Tuesday, April 05, 2005
More Regularly Scheduled Programming
I have been neglecting this site of late, and I am resolving to get back into it. (At least, that is the decision I made now that I have a couple of things to talk about.)
1. It's NEEEEWWWW CAAAAR!!
Well, second-hand anyway. I will be taking possession of my '94 SAAB 900S this weekend and am thorougly looking forward to it. I may even be motivated enough to post a picture or two of it. It will be sad to say goodbye to the work Commodore and corresponding free petrol, but you have to let these things go (or at least have them taken off you according to the terms in your employment contract).
2. Ben Folds
It is no secret that I am a bit of a Ben Folds fanboy. What can I say, the man is awesome. I was fortunate to catch him on Sunday night at the Tivoli in Brisbane. I love the Tiv, it is a fantastic venue, especially if you get in early (or have your girlfriend get in early) to secure a good balcony seat.
The support act was Gelbison (well, a 2-man stripped-down version of them). For me they have always been one of those bands whose name you are familiar with but you couldn't hum a bar of any of their songs. I was impressed. They are horribly underrated in my opinion, and for a pair of guys with nought but a MIDI keyboard and some guitars, they were stellar. They even managed to crack a few jokes and put together a cover so brilliant that I gained new respect for the theme song from 'Home and Away'.
No matter how great the support act was, nothing could've competed with Ben. He was accompanied by a very talented drummer and a bassist with a great SoCal accent and a prediliction for the word 'fuck'. You barely noticed them. The things that Ben Folds is capable of doing with (or perhaps 'to' is a better term) a piano are simply spellbinding. He played a fair bit of his new CD (which is on my 'to buy' list) as well as some of the great old nerd anthems like 'Underground' and 'There's Always Someone Cooler Than You'. He had the crowd singing in 3-part harmony. He, in short, rocked.
It was awesome. There is little more to be said on the topic. He remains one of the best live acts I have ever witnessed, and I would unquestioningly rate him as one of the greatest musicians out there. Incredible stuff.
3. 21
Well, it's a few weeks old now, but I did it. I survived to 21. Massive shoutouts to all who attended the bash at Magic Mountain, you can find some photos of that over on Blade's blog - check them out. I must talk to that boy about the use of apostrophes at some stage too....
It was a nice, intimate gathering of a couple of dozen people and I, for one, had a great time. I was surpringly less hung over than I expected to be the morning after, but I guess that is something I can make up for next year. Nevertheless, it was great to catch up with everyone - I really need to get a bit more social, but things invariably happen on my weekends that prevent me from catching up with as many people as I would like. The fact that my weekend has been Monday and Tuesday for the most part has made it difficult, but I believe I am going back to the 'normal' Saturday and Sunday for a while, which will probably make these things a bit easier.
It is perhaps time for me to do some work, but look forward to a few more regular updates here to let you all know what's going on.
1. It's NEEEEWWWW CAAAAR!!
Well, second-hand anyway. I will be taking possession of my '94 SAAB 900S this weekend and am thorougly looking forward to it. I may even be motivated enough to post a picture or two of it. It will be sad to say goodbye to the work Commodore and corresponding free petrol, but you have to let these things go (or at least have them taken off you according to the terms in your employment contract).
2. Ben Folds
It is no secret that I am a bit of a Ben Folds fanboy. What can I say, the man is awesome. I was fortunate to catch him on Sunday night at the Tivoli in Brisbane. I love the Tiv, it is a fantastic venue, especially if you get in early (or have your girlfriend get in early) to secure a good balcony seat.
The support act was Gelbison (well, a 2-man stripped-down version of them). For me they have always been one of those bands whose name you are familiar with but you couldn't hum a bar of any of their songs. I was impressed. They are horribly underrated in my opinion, and for a pair of guys with nought but a MIDI keyboard and some guitars, they were stellar. They even managed to crack a few jokes and put together a cover so brilliant that I gained new respect for the theme song from 'Home and Away'.
No matter how great the support act was, nothing could've competed with Ben. He was accompanied by a very talented drummer and a bassist with a great SoCal accent and a prediliction for the word 'fuck'. You barely noticed them. The things that Ben Folds is capable of doing with (or perhaps 'to' is a better term) a piano are simply spellbinding. He played a fair bit of his new CD (which is on my 'to buy' list) as well as some of the great old nerd anthems like 'Underground' and 'There's Always Someone Cooler Than You'. He had the crowd singing in 3-part harmony. He, in short, rocked.
It was awesome. There is little more to be said on the topic. He remains one of the best live acts I have ever witnessed, and I would unquestioningly rate him as one of the greatest musicians out there. Incredible stuff.
3. 21
Well, it's a few weeks old now, but I did it. I survived to 21. Massive shoutouts to all who attended the bash at Magic Mountain, you can find some photos of that over on Blade's blog - check them out. I must talk to that boy about the use of apostrophes at some stage too....
It was a nice, intimate gathering of a couple of dozen people and I, for one, had a great time. I was surpringly less hung over than I expected to be the morning after, but I guess that is something I can make up for next year. Nevertheless, it was great to catch up with everyone - I really need to get a bit more social, but things invariably happen on my weekends that prevent me from catching up with as many people as I would like. The fact that my weekend has been Monday and Tuesday for the most part has made it difficult, but I believe I am going back to the 'normal' Saturday and Sunday for a while, which will probably make these things a bit easier.
It is perhaps time for me to do some work, but look forward to a few more regular updates here to let you all know what's going on.
# posted by Nils @ 8:50 AM 
