2 Blog or not 2 Blog

It’s just past midnight and the week is finally over.

It was a shitty week in general for me and for LaLa and it’s so nice that the weekend is finally here even though we have to wait another set of 7 before seeing each other.

A little of what’s been going on with me…

• Big changes were afoot and then it all screeched to a halt, but I am still hopeful of the future….
• Speaking of feet, my ingrown toenail was chopped out this morning. Fucking OUCH. But…about time.
• Too many Hot Chips!
• If I ever finish migrating Lotus Notes Archives, it will be a fucking miracle
• Iron Man is a good movie. Robert Downey Jr. is the best actor not to have died from a drug overdose
• Speaking of which, Heath Ledger will win a posthumous Oscar for his portrayal of The Joker.
• I want to buy this MTD Bass Guitar after playing it last week at ‘The Bass People’ in Sydney (GREAT store!)

• For the first time in a long long time, I have no credit card debt or personal loans (just a bitching home loan. Gah!)
• I have gone so shit in Footy Tipping the last 2 weeks, I have given up on placing my tips on my blog!
• I forgot about The Panics tomorrow night (tonight even). Anyone going to see them at the ANU Bar?
• I keep getting freaked out at the thought that I have now lived in Canberra for 20 years, and it’s been that long since I started High School. Farrrrk.

It’s now 12:12am. The Witching Hour is at hand. The Weekend is here.

Long may it last, for on Monday our souls die once more…

If you could look into my brain at the moment, it would probably look like this amazing photo

An electrical storm was generated by the ash and lava spewing out of the Chaiten Volcano in Chile at the moment.

When lightning and Lava meet, you want to be far far away.

Pretty amazing. This volcano has been dormant for maybe 1000’s of years and all of a sudden it just blows.

Makes you wonder why, and how and when it could happen….anywhere.

Oh…and my brain?

Confused, Frustrated, Angry, Disappointed and Upset…

*sigh*

“And I wonder
When I sing along with you
If everything could ever feel this real forever
If anything could ever be this good again

The only thing I’ll ever ask of you
You’ve got to promise not to stop when I say when
She sang”

Everlong - Foo Fighters

As nearly 20,000 people belted out this Foo Fighters classic, the sound was awesome. The stadium sang in unison and shivers traveled up my spine.

There was Dave Grohl. The legend. The hero. Guitar in hand, in the middle of the arena. Everyone was eating out of the palm of his hand. He was standing on a stage that appeared from nowhere. One second he was strolling down to runway that was built into the floor of Acer Arena, and next there was a stage being lowered from a concealed circle in the ceiling. Full drum-kit, piano and chairs included.

The whole band (plus extra guest Fooeys) were there to play some of the softer numbers that have appeared on the Fooeys recent albums. As they stood in the middle of the arena, a long way from the front of the main stage that I was at, he announced, “We’re not even half way!”

So it was that the Foo Fighters produced 2 and a half hours of pure rock perfection.

It was my 3rd Fooeys gig. The first was at the same arena 3 years earlier, then I saw their acoustic show in Washington DC, both of which rank up there as some of my favourite gigs, but Friday night they were pumping and the show had everything.

Dave is a performer and a showman. Some might say he’s a smart-arse, but he comes from the same school of entertaining as Jack Black. He’s crude, witty and self-depreciating. Best of all, he makes you laugh right before kicking into a kick-arse song or a mean guitar solo.

During the acoustic part of the show, Dave told the story of the Beaconsfield Miners and how he was stoked to find out they requested Foo Fighters when they were trapped. He did go on to mention that he had some beers with one of them (the only one that actually liked the Foo Fighters) and got totally plastered with him.

Unique (and very talented) female guitarist Kaki King was there as a support act, and she joined Dave on stage for a rendition of the instrumental ‘Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners‘ that Dave promised he would include on the record. Like said, “A promise is a promise..”

“All my life I’ve been searching for something
Something never comes never leads to nothing
Nothing satisfies but I’m getting close
Closer to the prize at the end of the rope

All night long I dream of the day
When it comes around then it’s taken away
Leaves me with the feeling that I feel the most
The feeling comes to life when I see your ghost”

All My Life - Foo Fighters

They did a bit of a skit on camera after the final number before their encore. They were trying to make the crowd cheer for more songs. Dave would hold up one finger, then 2, then 3 to try and get the crowd into a frenzy for them to come back. Taylor (the drummer) then blew through his fingers raising them up to 4.  They then came back out and played 5 more songs, finishing the night with ‘Best of You’.

Ultimately they really only played their big hits all night, but a couple of surprises, like ‘Marigold’ in the acoustic set and ‘Weenie Beenie’ and ‘Watershed’ were good additions to the set.

I think Dave was having a good time. He let out some ripper burps as he ‘chugged’ (aka sculled) a couple of beers on stage. There was much fanfare during songs, with extended solos and false endings. ‘This is a Call‘ went for about 10 minutes, which is impressive for a 4 minute song.

Overall. Fantastic night. I think I’ve satisfied my rock urge until the Sebastian Bach concert at the ANU bar at the end of the month!

..I would be going to this years Virgin Mobile Festival in Baltimore

The first V Festival started when I was there in 2006, but this years lineup is freaking AWESOME.

How about this for a festival. (my faves in red!)

Saturday, August 9
FOO FIGHTERS • JACK JOHNSON • THE OFFSPRING • WILCO • Paramore • The Swell Season • KT Tunstall • Citizen Cope • Rodrigo y Gabriela • Lupe Fiasco • Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings • Bloc Party • Chuck Berry and the Silver Beats • Duffy • Gogol Bordello • Cat Power
Dance Tent: UNDERWORLD • FERRY CORSTEN • Soulwax • DJ Dan and Donald Glaude • Erol Alkan • Steve Lawler

Sunday, August 10
KANYE WEST • NINE INCH NAILS • STONE TEMPLE PILOTS • BOB DYLAN • Iggy and the Stooges • Lil Wayne • Taking Back Sunday • The Black Keys • She & Him • Shudder to Think • The Go! Team • Black Rebel Motorcycle Club • Andrew Bird
Dance Tent: ARMIN VAN BUUREN • MOBY (DJ Set) • Rabbit in the Moon • Richie Hawtin • Deadmau5 • Pendulum • Chromeo

I WISH I was there! Stone Temple Pilots are BACK, and on the same lineup as NIN, Fooeys and Offspring. Sweeeeeet.

I have been subscribed to gig lists in DC and getting jealous about shows all the time. I miss having top international ats playing in the town I’m living in….

I guess I’ll just have to settle for the Foo Fighters tomorrow night!

Woooo Dave Grohl rocks my world. Can anyone get me back stage?

I’ve got this muscle twitch on the inside of my elbow on my left arm.

*twitch*

It sometimes randomly twitches by itself

*twitch twitch*

Sometimes it even goes crazy and twitches non-stop for about a minute.

*twitch twitch twitch twitch twitch twitch twitch twitch*

It annoys the crap out of me. One time, I had this twitch in my right arm at the same time as I had my eyes dilated and was in a dark room in a laser eye surgery room.

I became so annoyed and focussed on the twitch that I think I had some sort of panic attack. My ears were ringing. I sweated profusely and my eyes became blurry.

That was the last time I’ve had one of those episodes, but I’ll never forget it.

Every time I get a twitch it’s the same thing. It stays for a day or so and then goes away, only to pop up somewhere else a week or so later.

I really wish I could just poke it out with a fork to stop it sometimes.

….

Does anyone else get this?

What’s it called in medical terms?

Well it’s 15 minutes till the first Big Brother episode for 2008.

I have been a Big Brother fan since the very first season, but over the years is has gotten worse and worse. Last year was almost the end of the road. Boring, similar and dumb housemates made for a crap 5 months of TV.

So Gretel is gone, FuckHead Kyle and bitchface Jackie-O have taken over. Will that make it any better? Noooo, but maybe a different range of interesting house-mates will.

Check out the housemates at Behind Big Brother Australia (BBBA) or the Official Website

=———————=

7:00 - It’s started. Same theme tune. Same auditorium. Oh look. It’s Kyle and Jackie-O. I think it sounds like they’re hosting a radio show….blah…

First night EVICTION. I already read about that.

God Kyle is such a wank. I hate even LOOKING at him…

7:02 - Time to watch the audition tapes of people who didn’t make it. Nudity Already! A moustached woman. Country Bogans on Bikes.

7:03 - There’s Neil from Centrebet now…talking about the odds? What the hell? Have they struck a deal with a gambling agency?

First sneak-peek at the housemates. In their little black boxes. They don’t look too special yet…..There’s the nana. There’s the midget.

7:05 - Looking through the outdoor of the house. There’s a Kombi. Cool. There’s a hot-tub and pool. They are TINY. There’s an outdoor dunny. There’s fake animals. Funky colours. Can’t see inside. Bah…

7:06 - First ad break.

7:09 - We’re back. There’s a momento cabinet. Each housemate has to put a loved item in there. maybe they get it back. Maybe they don’t

7:10 - 1st Housemate - Terri

She’s 52 and from NSW
She’s a Nanna.
She likes Pauline Hanson.
She was a single mother for a long period. (better than 2 pissweak ones apparently)
A Retail Worker.
She says she’s not cranky. Bugger.
Strong opinions.
She’s got a doll as her loved item that her Grandfather found on a beach.
Her grandson is there as well as her daughter. (The crowd awwwwws)

…

7:15 - 2nd Housemate - Saxon

He’s 22 from SA
He believes in UFO’s and Aliens and Loch Ness Monster.
He goes to look for one every Saturday
He LOOKS like a Space Cadet.
He works for the council.
He has bad tattoos (one says Roswell)
What a dork.
His monento for the cabinet is a gold chain. (got it from his parent)
He looks like a total wank. KICK HIM OUT

…

7:18 - We cross to Terri looking around the house. She’s wandering around. Checking out the BBQ and the kitchen. Kyle wants to see her sunbaking. Onya mate.

Kyle announces that someone will be evicted tonight. Yeah yeah…I knew that.

7:19 - Ad Break.

7:22 - We’re back live into the opening of the house. Jackie-O is talking to Saxon. Gee’s, could they have found anyone more dopey?

Saxon meets Terri. Interesting match these 2. Saxons wants to get on the Champers already. He has a really bad rats tails. Terri shows off her muscles. Wow..these 2 are a perfect match.

Shuddup Kyle. (”Give em one week”)

7:25 - Jackie-O takes us inside the house. New diary room. Switchable glass. It will highlight tempations behind it. NO Kitchen this year. All food is delivered via a conveyor belt. What the hell?

There’s a ‘cold, sterile’ bathroom. Each housemate gets a locker with a false back. Items can be taken out of it by BB.

ONE GIANT BED. All of the Housemates in one bed. WTF? That’s crazy. It could be interesting to see how long that lasts.

7:27 - 3rd Housemate - Bianca

She’s the youngest housemate, only 18.
She’s from QLD.
Italian Princess
Big Boobs
Doesn’t drink much.
Reads books.
She’s totally up herself saying that she turns heads. Whatever.
She is ‘mumsy’.
Is a self-proclaimed tool and dances around Pool tables
She says that she won’t sunbake cause there’s too many creepy old blokes like Kyle out there.
Her momento is a dog collar because she couldn’t bring her dog. Boring.

7:30 - Back to the house as Terri and Saxon discuss the unknown.

Bianca enters. Her tits are HUGE. Saxon can’t help staring.

7:31 - More HUGE surprises later in the show apparently. Another ad break

7:35 - Back to the house. Terri and Saxon check out the Kombi. Saxon says it’s a ‘Make-Out Van’

7:36 - 4th Housemate - Nobbi

He’s 21 from Victoria and commerce Student. Wants to be an agent.
He is Asian and puts on the accent at first. Ha. Not really. That was funny.
He boxes and plays poker.
He’s into the mathematical side of Poker. Loser.
His worried about keeping up his daily facial routine. Wank…
Kyle says he has tickets on himself and asks if he is.
He has a security blanket and Kyle asks if he is in love with it. (dickhead)
Nobby sleeps with the towel. What the?
He is scared of girls

….

7:39 - Nobbi enters the house. Great name. Kisses all round. Kyle calls him the ‘Karate Kid’. Ha.

7:40 - 5th Housemate -Brigitte

She’s 20 and from ACT. Holy crap! Canberra! First time EVA!
Paris Wannabe. Crikey. She’s very blonde.
She’s shy around people so they thinks she’s snobby.
She says guys are different to girls. Duh.
She has hair extensions and does girly pretty stuff. Uh oh.
Kyle is being a dirty prick
She has a gold necklace that is her momento from her mum.
That’s the young poon tang out of the way…

..

…

7:43 - Ad break AGAIN….

7:48 - Big Brother’s voice is new I think. And you can’t call him mate. Ha!

Brigitte enters the house. Saxon has a dirty look on his face. Terri asks if she could have had a shorter dress. Brigitte is supposed to start Uni in July…ha….I doubt it.

7:50 - 6th Housemate - Alice

She’s 24 and from Victoria
She’s a vet and gets messy as she sticks her hand up a cows butt.
Has a cute face.
She’s introduced as Doctor Alice.
Jackie-O thinks it’d be exciting to stick hands up a cows butt every night.
She’s single and is looking for anything…
Seems nice enough, but a bir boring…

..

..

7:53 - 7th Housemate - Travis

20 from NSW.
What is with the fucking VOICE?
He’s skinny as. A stick-insect.
He has to be gay. He works out but he has no muscles.
He’s a marketing co-ordinator. WITH THAT VOICE??
He has a coyote mug.
SAYS he’s not gay. (Yeah right)
He wants to be who he wants to be. Yeah yeah…whatever.
Kyle’s asking about the voice. It’s totally wrong.
He’s brought the bible as a momento. Oh dear.
…

7:57 - The odds man is up. 6.00 for Alice and 7.50 for Travis. Terri has long odds at 14.0, but Saxon is longer at 26 bucks. Brigitte is the longest at 51/1. Ha. That is ridiculous.

Kyle says, “In my mind, Brigitte’s on top”. Dirty fuck.

7:58 - More Ads.

Well, so far I think Nobbi is the best. I don’t really like any of them much. Terri will be entertaining as the token oldie. I think she’ll last quite a while unless she get’s TOO opinionated. I don’t know what is with Travis. Just strange.

Bring on the midget

8:03 - Alice and Travis are about to enter. Travis is a freak. Sorry, but there’s something wrong with your voicebox dude. At least admit it.

They get frisked by the guards and in they go. Travis does a stupid dance. They all meet. Travis is defending his voice already.

Terri asks why he didn’t ask Kyle if that was he ‘real’ fat gut. Ha!

8:06 - 8th Housemate -Rory

He’s 21 from Victoria
He’s a bogan.
He’s a brickie.
He wants to travel around Australia pub by pub.
From the slums in Geelong.
Has a dog called Stubbie.
He’s got a little box thing as a momento.
He’s pumped and has a shit hair-cut.

…

….

8:08 - Rory meets everyone in the house and declares he’ll forget everyone’s name.

8:10 - 9th Housemate - Renee

22 and from New South Wales.
Chihuahua on Speed.
Loves her footy.
Hates dishonest people
Talks fast (boganish) and is short as.
She works in an abattoir.
Hates princesses (Ha…too bad. I think she’ll be out-numbered)
Has brought a blanket as a momento. “I’m a practical person”

…,

…

8:13 - Ad break

I dunno. It’s hard to get excited about any of them yet. I like that they have a tomboy girl in there. Renee should balance out the princesses a bit. Maybe. Or she’ll be converted. Ha. Rory seems like a wank. I bet he’ll try it on with Brigitte before too long…

8:17 - Footage of Kyle’s time in the house last year. What a fuck-knuckle

Renee enters the house and says ‘Hey’ to everyone. Next housemate!

8:18 - 10th Housemate - Rima

She’s 25 and from Victoria
It’s the midget! Her and her brother are both ’shrunk’
Her voice matches up with Travis. Squeaky!
She’s married.
She belly dances.
She is 1 metre tall. Bloody Hell.
She swears, and declares she has a potty mouth.
First BEEP of the night.
The husband comes out and meets everyone.
I wonder where she gets her clothes.
Only married Housemate this year, Kyle declares.

8:22 - We cross to the house and Rory and Brigitte appear to be pretending to moon the new housemates. BB tells them to pull up their pants.

Rima enters and everyone looks dumb-struck. Rory has walked away already. She’s obviously not hot enough. Everyone else is nice enough.

8:24 - We cross to Mike Goldman and Bree. They are in the games arena. Fryzie is in some sort of stupid outfit. They are promoting Friday Night Live games already. It’ll be like Gladiators, but…NOT…

Terri tells Rima that the toilet is probably too tall for Rima. Hahaha. “They’ll probably give you a step”.

Lordy.

AD BREAK

Terri is going to be funny. She’s already come out with the best lines so far tonight. There should be more older people in it!

8:29 - KFC are sponsors again. They have even sponsored the Diaries this year. Maybe they’ll have Wicked Wings on the conveyor belt.

8:30 - 11th Housemate - Ben

19 and from WA
Dux at school, Dux at Uni, Dick. Whatever mate.
Proclaims how smart he is and what his UAI is.
He’s a geek.
He doesn’t like slow walkers.
Seems totally up himself.
Studying law and thinks he’s SMRT.
He’s brought a photo with him and a dog as a momento.
…
…

8:34 - He meets everyone in the house. Yeah. He’s dull as dogshit. EVICT HIM!

8:35 - 12th Housemate - Dixie

She’s 21.
First aboriginal person in the house
Her car is her fiance
Cries when she hears the national anthem.
Seems nice. Is very emotional.
Almost cries when she walks on stage.
Was going to move to Sydney but ended up in Dubbo.
Never had a relationship apparently. (loses interest in boys)
Works as a Mental Health Worker (will probably come in handy)
Brought a beanie that was made by her Grandmother …..

8:37 - It is revealed that Dixie knows Renee from her home town. They try and build the tension by wondering if they like each other or not. Ha.

Dixie enters the compound (they still can’t go in the house). Dixie and Renne hug straight away. Well there goes that tension. She meets everyone else. I think I like Alice and Dixie best so far. All the guys pretty much suck so far.

8:38 - Ad break

8:42 - 13th Housemate - Rebecca

22 and from WA.
She’s a Personal Trainer and a skimpy barmaid.
Doesn’t like fake people.
Says that her has to use her body to sell her personal training (ha…and what else?)
..

..

..

…

…

8:45 - 14th Housemate - David

32 and from NSW (finally someone else over 30)
Was in a cult and escaped twice
Was married for 2 years.
Was a cop and is now a fireman
Seems like a decent bloke.
His parents don’t watch TV and won’t be watching him.
He has brought in a Canberra Raiders Jersey. Uh oh.
…

…

…

8:54 - Rebecca and David are about to head into the house. The last few housemates were rushed through and WordPress screwed up so I missed a lot of the last 2 housemates.

Nobbi and Renee are swinging on a swing. She sounds so bogan.

Rebecca and David walk in and meet people. Rory is of course interested in Rebecca. Travis hugs everyone instead of the handshake.

That’s all the housemates in. They go to the Centrebet guy again. He puts Rory at 26 dollars and Renee at dollars. Ben has short odds of 9.50. Rebecca sits on 17 bucks and so ar David is the shortest odds at 8 dollars. yeah yeah…Whatever.

Back to the house. BB is talking (definitely a new BB). He is telling them they cannot go into the house yet. He’s about to tell them that someone is going to be evicted early. The housemates have to decide who will be evicted at sunrise tomorrow. They have to decide amongst themselves.

The house will be closed until the first evictee is selected in the morning. He announces that it is the first of several snap evictions. Ha. Cool. They will have to stay outside tonight. Guess the Kombi could get full!

The housemates are discussing how they will decide who goes. No-one volunteers to leave. Ha. Funny that.

Next week, the top 3 voted online housemates will be put into the house (somehow).

Jackie-O mentions the words ‘Under the Radar’ for the first time. (yawn)

And that’s it. 9.03 and the first show is done. On time! Unbelievable!

The housemates continue to talk about how to decide who’s going. Rory says that everyone should talk to each other and try to work it out. Duh!

…….

So that’s it. The first episode and my first attempt at live blogging. WordPress decided not to save stuff at one stage. That was fun, and I found myself typing too much and not actually watching what was going on!

I think they’ve attempted to have a more diverse range of HM’s this year, which is good. Apparently a few ideas have been taken from the UK Big Brother who have a lot of different people instead of the bland lamo’s we had last year.

I like that they are making them evict someone straight away. The key is to keep them on their toes. Keep it exciting for US. I don’t care if the HM’s are happy or not!

Anyway…that’s it. I’m tired of typing now

…but he was just interviewing Hugh Jackman and was asking him questions in 20 seconds.

As he was talking a big drool just dripped out of his lips and fell to his lap…

You could see him sucking up the spit in his mouth afterwards.

No-one noticed. Not even Hugh.

But I did.

Ha!

Rove was much better when he was on Channel 9 and had Dave Callen.

I had a tops weekend. I am bloody tired.

I think it’s time for bed.

I nearly lost a child today.

But let me go backwards a little.

I have had the kids stay over this week for school holidays.

It’s been great, but I must admit I have been a little worn out by them. Also, I’m glad my ears are already ringing because the squeals are loud enough to smash glass.

We’ve watched movies, gone shopping, played interesting games of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles where I am Master Splinter (the rat).

Then, this morning we planned to see the balloons, which meant dragging my sorry, tired, butt out of bed at 6am and trying to decide whether or not to wake the kids and head out into the 8 degree morning (balmy for this time of year!).

The ear piercing alarm from my daughters alarm clock made my mind up for me as the kids launched out of bed and got dressed in many layers.

We scored a sweet park right next to the lawns of Old Parliament House and then went and checked them all out…

Mmm…the heat from the flame warms us up…

The eyes on this thing freaked me out a little…

This Kookaburra was the pick of the balloons this morning. I think there will be more on the weekend.

The obligatory reflection shot worked well…

He doesn’t even have to pose and he takes a good pic…

They were having a good time and then we decided to head off to the car and then grab some Macca’s for breakfast…

I walked my eldest son across the road, and then my 9 yr old daughter had my 4 yr old sons hand and were on the other side of the road. All of a sudden, he decides to pull out of her hand and run across the road. I noticed a car heading down the road from the left and I yelled out to him. I was about to run out to get him when a car screamed past from the right, in between me and my boy. I swear this car must have been going over 40kph and was within a metre of hitting both me and my son.

He ended up standing in the middle of the road as these 2 cars went around him.

it was crazy. it was so sudden and it scared the shit out of all of us. My daughter took it worst of all as she felt responsble for him, but it was not her fault at all. He just pulled out of her hand to run to  me.

The ride to Macca’s was a quiet one except for me stressing to the boy to be MUCH more careful when crossing and to always hold a hand. Stuff that he already knows.

Besides that, we went to the War Memorial this arvo and the kids had a great time in the Discovery Zone and looking at the dioramas.

After a long long day they hit the hay early. I think I need it too as I’m supposed to be going to work tomorrow.

Gah…why did I do that?

Big weekend coming up as well!

The Drop Bears have 2 gigs this weekend.

Friday night at the Holy Grail in Kingston and Saturday at the Tuggies Club (Vikings) in Erindale.

LaLa will also be in town which is great. I think we’ve opted out of hitting the balloons again this year though

Hope you have a good ANZAC Weekend.

And here’s hoping my son doesn’t forget how to cross a road…