london post number 1

hello neglected blog! i am in london. i'm staying about ten minutes north of the city centre in a really nice area. it's been pretty rad so far. the weather is alright, it's cold, and i haven't seen the sun since i left sydney, but it's not as bad as i was expecting.

yesterday i went and looked at heaps of touristy things. big ben, the london eye, westminster abby etc etc. it's all huge and old. i love it. i also stumbled upon a memorial for the victims of the bali bombing, which was a bit humbling. today, well as soon as i finish writing this in fact, i am off to see the changing of the guard at buckingham palace.

the flight over was good. the food was all very tasty, and the inflight entertainment system had enough movies i liked to keep me occupied. i had a two hour stop over in singapore, and let me tell you internets, changi airport is the most baller place i have ever been. it was almost midnight their time, yet all the shops were still open, and it was wall to wall high class, coach, burberry, lv and so many more.

the backpackers i'm staying at is really nice. i had a top bunk for the last two nights, but i've changed this morning to a bottom for the rest of my stay. i was far too unco for the top. it seems to be a place where tour groups stay, so there's lots of families and older people, which you don't expect to see in a backpackers. there's also hardly any aussies, which is unsual i thought. i've ended up hanging out with some kiwis for the last two nights. we went to a pub to watch the champions league game between chelsea and juventus. soccer is so boring. especially because i've turned into the worlds biggest tight ass and only bought one drink the whole night.

anyway i better be off. need to make sure i beat all the german tourists to buckingham palace to get a good spot.

always love

so, this will be my last entry written in australia for a while. i felt like i should write something before i go. i don't know, i'm having some weird emotions at the moment. it's not like i'm dying, or leaving the country forever. i'll only be gone for a year. but still that's a long time to be away from my family and my friends and this wonderful city i live in.

i am simultaneously the most nervous and the most excited i have ever been in my life.

i would like to take this opportunity to say goodbye, and say a couple of things about some really great friends of mine. i know that i'll update this blog regularly, and we'll be in contact on facebook and twitter and stuff. but still, and i guess this comes with the melancholyness of having to say goodbye, i feel the need to express how i feel about you guys.

firstly to one of the newest readers of this blog, my mum. i know you think i swear too much, but i'm going to do it again, with caps even. YOU'RE FUCKING AWESOME. seriously the best mum ever. this trip wouldn't be possible without you. and i don't think i would've had the guts to go through with it if it wasn't for your encouragement. no-one makes me laugh like you do, so i hope your co-workers keep annoying you so you'll have lots of stories to email to me.

mexie, i hope you know how much i love you. you're an absolute mistress. i think with every year that i know you, you get even radder than the last, and i think things fall in to place for you a bit more every year. in saying that, i hope that this year is your happiest yet, because if one of my friends deserves to be incredibly happy, it's you my dear. if i was to have a lesbian relationship with anyone, it would totes be you.

mr evan, you're a really good guy. a gentleman. i'm glad that in 2008 i got to spend time with you and get to know you better, because you're, as mel would say, awesomesauce. please remember that sometimes you need to think with your heart and not with your head. even if that means getting hurt, or hurting other people in return. you need to think about you first. and what's going to make you happy. because there's a lot of people in your life that want to see you happy.

hey sharnee, i bet you didn't expect to see your name here? when i talk about you i say "this girl whose blog i read..." but i shouldn't, i should say "my friend sharnee..." because i do consider you a friend, and i value our friendship. i admire everything you've done, and i hope that if i become a mum, i can do it with as much style as you have. i'm also completely jealous of your life, what with the living in japan, the working in the sex shop, the surprise wedding and now the gorgeous children. far out.

miss erilii, i'm glad that over the last few months we have become so close. you're hilarious, and lovely, and totes hot. ever since i have known you [zomg 1995] i have found myself thinking "i wish i could be more like erin" and it's still true today. but bitch, you need to get a job by the time i get back so we can go out and stuff again. get that poor student thing out of your system before i come back.

rachel, i couldn't think of anyone i'd rather travel around europe with. you're the best. i'm so happy for you that you were able to move to brisbane and have such fun, and make so many friends. even if it means that we weren't able to see each other as much as i would have liked. we'll make up for it with the 10 weeks we're planning on spending together. you're so beautiful, inside and out, and i think all those brisbane boys are crazy because if they had half a brain between them they'd be lining up at your door to try and snap you up. but you should stay single so we can have maximum fun come october.

finally, my dear friend friend james. we're so different, but we've become closer than i ever could have imagined. i hate that i've left you at work to fend for yourself, because we work so well as a team. i used to hate when you'd go on leave because work was boring without you. i love you because you're a total gangster, and you have so much style. but you're also chivalrous and a true gentleman. but then you're also one of the most intelligent people i've ever met. i'm going to miss you to bits. as much as i hope you've moved on by the time i get back, i also hope that you're still working at m2 so we can be work buddies again.

thanks everyone for being so awesome, i'll try to update here when i can, otherwise check out twitter or facebook for quick updates. peace out australia.

matter and make up and deja vu

it's starting to freak me out that something i have dreamed of for so long is about to come true.

hey ladies - beastie boys

hey ladies makes me happy. if this song comes on my ipod while i'm walking down the street, i always find myself walking like mike d does when he's by the pool.

look to the sun - gersey

the lead singer of gersey, craig jackson, has one of the sweetest voices you will ever hear.

scenes from my unemployment

my last day at work was on friday. it was lovely.

there was a cake:



tasty lunch at the bavarian beer cafe:

and flowers with one thing that looks like wtftit:-

so this week i have been chilling at home. i tried to jump on the helping out the fire victims bandwagon by giving blood yesterday. but after prodding me for like 15 minutes in both arms, they couldn't get the needle into my veins, so i left with as much blood as i arrived with. i did get a milkshake and some chips and chocolate though, so it was still a worthwhile adventure. just for me and not other people.

today i got my hair done. no pictures yet, but it's shorter than last time and kinda purple.  i'm sure i will have some pictures to show you from tomorrow night's party.

speaking of which, rach and i have a very girly day planned tomorrow. we're going to go shopping, going to get our make up done at MAC, then we're going to high tea at the swissotel. it's going to be best. in the evening i'm hosting a gathering at roof bar so i can get drunk and say good bye to everyone. if you are in sydney and free tomorrow night, i insist you attend.

sigh, but first i have to clean my room.

a list of things i will miss when i'm no longer in australia

-the fish and chip shop at the station. no matter how many scallops you order, you always end up with one more.

-larry emdur.

-saturday night football. more specifically viewer's choice on foxtel allowing me to watch two games at once.

-random work hijinx with james.

-going to shows at the annandale.

-homebake.

-sitting at circular quay and watching ferries while waiting for my train in the afternoon.

-sunday afternoons at the catho.

-tony martin's new book.

-oporto chips with lemon and herb sauce.

-entering the city to surf again.

-spending tuesday lunch times reading drum media.

-sooky jumping on my bed to wake me up when she decides i've been asleep too long (she seems to know what time it is. normally i get out of bed at 7am, and if i'm still in bed at 10 past, she'll come and see what's happening).

-people named melanie.

no wonder they can't even beat new zealand

the australian cricket team's WAGs are the worst dressed anywhere. check out this gallery, it's wave after wave of ugly dresses and bad shoes. i think the best dressed was little brooke warne. and she wins my award for most appropriate footwear of the night.

A rainbow of new pacers

A rainbow of new pacers

Originally uploaded by nosatellites

stark as a skyscraper

i found my old vox account tonight. i thought i had only written like one entry in it, but to my surprise there was a few. and they were about music. i've always wanted to write about music, given it's one of my biggest passions. but i never seem to have the patience. anyway, in the vox spirit, here's the first in hopefully what will be a regular round up of stuff i'm listening to.

the hives

before this year started i had not paid much attention to the hives. all i knew was that they wore matching suits and one of their songs was the theme song on get this. recently my dear friend erin won tickets to see them play a set of covers, and they blew me away. back in 2002 everyone said that it was the vines and the strokes who were here to save rock and roll. but fuck those guys, it's the hives who are here to save the day. they have it all, swaggering overconfidence, matching suits and some swinging rock and roll. this is how commerical rock should be.

frente!

i love early 90s australian indie music. hmm, i should rephrase that. i don't listen to much of it, but i love the idea of it. i love reading about the history. about rooart and waterfront and those first bands who made it, like ratcat and tumbleweed, and those who blew it like clouds. ahh, it would've been a great time to go to shows and be involved in the scene. in my high fidelity style top five dream jobs, number one is working at an indie record label in 1990 to 1995. but i digress. frente! were one of the defining early 90s indie bands that hit the mainstream. they were catchy enough to be played on commercial radio, out there enough to be parodied on sketch comedy programs, and quirky enough keep faithful to their indie roots.

i'm loving ordinary angels at the moment. i listen to it several times a day, and it's usually the first song i play when i sit down on the train in the mornings. you would not know that it's over 15 years old. that whole album was completely ahead of its time. and angie hart has one of the sweetest voices i've ever heard.

semisonic

i remember reading an interview with the caws where he named his favourite songs, and he listed singing in my sleep by semisonic as one of the best pop songs ever written. and he's so right. the whole album feeling strangely fine has a bit of an over-polished air to it, much the same way as throw your arms around me by hunters and collectors ended up. but if you ignore that and pay attention to the beautiful words and the gorgous melodies, you'll find one gem of a pop record.