celebrate Ains's birthday.

At about 6pm:

Then, about 30 mins later it started to fireball:

Luckily no one was hurt. However the heritage listed exterior of the building was totally destroyed. The nearby small stores would've been affected by the fire from smoke damage, ash and water damage from the firehoses.
The cities only comic shop is situated right next to Myers (it shares a wall)- so it's a good chance thats trashed!
One of my friends owns a custom culture clothing store nearby too. The CBD was closed down and lots of people are now out of jobs.

The cocktail bar had a special drink that night called "A Flaming Myer". It was pretty tasty.

Spring... it's here!

2007-09-20T09:03:00.001+01:00

There were just two doves rooting in the tree outside my window.

Don't you love spring!!!

That real change in the seasons... where the cold and wet (sorta) slowly rolls into the UV baked, drought-ridden, dusty oven-like temperatures of summer in Melbourne.

Things are looking pretty good.
I've just handed in the first pencils of a cool project that I'm having fun with.
Drawing like a demon.
Got 2 new playlists that I'm cranking out. One rock, the other hip-hop.
About to head into town for a spot of latenight shopping. It's Ains birthday on sunday.
We're celebrating it down in Hobart. I'm heading down tomorrow for the weekend.
Got a new wallpaper courtesy of Jones and the his latest Wayward Cartoonist challenge for the HBO theme. (Mines a'coming!)

As the sun slowly sinks down outside I can still spy one of the doves sitting in the same tree.

Is that the afterglow I detect or are they contemplating the mistake they just made?

Wondering if the other will ever call them again?

FOOTball!

2007-09-08T03:10:00.000+01:00

I watched the opening game of the Rugby World Cup- France vs Argentina on saturday morning.

Enjoyed it and am looking forward to seeing the rest of the games.

Rugby Union players are such monsters. In particular this French fella:

SEBASTIEN CHABAL (aka The Caveman!)

Now THATS a sport worthy of the Roman Colosseum!

Krakovian breakers

2007-08-25T03:00:00.000+01:00

The city of Krakow is home to the worlds first university. To this day the city has a strong legacy of learning. This is evident in the highly skilled and talented musicians that you'll see playing in clubs and busking in the main square.
A range of traditional, folk and jazz type.

And then there were these guys:

The weren't the BEST breakdancers I've seen. Maybe they'd be better if their sound system was bigger, so you could.... actually HEAR the music.
Respect must be given to them for their hardcore-ness. Notice they don't use a mat? That 2nd guy, the one spinning on his bare-back on that hard cobble stone, came away with bleeding grazes along his back.

You know thats going to sting in the shower!!

Killing fields

2007-08-08T13:24:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow I'm popping up to Sydney for a few days.

I WAS going to pick up a car and load it up with stuff thats been sitting at my parents house for years and drive it down to Melbourne. Stuff like the rest of my book collection, a kick arse fishtank, a bunch of comics and maybe a book case.
However the car fell through so I'm catching a plane back on monday.

On the saturday I'm going to play paintball skirmish with my younger brothers and his friends as it was his birthday the other day.
I've played paintball atleast half a dozen times- but it was all a few years ago now. It's awesome fun but very punishing on your body. The running, the throwing yourself against rocks and tree's, the leaping over ravines and not to mention the impact welts when you get hit.
I'm out of shape and afraid sunday I'll be a wreck.

Speaking of sunday- I'm catching up with some good old friends for an afternoon session at the pub. It's been too long between drinks!!

Sober thoughts.

2007-07-27T07:29:00.000+01:00

I'm sitting here at my laptop, with a drink of water in my hand.
Now normally I'm prone to rant on my blog while I've got some alcoholic beverage in my hand. Maybe a beer. If it's late at night chances are it's a scotch.

BUT even though it's friday afternoon and FAST approaching Beer O'clock- I'm drinking my 2nd pint glass of water.

Maybe it's because I've just gotten in from riding my bike into the city (30 mins each way)- or maybe it's because we don't have any beer in the house.

ANYWAYS.... here are some random thoughts.

1. Comic shops suck! Comics suck! I went into Minatour here in Melbourne for the first time in months. I also purchased a comic for the first time ALL YEAR (the latest Dee Vee). Not quite sure why I came away with such negative feelings. Maybe it was the foul body odour of some of the people in the store, or perhaps it was the shit comics available. Actually there were a handful of comics I saw that I wouldn't mind reading- but not buying. Especially when the comic prices were double the US cover price- EVEN THOUGH the Australian dollar is doing so very well as the American dollar. WHAT'S UP WITH THAT??!!

2. Deadwood season 3 is out on dvd. Costs $50. I almost bought it, and am now wishing I did.

3. There are lots of fucked up people in Melbourne.

4. I enjoy my local library. I went in on my way home and picked up a large swag of goodies. Walter Mosley novel, 2 cds (Duke and a Sidney Bechet which I'm quite digging), a bunch of dvd's ( Vietnam- that old Aussie tv series with Nic Kidman, Crocodile Hunter movie and a BBC best of wildlife doco) and a graphic novel. I've steadily been going through the libraries collection. I love being able to read these shitty comics without having to blow my money on them. It's also good as the clear contact them- so they don't get too fucked up when you throw them across the room in disgust.

5. For the first time in years I've been sketching and doodling for my own enjoyment. I cannot remember the last time I sat drawing while watching tv. And it's for my own pleasure! The problem with this burst of creativity is now I've got schemes building up and the problem with that is if you have to many balls in the air- you end up not getting any of them done. So I'm trying to keep it simple and achievable for now.

6. It takes 3 pages on Google image search "Scott Fraser" before you come across anything about me. And then nothing for the next 10 pages. (I got bored and gave up).

7. My two younger brothers are coming down from Sydney to visit next weekend and I'm not sure where to take them. It's not as if Melbourne has great scenic tourist attractions. There's plenty of great bars and restaurants- but not much else!

8. I might be heading up to Sydney the following weekend to, amongst other things, play paintball with the brothers.

9. I really feel like a beer now.

'Arry Potter

2007-07-23T06:58:00.000+01:00

On saturday we were in Kmart buying a new kettle and I walked past the display for the new Harry Potter book.
I picked up a copy and turned to the very last page. I read the page and put the book back.

So.... I can tell you who DOES NOT die.

Also, the very last sentence that finishes up the entire series?
-Isn't very good.

New website

2007-07-19T03:48:00.000+01:00

I've given my website a complete extreme makeover!

I couldn't really justify having a Flash website anymore, and for what I had in mind I set about trying my hand at creating a site with Dreamweaver. Haven't looked at that software in years.

So go and have a play! Let me know if you come across any problems with it!

There's also some new work up there that you might not have seen before!

www.sdfraser.com

(now that I've gotten my website out of the way I'll get about to writing more here!)

Edit

2007-07-04T03:17:00.000+01:00

Just went and added photos to my previous post about our arrival.

BACK!

2007-07-03T06:23:00.000+01:00

Just a quick note to say we're back in Melbourne now. Arrived early yesterday morning and hopefully we should be resonably jetlag free- due to our 4 day stop over in Bangkok.

Had an ACE trip.

It's nice to unpack the bag and not have to repack it tomorrow, have clean clothes, not have to spend half of tomorrow jumping on buses, trains, plans and taxis. It's nice to be able to drink the tap water.

However the open road is a powerful drug- so we'll soon see how long it takes before I get bored here.

Travel stories to come.

By the by, you can get me on FACEBOOK. It's all the rage over in Europe. Still getting my head around it- but so far it seems alot nicer to use then My Space.

Arrival: London 07

2007-06-05T09:55:00.000+01:00

Our plane left Melbourne last friday night at around 11pm- which was good.

We popped some herbal sleeping pills, put the ear plugs in and the eye masks down and passed out for the next 7 hrs, waking up at around 5am as we approached Hong Kong.

It was a humid morning in HK. Temps of 31 degree's with some light showers clearing.

Lush green hills surrounded the airport.
1.5 hrs later we were back on the plane heading towards London.

An hr into the flight we discovered NONE of the onboard entertainment worked in our seats. Neither did the reading lights. Water started to drip from the ceiling above the seats infront.

12 hrs to go- with NOTHING to do.

I chose to obtain a trance-like mediative state. Staring into nothingness, not moving (which was lucky- AS THERE IS NO ROOM TO MOVE IN ECONOMY!).

Ains chose to weep. Weep, despair and get free vouchers for duty free from the air stewards.

Amazingly, somehow, we made it to heathrow with our lives and relationship intact. We lost some sanity though.

However we were quickly re-introduced to London bullshit incompatence as our plane made it's way to the gate.

There was no gate for us....

We had to wait on the airstrip for 30 mins while Heathrow, y'know, found somewhere we could, like... GET OFF!

Then.... once we got to a gate.... we had to wait a further 40 mins while, y'know, Heathrow found some landing crew to, like, open the FUCKING DOORS!

The air stewards started of appeasing the passenegrs with good humour, but by the end of it they stated "We'd try and tell you a joke, but quite frankly we're as pissed off as you guys!"

Once off and through customs we had to, like, wait another 45-60 mins for our baggage to get OFF THE PLANE!

I think only one baggade handler was actually working that day. I think he had to walk to the plane, grab a hand full of bags, walk all the way to the baggage carousel, throw them on it, stop for his smoko, then repeat.

Heathrow have aplan to appease the customers when waiting for their luggage. They throw a decoy bag out on the carosel that gets everyones hope up. But after 20 mins of watching this bag go around without getting picked up, you soon realise the scam.

Anyways, FINALLY with our bags claimed, we made or way OUT! Ainslie had to step right into her sisters Hens' party while I made my way to The Rad pad, Borough.

Once off the train and into London I was hit with the smell of London in summer and that pugent scent sparked a stream of really good memories. Such adventures we had!

London in summer is truly fantastic! Everyone is out and in very good moods. The weather is super! The sun is your friend here, not the burning sphere of destruction it is in Australia. There is loads of stuff to see and do and there is a real sense of inspiration and awe!

After a shower and change of clothes I went to a friends bbq, where I zombied through the night. Then crashed for a solid nights sleep!

Sunday ex house mates, Anika and Anna and I walked to Spitafield markets where we meet up with two other good friends. Had an amazing cheap lunch! (You can get cheap, good food in London- it just takes awhile to work out HOW).

The girls were going to spend the rest of the afternoon in the park, but i had to jump on a train and head north of London in Harpendon to a family get together. Traditonal English roast!

Oh yeah... daylight saving!! It was still light at 10pm when we jumped on a train to come back!

Yesterday (monday) we walked into the city via the whiskey shop. Nice way to start the morning while spending about an hr talking scotch and getting free tastes of top premium single malts. It was great! The great thing of scotch is the diversity of noise and palletes! It almost rivals wine!

I think I know what purchases I'll be making at the end of the week. Got my eye on a rare lowland malt that's no longer in production- and it's a reasonable price! Ains has her eye on another lowland malt thats quite fruity and flowery. It has a nose of peaches and pink carnations!

After getting a nice buzz on we were going to the Tate Modern, but we passed that and crossed the Millenium Bridge and headed towards St Pauls Catherdral- my favourite building in London. We were hungry so we hit a beautiful pub designed in the early 1900's in Blackfriars for a pint of English ale (Timothy Taylors) and some pub grub!

We then walked up to Travalgar Square and went to the National Portrait Gallery- which was ace and very inspiring!

Followed by a coffee break then a spot of shopping in Covent Garden and then back home.

The old neighbourhood is looking pretty good. Less like a warzone ghetto and more like a nice area. The high street has a few new restaurants and we had dinner at one of them. Lebanese.
Once again, great food and amazingly for London- excellant service! We drank a quite nice Lebanese white wine!

Today Ains has gone out to face the BRUTAL Oxford Street shops. I couldn't bare it, so I'm just chilling at the flat- planning to do some work type applications and maybe head out for adventure this afternoon.

There's a rabbit warren of back alleys and shops in between Carnaby St and Soho that I want to explore. I also want to return to the Natural History Museum and get a photo of the Blue Whale skeleton- but if I go alone- who'll take the photo of me and the whale??

Or I might pop into my old work. I was planning on doing that later in the week but.

London is RAD!

Street art

2007-05-28T07:45:00.000+01:00

This is part of a mural near where I live, and every time I go past it, I'm driven crazy trying to remember what that character was originally from!
Was it Seasme Street or an old tv ad for telecommunications??!! Or what?

Help, please!

HWC: Guitar

2007-05-24T01:05:00.000+01:00

I haven't posted any of my artwork here for ages, as I've been using my Live Journal for that.
However I thought this was worth spreading the news about.
Some of us artistic reprobates have banded together in a weekly drawing challenge in order to stimulate some inspiration and creativity

HWC: Guitar

First of the "Home For Wayward Cartoonists" weekly challenge. This weeks theme is "GUITAR".

Not one for the cock-out rock, I looked at other geetar types of music.
I cranked it old skool with watercolours. I haven't touched them in...7 years. They say it takes 10 years to master watercolours.... despite the less then stellar results, it was very fun using them again!

Anyways:

Inspired, I did another! "The Wildcat Serenaders!"

And a digital version:

Check out the HWC for more scandalous hi-jinks from dubious and untrustworthy vagabond cartoonists!

Evolution

2007-05-21T01:00:00.000+01:00

For the Creationists out there, I have undeniable proof that Evolution is for reals.

Check it:
Prehistory Frase.

Mens fashion

2007-05-17T00:31:00.000+01:00

I'm thinking about getting a new tie for an upcoming wedding and just watching tv, it looks like the current fashion is to make ties out of shiny wrapping paper...

... don't know if I like it.

Man about the house

2007-05-16T01:13:00.000+01:00

Q: How many Frase's does it take to change a light bulb?

A: One. Just one.

More Two-wheels Tales

2007-05-14T23:20:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I suffered one of the pitfalls of bicycle riding.

Crossbar inbetween the legs.

NOT COOL!!!!

Country singers, I've discovered,

2007-05-04T01:18:00.000+01:00

Country musicians sing alot about murder, God and cocaine.

Atleast the stuff I've been listening too.

I am Count Basie

2007-05-04T00:40:00.000+01:00

I rarely do these things, but....

I'm Count Basie!
Take Which Jazz Musician Are You? today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Personality Test Generator.

Easy Does It! Never one to get too uptight, you take life easy and one day at a time. Always relaxed and open like that Kansas City sound, you find solace in not playing too many notes in life.

New Beastie Boys album

2007-05-02T02:46:00.000+01:00

Track List:
1. B For My Name
2. 14th St. Break
3. Suco De Tangerina
4. The Gala Event
5. Electric Worm
6. Freaky Hijiki
7. Off The Grid
8. The Rat Cage
9. The Melee
10. Dramastically Different
11. The Cousin Of Death
12. The Kangaroo Rat

It's an all instrumental album too!! I've been wishing they'd do this for the last two albums! If you didn't know, the Beastie Boys are also exceptional musicians, as can be heard on their previous instrumental tracks on "Check Your Head" and "Ill Communication".

They are getting too old to be busting out the punk/b-boy jams like they were young kids.

I'm looking forward to it!

Oh yeah, they're currently touring through Europe and they're doing some instrumental ONLY shows. Sometimes I sorely wish I was back there!!

SICK!

2007-04-26T02:55:00.000+01:00

I rarely get sick. I haven't been to a gp in over 7 years. But about once a year I'll get hit with a cold.
This one came without warning and mercy. Both Ainslie and I woke up monday morning feeling like death. I wanted to die on tuesday. Just lifting my head hurt.

Felt better yesterday. I was dopped up on drugs, so I could walk around. Today I still feel bad.

Which, of course, SUCKS!!
Yesterday was a fantastically nice day. We had a public holiday, people over and a new BBQ to baptise!! I couldn't even drink BEER!!!??

Soo much to do, and I just don't feel up to it. There's also tradesman in my house banging away.

I just typed "Sux to be me"- but I deleted it.

It could be worse.

I heard the other day that someone I knew from London has cancer. Really bad.
I can't say I knew her really well- but from what I did- she was a very active, positive and bubbly person. She's only 26 and there's no family history of it.

So....

..... BUCKLE UP, Frase!

Stop your whining!

(I'm going to have another hot water and lemon slice).

Geek On- Music!

2007-04-19T03:27:00.000+01:00

On a bit of a blues kick at the moment. Reading some good books (more about that later), and digging some good artworks- Like Joe Ciardiello! (Thats his fantastic Robert Johnson above!)

On a local front I'm enjoying CW Stoneking! Saw him play live a little while back here in Melbourne, and to be honest, I really didn't like it! You may have seen him play on certain mainstream media of late. Well, I thought he was faking it! I thought he was some white dude from Melbourne putting on the airs and graces of an illiterate, poor, down-south delta black bluesman. My delicate sensibilities were quite challenged- especially when he did his song "Dark Town Strutters Ball". I wondered if he'd ever even set foot in America - let alone daring to play and talk that way on stage.
(I must say my experience was clouded by seeing a similar confounding scene at another venue on the SAME street a few days previous. It was a live funk band, doing (pretty good) James Brown type material. All the band members were white ( and in an inner-suburb way). All the crowd were white (in an even more suburb/skip way). The singer was going on about getting our "jungle rhythm " on. As we were leaving- and I kid you not- the bouncers were stopping a group of black guys from coming in. I'm not sure WHY they were stopped. They were dressed well and weren't in any way threatening to look at and the venue was far from full. But there you go!)
Anyways, despite what I thought was his shtick- by the end of the night I couldn't help but enjoy the music - it was REALLY good shuffle/swing/blues!
I was a bit confounded by all this- but after a bit of asking around and watching him interviewed turns out CW grew up in the Northern Territory out near an Aboriginal settlement. He didn't have any friends so he threw himself into listening to old blues records. He recently moved down to Melbourne to start his career in music after drifting around the country towns and outback trying to get work as a handyman.
Really quite an interesting artist! Definitely check out his music! And all you Europeans- he's currently touring there. Really recommend you go along and see this modern Australian bluesman! (also great to dance too!)

I came across this website this morning.
www.dust-digital.com
Haven't had a good look yet- but seems very interesting for that old-timey jazz, blues and gospel!

Also check out Tasmanian Pete Cornelius who's touring around the country. He released an all acoustic blues/roots album in 2005 which I've yet to get- but should be ACE!

I've also been getting in touch with my HONKY side of late and really digging the bluegrass/folk/country sounds of Nashville band, Old Crow Medicine Show!
Locally (again) I'm enjoying Melbourne band, WAGONS! They've got a few albums out- but not every track translates the awesomeness of their live performances!! Think Johnny Cash, Nick Cave, Jack Black with a drunken Melbourne ramble!
Kickin'!

Been leaning increasingly away from JAZZ and SWING of late (with the exceptions of some kick-arse numbers which I can't get enough of- Louis Armstrong- "St Louis Blues" & Billie Holiday- "Spreadin' Rhythm Around")

Also of note is that Royal Crown Revue have a new album out. This band continue to defy the odds and trends and go from strength to strength by playing the music THEY want to! Haven't got the album yet- but it's on my list!

RCR trumpeter, Scott Steen has some tasty looking albums available as well! Was fortunate to interview Scott a few years back when I was doing my radio show. He's a really humble, nice and super-talented jazz trumpeter!

Totally removed from the above types of music- I'm digging The Jungle Brothers hip-hop album, V.I.P!

Easter: Sydney

2007-04-13T02:07:00.000+01:00

Had a brilliant Easter up in Sydney. Really jam-packed! We didn't have a moment to rest- but yet we still missed out on doing somethings that were on the list.

I was going to write up a blow-by-blow report, but I can't be bothered. Also it'd take to long as we filled practically EVERY waking moment doing something. Although it would also inculde a daily 40min drive to places, then 40min back. Sometimes we were driving for 2hrs. Holiday traffic!!!
But anyways, we did things like:
Giving Ains a bit of a tour of my old hood.
"Thats where I learnt to ride a bike"
"Thats where I stacked my skateboard and grazed up my face"
"Thats where we used to get drunk"
"Thats the street lamp we used to throw rocks at"

(Like most suburbs, there isn't much to do as a teenager so you have to create your own fun.)

Went to an excellant Art Gallery Opening for one of my favourite Australian comic artists, Matt Huynh (aka Stickman)
Caught up with some old friends over dinner, lunch and apertiffs!
Went out to the hotspots in Manly with my older brother!

Spent time with the famillius at the Fraser Ancestrial Homestead and at the weekender in the bush (bushwalking and chopping wood) .

and out on the water in Pittwater. (UK readers, Pittwater is the body of water where they set HOME & AWAY. )
We spent the night at The Basin, accessible only by boat- it's one of Sydney's best secrets!

Hoodies.com.au

2007-03-29T23:54:00.000+01:00

www. hoodies.com.au

For all your fashion needs!

(I ....erm, modeled for them. See if you can spot me!)

Despite this, they have some really, very cool designs!

Transport.

2007-03-27T23:32:00.000+01:00

At first glance the trams seem like a pretty cool mode of public transport- but they soon loose their appeal. They're slow, expensive and don't go across town.

The city if Melbourne is very bike friendly. It's very flat, has wide roads, every 2nd street has a bike lane and there's ample bike racks to chain your bike up.

A few of our friends use bikes as their main mode of transport.

HOWEVER- when we first moved here I was quite hesitant to get a bike.

Why? Well, do you remember awhile ago when I stated that I had no phobia's?
It turns out that's not entirely true.
Seems like I WAS afraid of something after all.

HELMET HAIR!!!

The more I thought about this, the more I became anti-bikes! I was familiar with the related HAT HAIR "condition" (we don't call it a disease).
I spoke to a few people about this. Sam suggested I just get a helmet friendly haircut. That way I could still look cool AFTER I took the helmet off. Garth rode sans-helmet, letting his long locks blow in the wind flaunting the law and his safety. Others were happy to put up with helmet hair.

One night though- I had to ride a friends bike. And it was very fun! So I cracked!

Not long after I bought a chop-shop bike from some little guy in our neighbourhood. It's a wicked looking thing. And it only cost me $40!!!

I still wasn't committed to the idea of riding it WITHOUT a helmet, but nor was I over my fear. I hesitantly rode it around the quiet local streets- until I ran over some glass and popped the tire! While it was out of commission I discovered how much freedom it offers for getting places. So when I had the tire fixed- I bought myself a helmet.

I'm certainly not convinced that bike helmets look good on anyone- but I don't really care much.

Although I have since gotten a helmet-friendly haircut- so everythings good in the hood, yeah?
Got my bi-cycle action on!

Except, I ran over a metal splinter that pierced my tire and inner tube. Again!

The futility!!

$20 later and I'm mobile again!

Laws of the Universe

2007-03-16T01:03:00.000Z

This is the way it is:

Jan and Feb I was in down time. Waiting for work to start. Drawing like shit. Sitting on the couch.

Come March when the big project starts, I'm starting to draw well. Suddenly my eye is in. ALSO I am inundated with work- both paying and extra-caricular.

Where was this extra work and kick-arse drawing skills earlier on in the year? When I had the spare time??

Because the Universe just dosen't play that way, Holmes!

ALSO: "Heroes" is starting to bore me. YAWNSVILLE!!!

Getting around!

2007-03-08T22:38:00.000Z

I've spent the last week and a bit in Hobart!

My old stomping ground!

Went down for work- which was really neat! Back working with Blue Rocket Productions. As in the past really nice people to work FOR, and inspiring fun people to work WITH! As someone put it, "it's like having the family back together!"

It's a huge new project we're working on. Quite daunting really... I'll be continuing working on this from here in Melbourne.

What was also nice (if a bit overwhelming at times) was catching up with everyone socially. You can rack up quite a social history in 5 years in a small town. You can't walk out the door without tripping into someone you know...

The first day there I started to consider what it'd be like to move back there. The good work, the scenic city, the clean air and good food, the AMAZING local bands.... but after day 2 or 3 the charm wore off and I was reminded why I left there when I did.

So I'm back in Melbourne, trying to knuckle down and work.

Right now we have two house guests asleep on our sofa bed. Diane and Andy from Brisbane. You may now Di from such adventures as:
Also the NYE 05 DJ BATTLE!!

Unfortunatly round 3 of our battles will have to be postponed.

We're going to leave them to run havock in our pad on saturday as Ains and I will be heading to PHILLIP ISLAND!
My folks will be there. Bashem is racing his car down there!

ALSO, all Sydney-siders note: The Traveling Frase & London Girl Show will be in my hometown for easter!!

Catch-ups a MUST!!!

If you're in the area....

2007-02-13T10:15:00.000Z

.. come and partake of tradition!
My Birthday isn't until monday, but we'll be holing up in a pub on the saturday!

Last year we escaped the horribly cold, wet and grey London weather in a grand pub and it proved to be an awesome birthday!

This year it's forcast to be 38 c+......

......... SCORCHIO!!!!

Ha Ha Ha!

2007-02-09T00:31:00.000Z

I find this stuff HILARIOUS!!

I can't help it!

I also admit to spending long periods of time looking into convexed shiny surfaces and laughing with glee at my distorted reflection......!!

Birds

2007-02-06T23:04:00.000Z

I'm on a bit of a nature kick lately.
One of the exciting things about being back in Australia is access to the kick-arse nature!

In the tree outside the 2nd room (where we've got the computers and drawingboard set up) I've placed a bird feeder! It's in plain view from my chair!
The first birds to discover it were the wiley sparrows, then slowly the more timid/slow minded doves have come down to enjoy it. Yesterday I saw a native bird (I'm not sure of it's name, but it's a large, grey nectar-eater) was hanging out in the tree.

Surely now that word has gotten out the lorikeets and galahs that are in the area will come and visit??!!

THEN THE FUN WILL HAPPEN!!!

And speaking of birds:

It seems that whenever I post photo's of ex-pat London Girl, the amount of comments rise.

So... heres DOUBLE your money!

The sisters! Taken on Australia Day at our bbq out the back of our house.

Take a day off?

2007-02-01T04:04:00.000Z

In high school my friends and I wagged and took organised days off. We filled those days with many adventures. We conned our way into getting a behind the scenes tour of the McDonalds on George St, we went to the cricket, we went to the Sydney Aquarium, we went to the art gallery, we went to a Lego exhibition and more...

Sometimes it is very important to take a day off from the day to day grind and get out and experience things.

So my question to you all is what would you do if you decided to wag tomorrow?

Tuneville: Top 50

2007-01-31T05:33:00.000Z

According to my computer, this is my TOP 50!

(Some surprise appearances, but I feel confident in stating that this is a list of SUPERIOR music!)

1. Before- Caligula.
2. Dancing on the Jetty- INXS
3. Tennessee Stud- Johnny Cash
4. That Mellow Saxophone - Big Town Playboys
5. I Stay Away -Alice In Chains
6. Take Five - Dave Brubeck Quartet
7. Dirty Harry- The Gorillaz
8. The Best Is Yet To Come- Tony Bennett
9. I Sucked A Lot Of Cock- Regurgitator
10. Wanted Man- Johnny Cash
11. Ball and Chain- Janis Joplin and the Fulltilt Boogie Band
12. Honky Tonk Train Boogie (1939)- Bob Zurke
13. The Best Is yet To Come- Stacey Kent
14. Come Together- The Beatles
15. Too Darn Hot- Stacey Kent
16. Temptation- New Order
17. The Good Life-Ray beadle
18. My Daddy Rocks Me- Blue Harlem
19. Feel Good Inc.- The Gorillaz
20. Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me- Duke Ellington
21. Redemption- Johnny Cash
22. Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)- Bill Withers
23. Bound to Ramble- John Butler
24. Helicopter- Bloc Party
25. The Fallen- Franz Ferdinand
26. Love Is Here to Stay- Frank Sinatra
27. Get Back- The Beatles
28. Ball and Biscuit- The White Stripes
29. Better Get Hit in Yo' Soul- Charles Mingus
30. I Just Want To Make Love To You- Blue Harlem
31. Heroin- The Velvet Underground
32. Boys Better- The Dandy Warhols
33. Love Me Or Leave Me- Sammy Davis Jr.
34. Shout, Sister, Shout- Lucky Millinder
35. All That Meat And No Potatoes- Louis Armstrong
36. James River Blues- Old Crow Medicine Show
37. Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive- Johnny Mercer
38. This Modern Love- Bloc Party
39. Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain)- INXS
40. Wonderwall-Oasis
41. Cocaine Habit- Old Crow Medicine Show
42. Just Keep Walking- INXS
43. Dream It Down- Underground Lovers
44. No Excuses- Alice In Chains
45. You Can't Always Get What You Want- The Rolling Stones
46. New Virginia Creeper- Old Crow Medicine Show
47. War- Edwin Starr
48. King of the Road- Roger Miller
49. Rock Me Like A Titan- The Hyperions
50. Hard Times- The Cruel Sea

Diggsville Tunes! 2006 RADDEST!

2007-01-31T04:39:00.000Z

After my last RANT, I thought a little about it. And I can't do any better.

I think I only bought FIVE albums that were released last year. So how the hell can I do better then the listeners/voters of JJJ's chart?

One of those albums I wouldn't even bother to run..... but it gets points for showing up...

But here it is. THE DIGGSVILLE RADDEST ALBUMS FOR 2006!

1. Broken Boy Soldiers: The Raconteurs.
2. Peeping Tom: Mike Patton & crew.
3. A Hundred Highways: Johnny Cash
4. Monsters on 45: Zombina & The Skeletones
5. Suspended by Stars: The Wonderstuff

Any I missed?

DISCUSS:

2007-01-26T08:11:00.000Z

So we just spent the day listening to JJJ Hottest 100.

And I am GLAD that todays youth are having their civil liberties taken away from them from todays government COS THEY WOULDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THEIR FREEDOM IF THEY HAD IT!!!!!

Fucking christ! What a bunch of derivitive, bland bunch of average crap!!!

HOW THE FUCK DID KAYNE WEST get on the charts??

Was it his INSPIRED formula of taking a great song (Curtis Mayfeilds' "Moving on Up") sampling a loop and then hitting REPEAT and then rapping ATROCIOUSLY over it??!!

FUCK!!!

Aside from that... a great day was had at the Love Shack! Beers, gin cocktails, bbq'd meats, live webcams sunshine, australian FLAG tattoo's on cleavages and good company!!

Tomorrow I may post up MY top 50 songs!

Tune in!

Feel the HEAT!

2007-01-23T06:22:00.000Z

It might be a good thing that I'm not house sharing these days.

In this heat (30-40 degree's) I've just been striping off the layers of clothes until I can't go no more.

I was going to post a photo..... but decided against it.

non-communication.

2007-01-19T03:44:00.000Z

I've been away from the internet for the last 2 weeks.

Still waiting for it to be hooked up at home. Should be good in the next few days.

Expect a return to our normal publishing schedule at that time.

In the mean time there is these breaking news items:

I bought a scooter for $15 from K-Mart! My transport problems ARE OVER! (except I rode a bike the other night and it was fun!)

Trying to get tickets for the Australian Open.

Trying to get my hands on a fishtank.

Trying to get my eye back in on the drawing front. Attempting such projects as a painting, t-shirt designs and just plain, old fashioned sketching. It's remarkably harder then I thought it'd be!

Xmas DAY 2006

2006-12-29T05:24:00.000Z

I guess on reflection my Christmas this year was very Australian- esp for my Northern hemisphere readers!
Here is our tree:
Note the Weber bbq and the Galah at the bird feeder in the background!

Here is another shot of the wrap around verandah with a bunch of Galah's having a go at the feeder. These Galah's are pretty bossy and push off the other birds.
There's a pair of Crimson Rosella's that come down and are pretty tame. I was able to feed them from my hand.

After we had breakfast and exchanged gifts within the Fraser family we headed off to my uncles beach house at Copacabanna. (A beach on the Central Coast- in between McMasters and Terrigal).
And by beach house I mean RIGHT ON THE BEACH:

It's a fantastic place and with an outlook I really appreciated this year.

All the Uncles, Aunties and Cousins get together each year for lunch and table tennis competition. It's quite a big table spread:

Lunch consists of cold meats, seafoods and lots of salads. Oh, and plenty of beers and wine!
Anyways.... that was pretty much my Christmas this year.

Xmas EVE 2006

2006-12-28T02:49:00.000Z

So this year I did Xmas the traditonal FRASER way!

This involved heading to The Valley- the parents weekender- a little over an hours drive north from Sydney.
I really dig it up there!

The folks were already up there, but I drove up solo as the brothers were taking to long to get themselves ready. Once you get off the main road you have to drive along a dirt road that eventually comes into a very scenic valley, and as soon as you hit the bottom, on cue, you have to casually swerve past the wallabys that are hanging out on the road.

As I pulled up the drive way I noticed that there was a PIG in the paddock out front of the house. I asked my dad about it and he said he thinks it belongs to someone a few properties up the road. I decided to go down and check him out!

He was pretty friendly and liked a bit of a pat (and a feed!)

About an hr later my brothers arrived so we all went down to check out the pig again...

(Thats the Los Bros Fraser! L-R: Matt (eldest), Nick (youngest and tallest(6'4!), Todd (largest) and me (shortest and 2nd eldest).

We were chilling up on the verandah when I looked down and saw the PIG in our garden. Somehow he'd gotten out of the paddock and wandered up to see us! He hung out for a bit until Dad chased him off.

I guess we had a typical Australian Christmas Eve dinner:

Prawns and snags on the barbie!!!

2006-12-23T13:05:00.000Z

Hey- I think Flea from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers plays bass in Younc MC's (awesome) song "Bust a Move!"

It's midnight on saturday. I'm just about finished off a bottle of wine and the film clip just came on cable!

I think I HAVE TO obtain that song!

If I had it it'd be just another weapon in my aresonal to beat DI in dj battles!!

YOU HEAR THAT?

It's almost been a YEAR since our last battle, DI!

TIME FOR A RE-MATCH!!!

Ho Ho Ho- HOE!

2006-12-22T05:43:00.000Z

I know it looks shitty- but click on it and it'll open up all nice and pretty. And then you can see my shitty animation!!!

So it's been very quiet around here of late. I guess alot has been going on, but I honestly haven't had the inclination to post anything. No internet at home dosen't help either.

The world seems like it's still spinning at an alarmingly rate- and I feel dizzy and unsettled by it all.

The Diggsville Offices have successfully relocated to Melbourne where we nabbed ourselves a fantastic RAD-PAD/LOVE-SHACK/BUNGALO!
The London/Spanish Project epic has wrapped up. We've visited EVERY god-damned home wares/furniture/white goods store EVER created. I reckon I dropped a few grand in the last few weeks so my tollerance levels for shopping is now at an all time low!
Just got back from my 3rd Xmas shopping expedition and it was pretty lack lustre.

I find I'm missing being in Europe and even living in London. Melbourne seems like a big country town and my survival instincts have been put to the test over the last 2 years that everything this side of the world seems tame and small-towness.
Live is safe and easy here.
Although there are an enormous amounts of junkies and fucked up people in Melbourne. Which I'm curious about as life here is just so much easier. I guess it's all about comparasion.

Looking forward to kicking it Melbourne-style proper-like come January. We'll see how my itchy feet and wandering spirit goes at settling.

London is covered in a thick fog over the last few days. It's so bad that airports have closed. I'd like to have seen this! Must make for a very atmospheric time of year!

Instead I've been in the desert/drought/bushfire stricken Melbourne! Seriously- it's so dry and dusty that our local park feels like the outback.

I'm up in Sydney where it's still very green and lush. Esp in my folks neck of the words in the North. ALthough the weather is pretty wussy. Low 20's. Overcast and rainy. I was hoping for some pool-side action and beach excurisons- but NO!
Today ain't so bad. Hight 20's.

Think I'll go for a swim!

Enjoy your holidays whereever you maybe!

Tunes: Part 102.

2006-12-04T02:48:00.000Z

If it's not THE PIXIE JUNKIES, it's the BELLE AND SEBASTIAN CULTISTS!!!

I can't win I tells yah!

More shitty artworks

2006-11-28T05:30:00.000Z

.......?!?!

ALSO:

Working in the new studio in Melbourne. Working hard. But made more easy with the eye-candy in the room. (I like to perve on Garth when he's pretending to work (but I'm sure he's actually reading downloaded comics or playing around with tattoo designs. WE SEEEE YOU!!)
Really can't quite wait till next week when my current BIG deadline has passed so I can chill out a bit and enjoy Melbourne. Although I'll probally be stressing about house hunting then!

WHICH REMINDS ME:

House hunting SUCKS ARSE! Not made anymore enjoyable then cocksucking agents and rip-off slum lords!

2006-11-27T04:01:00.000Z

I would like to see this movie: