This is the topic of conversation...

Here's a tip for you kids: Next time you're meant to be adding people to your 'band' myspace page, triple check that you're actually signed into the band account, NOT your personal one. Way to waste 2 hours and confuse a lot of people Owen.

Holiday is happening soon. Just over two weeks and I leave! Woo!

Last two days was JMC Showcase stuff. I was meant to be doing FOH sound, but instead I was shoved on Monitors for the night (sound on stage, the stuff that the performers hear for the uninitiated). The upside of doing Monitors is that because you're tucked away on the side of stage out of sight to the public, you can easily curl up on the floor for a sleep when you've got nothing to do. Downside is that you've got to deal with performers being whingy and doing things they shouldn't: for example, pointing the microphone directly at a speaker then wondering why it keeps feeding back.
In the end, it wasn't too bad because we had 6 practices to get everything right, but it was bad because we had 6 practices (going through everything so much is very boring for sound guys) and I'd gotten all the levels fine after the first band had done their song for the first time.
It was good to work with fellow JMC types to see what skills each group of people had, to see what skills people lacked, how I could improve my game a bit, and to see Trainers in their prime (i.e. in the bar after the show).
It was also good for me to have something 'responsible' to do. Because I was doing monitors, it was my job to direct a couple of 2nd year students in helping me out (I don't need help, so most of the time I was telling them to chill out) and to also keep the performers happy by making each one of them feel like they're the centre of the show. It was good in that it gave me something to do.

Back onto the topic of this sweet holiday I'm going on and that you're not (unless your name is Esther), flights around Europe have been booked, tickets to see The Slackers have been booked, tickets to see The Pogues & Billy Bragg have been booked, tickets to see Arsenal have been booked (!!!), tickets to go on the Eurostar have been booked (!!!), and the only things left are accomodation in continental europe and our Eurail train pass. Oh, and I need to pay for this all. I owe someone a lot of money right now. They'll get it soon.

Next week I can finally get my full licence! Yay! This means I can drive at 110km/h legally and also not be patronised by other drivers for driving better than them while carrying a 'P' plate. This week after I get that, I'm going to go and get an International Drivers Licence (only $50 from the NRMA, you can even get one on your L's), and then get an International Student Card. Pretty exciting stuff from my end, its okay to he jealous, I know you are.

Ok, now on to the annual blog entry rant:
Why are bands that I like releasing albums that I don't like?
This week I have two prime examples: The Hives and Hot Hot Heat (both of whom Esther is seeing live this week, so darn jealous).
I got The Hives album in my CD player, hit play, and this weird noise came out. It sounded like a rock band, but was it The Hives? There was a rock n roll sound, but apart from the distinctive vocals, it really didn't sound like a Hives album. After a couple of tracks, what's this? Pianos? RnB? What? Turns out Pharrell Williams (one of my most loathed musicians) co-wrote and produced two songs on the album. Really not cool guys.
And Hot Hot Heat? What happened to their fun indie rock n roll? They've turned into a Stadium Rock band. You know what I mean, minimalist guitars and drums with whiney vocals sung over the top that only sounds good mixed in a stadium. The only song I can really say I like is '5 times out of 100', which is a re-recording of an old song!

Annoyance aside, hooray for holidays and all that. Also, I just noticed I really like brackets.

- Owen