Sydney v Melbourne

So the whole Sydney v Melbourne debate has subsided lately, a few years ago it was a hot topic. Everyone seems to now agree that both have the unique advantages, and disadvantages.

But its no wonder Melbourne is viewed is the city with more culture and substance when the place is portrayed like this in straight up TV commercials. Check it out on link below.

http://www.bestadsontv.com/ad_details.php?id=3479 

Nice isn’t it?

And then…

So life is back to normal. Back at work. But work is good. Lots of interesting stuff on the boil.  Thought I would announce that tonight the mighty Antics are playing the semi-final of the Sydney City Mens 2^nd Division Oz Tag comp. We’ve mad the grand final the last 2 years so we’re hoping for big things again. 

Looks like we’re going to play 6-a-side soccer as well, if Alex gets his shit together.  That’s all.  

*** So we lost only by 2, 8-6. And we were leading at halftime. No subs ruined us. We’ll be back bigger and better for the Summer comp.

Pogo…

In case you didn’t notice I’m back home, back at work, just back.

Check this for quality, this dude has some serious skills that Napoleon would be proud of.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW45lgHfntc 

Thank Lucas for the link.

London in a Flash Pt 1…

This is what I’ve been doing in London in a few sentences. In another hurry as I’m about to go check out the Tate Modern and a few other things and its 11 o’clock already.

Wednesday I did heaps of walking and checked out…

- Westminster Cathedral, erie place. Big Ben and the Houses of Parliment, and all the other amazing buildings around that area. A Salvidor Dali exhibition just near the London Eye. I didn’t get on the Eye as it looked like it was going going way too slow.

- Then I went up to Oxford Circus and Carnaby St before meeting a mate and doing a bit of a pub crawl around Soho. Finished up with a really good dinner at this BBQ and ribs joint, quality.

Thursday I did Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guard, talk about ceremony. Quite entertaining I guess if a little baffling. Seems a bit over the top. Then walked through St James park and saw more really massive old official buildings before checking out Piccadilly Circus. Walked up to Selfridges on Oxford St becuase I needed some stuff from there.

On Thursday night I met up with Ann (from Host) and we had drinks and dinner out Dan’s (the people I’m staying with) bar. Its in the West End and its a new place and I really liked it. We stayed there all night and payed hardly anything for lots of booze and some food.

By the end of both days I felt like an old lady as my feet were sore from all the walking, I was all like ‘Oh my aching feet, I need a little sit down’.

So thats a summary, I dont wanna spend too much time on the computer, just thought I better let my Mum know what I’m up to. Hi Mum.

Oh, one thing about this place is the shocking customer service. Every person in every shop has a permanent scowl and looks like they’re about to neck themselves. Just something I’ve noticed.

Just Quickly

Hi All,

So I haven’t updated for days as I’ve been running around London being a tourist. It’s been great, but I’ll get to that soon. Just thought I would wrap up the whole Bestival odyssey.

Sunday was a big day as far as acts go and this is what took place after rising about 3pm.

- Went straight to the Big Top tent for Matthew Herbert who was playing live with full band. It was damn good, but Dani the singer wasn’t there, with a funny looking guy replacing her on vocals. They played about 7/8 tunes from the new album and it was pretty special musically. But Herbert himself was having a hard time with the sound tech which resulted in him getting on the mic and saying how much of a hard time he was having and poorly prepared the place was. So that kind of ruined it.

- Next was the main stage for Hot Chip. They were also fantastic, not that brilliant technically or anything but they sort of do a fuller version of their album live, so it was fun. The crowd were very up for them.

Starting to get dark now and I had food and my first shower for the weekend in these portable things. Was definitely worth it.

- The rest of the last night was spent in one tent listening to lots of quality DJs, Touche, Ross Allen, Prinz Thomas and then Rob da Bank who is the head honcho of Sunday Best who run the festival. Him coming on meant the tent suddenly became the place to be and it was absolutely rammed, so we chilled outside. He played all the hits he is known for, Lionel Ritchie All Night Long, Dolly Parton 9 to 5 blah blah wasn’t really doing it for me. So the rest of the night was wondering and checking out loads of weird and wonderful goings on inlcuding a proper hoe down. Good stuff.

We were up early Monday morning to catch a 8.30 very, packing up camp was chaos. Of course we missed the ferry so we had to wait an hour for the next one, which didn’t worry me. I wasn’t in a hurry.

I was meant to catch a train from Southhampton to London that morning but after discussions over a proper big breakfast it was decided that I would go back to Nottingham for one last night.

And thats it, more to come on what I’ve been doing in London since Tuesday.

Whoa Part 2…

* This is the second part of a seperate post, read the one below first *

So I remembered what I did on Saturday afternoon, checked out the Cuban Bros. They were up to their usual antics, lots of funky covers and amusing banter. They had the crowd going but it aint really my thing. Seems like too much of a novelty act, even though it gets the punters moving and laughing.

So Crazy P were playing at 9.30 so me and the rest of the non band members hit the tent for a warm up. Caught a bit of Max Sedgley. He was OK. The tent was starting to fill up and it was obvious there were a lot of people coming to see the Penis. By the time they came on it was packed. Sweaty, noisy and an air of anticipation. Then they started and it was all go. A fantastic hour long set that had the whole place jumping. The big tent was overflowing with people and it was very cosy at best. There will be some photos at the end of this entry. As it was dress up day all the guys were wearing smoking jackets / kimonos with cravats, looked cool. Dani (leading lady) was wearing something, I can’t really describe her costume. All in all probably the best gig I’ve seen them play, the planets aligned and it all went off like a frog in a sock. 9.5 out of 10 and a big green tick. After that it was on for young and old. Everyone was well up for making a night of it.

We hung around for a DJ set from Bent (popular duo from Nottingham) in the same room. There were lots of punters and industry types coming up to the CP crew with congratulations, so we boogied away for a while before checking out other stuff around the rest of the festival.

Now who else did I check??? Not sure right now… So highlights of the night from then on, in point form…

- Listening to a proper disco set from an old Northern dude called Greg Wilson late on, including some of my favourite tunes.

- Stumbling across the secret staff sort of tent about 6 in the morning after most of the other areas had shut down. It was a tent entered through a secret side door off another tent.

- Watching everyone run around in their crazy costumes. Lots of happy, happy faces.

- Checking out the public camping area and seeing how massive it is and some of the stuff that was going down there.

- Watching an American dixie/red neck band entertain a massive crew, out in the open, impromptu acoustic style.

- Watching a wicked sunrise over a beautiful valley, with the festival still cranking in the foreground.

OK, the weekend is still coming back to me in parts so that’s it for now. Bedtime is looming. I just watched the Liverpool Champions League game and ate a burger at a pub down the road. Was cool even though nil-nil draws really are shit.

More photos… Crazy P and the crowd (probably not that good at small res), some teenage lads getting all political and hippy and another youngen riding a wheelchair.

Hope that’s all semi-interesting to you.

Mitch

      

Whoa!

Where do I start?

Just arrived back in London (a day late) after an amazing few days at Bestival on the Isle of Wight. You catch a ferry from Southampton to the island, and the ferry goes goes through what apparently is the busiest shipping channel in Europe.

So after some hassles with getting on ferries and finding the site we got to the site and into our camping spot. Nothing I’ve ever been to compares to it, epic is on the only word to describe it. The festival is out in the middle of nowhere on this hilly sort of recreational reserve thing, a massive space with hills and bush walks and of course big open fields. I haven’t been to Splendor in Byron yet but I can’t imagine its this big.

We got there on Friday evening and set up camp in the guest area which was on the top of a hill above the rest of festival grounds. We then cruised down to the main bit, by this time it was dark and seeing the rest of the place from the top of the hill was a sight to be seen. The main music areas were hidden by trees but to the left was a temporary tent city with little street sorta things lit by lanterns. Epic. I tried to get it on the camera but it was too dark and far away.

So we went down the first tent we came across which was the one Crazy P were playing the following night. A nice big space with wicked sound. Drinks and mild dancing followed. We caught Ashley Beedle doing a reggae set then the Nextmen doing their funky hip hop sorta thing. A great way to warm up for the next few days. I went for a cruise and checked out about half of the rest of the site, heard some of Erol Alkan in the sort of electronic tent and drank more. Later on we watched Kelly Polar do their live disco and strings thing and it was pretty dissapointing. good in theory but didnt work at all in a live sense. Which sucked cos I dragged everyone else over there. After that we called it a night and went back to camp.

Saturday we got up mid morning morning and ate, then slept then went and checked out the other areas. The main stage was a massive narrow sort of corridor that opened out into a big area with sense bushland either side. A great setting.

So I’m trying to remember who I saw on the Saturday afternoon but it’s not quite coming to me, so I’ll skip that for the moment. The Crazy P guys did a radio interview in the late afternoon and the rest of our crew (there were 12 of us in total in our little posse) hung out out camp and ate and prepped drinks. At about 7 we got in our costumes as it was costume day. Every single person at the whole festival had made an effort to dress up…well say 95% of people. And it looked absolutely fantastic! Created such a fun positive vibe and everyone was absolutely revelling in it.

OK, I’m to leave it there as I need to go eat. I’m flying solo tonight. Back in at Dan and Sasha’s place in Clapham and going to get get a massive burger at this place down the road that claims to have London’s best burgers, I’ll review that and report back.

Here are some photos.

More to come.

    

Nearly outta Notts’

Hi people,

Thursday arvo and its a real sunny day here in The Midlands (I think that’s where I am).

Preparing for Bestival this weekend. Its a real fun type of festival apparently and the punters are very much encouraged to dress up, the theme this year is ‘Circus’. I’ve got some nice vintage clothes to wear, did a bit of op shop purchasing today. They’re a touch circus I guess, will have some rainbow coloured braces as well.

Will hopefully catch up with some ex-pats this weekend as well. Ang from school, Ed from clubland and and Anne from Host. Still trying to work out wether I’ll watch the Pet Shop Boys on Sat night, everyone here wants to but I’m not so sure…will probably check out someone else.

Apart from them the lineup is fantastic, loads of amazing acts over 3 days. And apparently there’s a secret disco as well, where its not on the map and fully off the beaten track, like. Interesting.

So here’s some photos. Just a couple of little piccies. Few from Ireland and Amp Fiddler in a tiny little venue. Which was wicked x 50 thousand.

More to come.

Mitch

Lets Sit Down for a Catchup

Well finally I have some computer time. In a rush again so I’ll try to cover the last few days quite quickly.

So the Electric Picnic was very, very good. But the adventures surrounding it were probably as good as the festival itself.

Left Nottingham first thing Friday morning, travelled along those M roads to Holyhead which is on the coast of Wales. Wales is very nice, pretty boring looking but nice countryside and little towns and stuff. Caught a massive ferry to Ireland, the ferries have big restaurants and stuff, was quite interesting jetting at high speed across the ocean.

Arrived just outside of Dublin late in the afternoon, then it was a mad rush to get to the festival which was a couple of hours drive away out in the country. Got there and set up our camping spot then rushed to the ‘Bodytonic’ area and quickly set up the stage. I made myself useful lifting gear around and making sure everyone had fresh booze. The gig was really good as usual. The Crazy P guys weren’t 100% satisfied but from where I was and from the crowd reaction it was nothing but quality.

Once the gear was packed up and back in the truck it was down time at the camp before a wander around the huge festival. Think BDO on a massive massive farm with a fair distance between each stage and no cement or proper buildings anywhere. Very nice. The Irish punter is a bit strange though, can’t quite explain it but they’re pretty tame I think.

So Saturday…we had an awesome breakky/lunch in the artists area (oh yeah!) and that was a tops start to the day. Drinking beers by early afternoon and watched some awesome awesome music all through Saturday. One of the best days of aural pleasure I’ve had I reckon. Started with a 7 or 8 peice ska band the ‘The Skatalites’ who kicked the day off in fine fun skank style. Then Micheal Franti, who was OK I guess. I’m not really down with his preaching antics. Was still light hearted afternoon music.

I think the Super Furry Animals were next. A very very good band, very much in the rock mould with loads of electronics going down as well. A fantastic set, especially since I didn’t know their tunes. Surry Furry’s are Crazy P favourites so the team were all buzzing after that show.

Was dark now and after some tucker and a chill and a restock of cheap booze back at camp I went to watch Bloc Party with one of the others. Very tight and entertaining, same as I remember them from the Metro gig. Was good to see one of my fave albums of last year played live with 15k other people. Then it was the The Unabombers in the smaller Bacardi tent. They’re a house-ish Dj act out of Manchester. Holy shit!!! Probably the best ever. Easily in my top 5. The DJ was supported by a male vocalist and also a percussionist. Tough deep house all night long with fantastic accompaniments by the others. I could rave about it all day but I dont have the time. Finished off with drinks and a teepee session in the VIP area. A wicked day all round.

Sunday was the last day of Electric Picnic and the day where most of the acts I wanted to see were on. But, the crew had to get back to England so we left mid morning. So I missed out on Metro Area, Charles Webster, Hot Chip, Laurent Garnier etc…oh well one or two of those are at Bestival so not to worry.

The trip back was pretty cruisy, lots of snoozing. Once we got back on England soil we got some red wine and cheese and biscuits and had a little tour bus party. Good times.

So back in Nottingham late on Sunday, unpacked all the gear from the van then went and got drunk at a wicked little bar that CP’s tour manager owns.  More good times.

So its Wednesday arvo now and the last 2 days have been very cruisy. Rest and recouperation before Bestival this weekend. Looking forward to that! Everyone is really excited about it and lots of people have told me its the best of the UK’s festivals. Will also meet up with some friend from Oz as well.

Oh forgot to say we went to see Amp Fiddler last night at a tiny little venue here in Nottingham. It was fantastic. Such a a great band, proper funk from stateside.

OK I’m really sick of typing so thats it.

Sorry no photos as the camera has a flat battery. But I’ve got hundreds of awesome shots to show everyone.

Email me please – mitch_od@yahoo.com.au

Hope everyone is really well and loving life.

PS. Go the Tiges! Good way to finish the season.

Nottingham

Another nice train ride and I now be in Nottingham. Posting this from the CP studio space, up on a hill overlooking a pleasant little midlands street.

Spent some time in the middle of London proper today, got on the tube and everything. it goes quite quick.

Off for beers and food. Ireland tomorrow. CP just been told they have a headline set, 10.30 rather than 6pm!

Hope everyone is well. News to come come next week post Electric Picnic, can’t wait to see Metro Area, one of my all time faves.