Crosses at Lollapalooza

I don't know if I have been living under a rock, but the first time I heard about Crosses was just in the last couple of days when I read an interview with Chino Moreno in La Tercera. On further reading it turned out they were playing Lollapalooza, which I was already going too.

We got a couple of press passes to go, which was nice of them, although we had to fight to get them.

So anyhow, I just watched a couple of clips this morning and thought, hey that sounds pretty good. I wasn't as into it as regular Deftones stuff, although I haven't listened to them in a fair while. Seeing them live though, I was thoroughly impressed.

The band have two drummers (I'm not sure if it's still the same, but I think it's a guy from Far and a guy from Dredg). There is a pretty big electronic element to the music (ie there are three guys playing samplers or keyboards at some stage in the band). It's more about an atmospheric sound than a sort of techno style though.

The best thing though that is that Chino was in fine form. In pretty good shape also, I remember developing a theory that his vocal performance depended on his always fluctuating weight. The performance was great though.

Today we went to a farewell lunch for a friend, Isabel, she will move to Buenos Aires, so we will have to go and visit sometime. I was actually planning to go to Argentina next week, to watch La U in the Copa Libertadores in Mendoza, but it was all too difficult.

Anyway, we went to the lunch and I ate too much, so I didn't really feel good, so I left the festival early. If I didn't have the press pass I would not go to the festival. Foo Fighters are going to be playing a 2.5 hour set tomorrow, which will be great. However, I am really wondering if I will bother going to the rest of the festival at all. Let's see...

Today I was just by myself and not so much in the mood for talking to people or making new friends. Mainly because my tummy was rumbling. Anyway, the point of the story is that Crosses were really good.

Write on...

Today I have been feeling fairly productive with my writing - I have begun work on some new projects and resurrected some old ones.

However, I did just take the thought that I had not written anything for my Masters or for my job, which are probably more important than these tasks. It's the weekend however, and these are the "on the side" projects, which I am hoping will grow and grow.

I am not going to post the links to them at the moment, because they are not ready - some are active, but not ready.

Anyhow - yesterday we went to an event, where some guys from Tumblr came along and talked to some artists about using Tumblr to spread their creativity. What I was even doing there is a good question - but I tagged along as Francisca was representing the architecture and design firm she works for.

I asked quite a few questions, as I do already use Tumblr, but I was interested particularly in using it for I Love Chile and for creating some things to promote footbag. So in my mind, I was thinking these projects as we talked. The first is quite simple - and I have set it up already. It is simply sharing information about freestyle footbag.

The footbag community has really not done a good job of promoting itself with the social media platforms that are already available. I am hoping this will change it - and also give a voice from within the community, but give it a worldwide voice.

The second (well, third if you count I Love Chile), will be something I think has a huge amount of potential if other people start submitting regularly. The concept will be quite open: South American Freestyle. This will be a mix of "extreme" or "freestyle" sports, pictures, videos, interviews, events, whatever. The key will be it will be all about South America. So either the action happening in South America, or South Americans making the action happen elsewhere.

The key to this is maybe some rich companies will come along and find some cool stuff they want to have as part of their event, then maybe they will get me to be a part of the event and give me lots of money... after all, you never know your luck.

Next week I am going to head to the IV region to check them starting work on a new telescope - they are going to make a big explosion and it's going to apparently be a game changer for astronomy. That could be an adventure anyway...I've never been to the north of Santiago and haven't really gone too far south, so I think it's time to change all that.

I would like to buy a camera too...it's something I've been planning for a while, but haven't seen anything really catch my eye for the right price. I don't want anything special, just something I can take a few snaps with, and something portable - but not with the low resolution of my phone.

Opeth are playing in Chile in a couple of weeks...At The Gates in a few months, and Soilwork too...plenty to be excited about.

We are having our housewarming tonight which should be some good fun. I will try and keep up to date with my new projects and let you know how they all go. Let's see what happens...

I Love Chile - February Edition

I wrote the cover edition of the February edition of I Love Chile. It was an interview I did with Marlen Olivari, who is in a musical, which is also called "I Love Chile".

You can now read the digital version for free here

This woman, she shot to fame by hosting one of those TV shows where a woman reads the weather whilst taking her clothes off. She has also been the centre of various incidents, many of which resembled the Janet Jackson "closet malfunction" at the Superbowl a few years back.

She has a kid now so it's all about a "changed life" of something along those lines.

Here's a couple of clips from the show.

I will try to post up some more stuff about what I've been up to writing wise. Yesterday I interviewed a guy, Miguel. He is holding a comic expo, this guy has some stories. He began his writing career with the guy that started Condorito (before Condorito started) and went on to work for Pixar and Disney.

I also mentioned a while back that I was looking to do an interview with these guys that skated through the Atacama. I got my answers back from them. I'm going to write a story for the paper, but I might just put up the questions and some pictures on here, that sounded like a cool trip.

In more personal news, I went and picked up the keys to our new apartment today. We are going to start living our own lives, in a much more central area. Over the next couple of days we're getting a bed, washing machine and fridge delivered, so things are starting to come together in that regard.

I am back in action with my Masters, I just have two subjects remaining and to be honest it looks fairly daunting. That could be a good attitude to have. If you think you're going to come in barnstorming, you will probably come out the other side with your tail between your legs.

For a great example of this see: Canberra Raiders, 2011.

Speaking of Canberra, there have been floods lately.

This is at the Cotter Dam. Well I think the new part which was hoping to save things because of the drought.

That's how it works I guess...

I am about to head off and play a Pichanga (pick up soccer match). I played one on Monday as well, that was good fun. There were a bunch of guys from Singapore playing, and that day I happened to be wearing a Tiger beer shirt.

This match is going to be "Latin America vs Rest of the World". I guess when you think immediately, you would jump to the conclusion that LatAm would be winners straight away. However, fútbol is the world game after all. So it will be interesting to see how that goes.

I finally got myself a pair of boots, so hopefully I can put in a better showing than previous matches. It has been a long drought of goals for me.

Chile played against Ghana last night, and that sure was a weird game. As the commentators said at half time (which went for 35 minutes), "everything about the organisation of this game has been a disaster".

The final score was a 1-1 game, with Matías Fernández scoring the equaliser from a penalty kick. I might do some player rankings on the I Love Chile site. Then again, I also might not. You can read this article about the change of the venue from New York to Philadelphia a few weeks back.

I may have mentioned we went to see Morrissey the other day. That was the first gig I'd been to all year, and we hadn't seen anything since Parkway Drive, back in November. That's something that will have to change.

Opeth are going to be hear at the end of the month, I will definitely head along to that one. I'm not sure if they're still on their "easy listening" run of shows. Even still, they're a great band. I had an excellent time seeing them with Ben many years ago in Sydney.

Capital Eyes- 2011 Mixtape

Rather than doing a top 10 this year (mainly because I haven't been paying that much attention to what's been going on), I have made a "mixtape" - actually just a playlist, but it's getting there...

It basically reflects what I've been listening to and the bands I've gone to see. I am planning next year to make a mix each month.

You can download the file here.

Here is the tracklisting. You probably wouldn't call this groundbreaking, or featuring "rare tracks", but a lot of it I haven't listened to regularly this year.

Hoodlum Shouts- Guns Germs Steel

My friend Luke plays in this band, they are really good- definitely one of the best Australian rock bands to come out in quite some time. This will be on their full length album which comes out next year. When he first told me he'd joined a band that sounded "kinda like Midnight Oil" I was definitely interested. Their sound can definitely be described as "Australian".

Miles Away- Anywhere

I went and saw Miles Away this year, it was the first time I had seen them in a fair while, the first since they released Endless Roads, a good album to listen to when travelling a long way from home.

Fires of Waco- Change With The Tide

I got to see Fires of Waco twice this year. Once at the same show with Miles Away, and then I saw them on their home turf, at Fat Louie's in Brisbane in a free show. Their album, Old Ghosts Never Sleep is brilliant.

The Gaslight Anthem- Even Cowgirls Get The Blues

I had a ticket to go and see The Gaslight Anthem but I couldn't make it. This is probably the first time that this has happened to me, and aside from regretting the waste of money, I also regret not seeing them even more now, as I have listened to them a whole lot this year.

Grinderman- Bellringer Blues

It sounds like Grinderman may have bitten the dust this year, so that's a band I will never get to see. I love the story in this song.

The National- England

Our friend Sofia reckons that I look a lot like the singer from The National. I'm not so sure on that, but I like this song.

I Exist- Black Unicorn

It is really amazing to see how far these guys have come in just a couple of years. Relentless touring and releasing plenty of music will always help out. I also did an interview in BMA with them.

Kvelertak- Blodtørst

This is a band that got talked up a lot last year. I didn't really get interested in them until it got announced they were going to play the Soundwave Revolution- which didn't quite make it anyway. I like their sound, it's fun.

Break Even- Hells Gates

So far from home- that's where I've spent a lot of this year. Break Even played in Canberra just a couple of days after they put this song out, and almost the whole crowd knew the words. That was pretty impressive.

A Death In The Family- This Letters Proof

From the album Small Town Stories, I started listening to that album a lot more this year, particularly when visiting small towns.

Ringworm- Leviathon

From the split with Mindsnare. Long talked about, but I guess a lot of people didn't believe it would ever come out.

Frenzal Rhomb- Knuckleheads

Frenzal Rhomb, that staple of Australian punk, they've been around for nearly 20 years now. While it's not quite up there with their earlier works, it's a fun listen.

Parkway Drive- Carrion

It's hard to comprehend the popularity of Parkway Drive overseas, without seeing it first hand. Hearing a room full of people chant for CARRION- CARRION was impressive to see. I hope to see them in South America again next year.

Propagandhi- Dear Coach's Corner

I saw Propagandhi in Hobart and Canberra this year. They were both pretty cool shows.

Audrey Hepburn- Moon River

This one is a bit of a change of pace. This was the entrance song for Francisca at both of our wedding ceremonies.

Machine Head- Who We Are

I was a bit underwhelmed with Machine Head's latest effort. It was great to see them within the first few days of arriving in Santiago (with Sepultura). How about the encore of Davidian into Halo. Pretty good.

Into December- Time To Get Real

So here we are now, December has begun. All the family are making their way back after coming over for our wedding, well the second version of our wedding. Here's a picture below.

So they're all back in their homes, or making their way back. After our trip with Mum, Dad and Alison, once we dropped them at the airport, it wasn't quite time to go home yet, there was still Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and Tahiti to come. From the emails it sounds like they had a pretty good time.

So I am still waiting for the paperwork on the residency to go through, which takes a couple of months, so I can't really work anyway, so I have started an internship with I Love Chile, who are an English language media network. They have a monthly paper, a website with daily news and also internet radio and regular news stories which I believe they film and put on Youtube, I haven't really found out about that one yet.

So anyway, I will be focusing on sports, as they don't really have too much reporting on sports, and of course I am a bit of a sports fiend. I am hoping to find lots of minor competitions, and also find excuses to write about Footbag. The South American championships are on in a couple of weeks, but with no job, it's looking unlikely that I will be able to make it, which is a bit of a disappointment. I have been trying to play every day. We have a pool in our apartment block, so I like to play in the early evening for about an hour, and finish the session with a dive into the pool.

If interested you will be able to find my articles here. My first published article was, of all things, about a strike in a mine, which is not really my main area of interest. So I look forward to getting some sports stories up there, and maybe a few mentions of my travels, and some musical ideas too. Let's see.

Speaking of music, I have been pretty lazy on the front of discovering Chilean bands. You could extend that laziness to not doing anything at all. I did see a band yesterday at the Gringoton event. In the sound check they played AC/DC and Slayer, but things got softer from there which was a little disappointing. I didn't catch their name. I had my face painted as a tiger...I will have to get some photos of that up another time!

Maybe by the new year I will have some news on that front. In the world of international touring bands, Opeth and Foo Fighters will both play within a week of each other, in March, so that should be a pretty good week. As for what I have been listening to of late, it hasn't been too much out of the ordinary- Alexisonfire, Break Even, Machine Head, Polar Bear Club, Fires of Waco, A Death in The Family, Parkway Drive, Frenzal Rhomb, that kind of thing.

Today an Australian movie appeared on the TV during their daytime programming. Joey was the name of it, a real classic, it was such a surprise I had never heard of...some incredibly thick 'strayan accents in there. It was kind of fun to watch, but after all it was a kids movie, so it was pretty stupid.

Only a few more weeks left in the year. Not sure exactly what our plans for the new year will be, I wouldn't mind heading down to the coast, where they have a big event with lots of fireworks, even though I don't care so much for fireworks.

Canberra Music Inquiry submission- 2010

Last year in Canberra, there was a commission into what should be done about music in Canberra. I'm not really so sure anything came of the inquiry, but I had my two cents on the matter- can be read- http://www.parliament.act.gov.au/downloads/submissions/52%20Daniel%20Boyle.pdf.

Inside that story, pretty much sums up my time in Canberra. Of course venues close down in other cities all the time as well, but it seems that has always been the fight in Canberra, just having a regular place to play.

In other news, I applied for a job yesterday. The first time I have ever applied for a writing job. It is as Reporter for the website This Is Chile, which is run by the Santiago Times, an English language online newspaper. It would really be GREAT if I could get that job.

Another opportunity may have come up here as well. Helping a friend of ours with a conference in the Atacama Desert. If this one comes through it will be an amazing opportunity, both for me in my "career", and also as a travel opportunity too.

New zine idea

Well I haven't written anything about zines in this blog for some time and it's been even longer since I made a zine. At the start of the year I said I wanted to get to issue #15 of Capital Eyes before stepping out of the country.

We fly off in just a few weeks and the last one I did was #12 for the Sticky Target 168 thing. That was a while back. I have a few ideas floating around my head. I may do a little travel zine about our recent times in Asia, which ended with me in hospital. Not such a feel good story. Another idea I have, which some may say is cheating, is to make a collection of the interviews I've done with just Canberra bands over the last few years. This could be a pretty good way to bow out from the Canberra scene and tell a few good stories about those times.

Off the top of my head, these are some interviews I have done with Canberra bands- 4 Dead, I Exist, Templestowe, Yoko Oh No, Super Best Friends, Jerkstore, Slowburn. Considering that I have been doing this for a few years, it probably should be a bigger number, but there's not so much you can do about that. Let's see if I can get that done, I have had a pretty productive night tonight, so if I can continue that form over the next couple of weeks, we'll see what happens...

Speaking of zines, This Is Not Art (TiNA) is on this coming weekend. I met a girl last week who said hey you should go. I have to work and I don't really have any money, so it's not going to be an option at this stage. However, once we come back from Chile, that's something I could do.

Koh Samui

Today, after quite a long trip down from Bangkok, we arrived in Koh Samui. I only got a couple of pictures on my phone a while after the sun had gone down (above x 2). I guess this island has a reputation as a pretty touristy place, but where we're staying, of course it is a tourist area, it's other western people, but it's not too crowded where we are staying at all. We are staying at the Southern end of Lamai beach. This isn't the main tourist hub, but you know, it's probably 50 metres from our room to the beach, and that's quite alright by me.

If the weather stays good tomorrow, I can strongly see us staying on another couple of nights. What an intriguing experience the old night bus was. Some things you read (eg Lonely Planet) are very much against taking these buses and suggest going to the government run buses, however I read they were more expensive and less comfortable.

The main thing for me was that they offered a hostel pickup. Of course I was surprised (though I should not have been) when a tuk tuk came to take us to the next stop. I had originally guessed that some kind of van would get us and take us to the bus station. Even though I went against the advice of the Lonely Planet, which TBQH hasn't provided a whole lot of helpful advice for us in the first place, I though that old mate in the hostel was too nice to sell us a dud deal. He seemed to want the best for everybody, and I didn't think he would be associated with any kind of scams and rackets, but I wasn't so sure once the tuk tuk dropped us just around the corner from Kao Sahn Road.

So we stayed there for a while and we didn't really know what was happening. I started talking to a couple of other people standing around, but they had this "too good for you" attitude so that conversation didn't get too far. After some time, it was quite a long time, maybe 45 minutes we were herded along to somewhere a little way up the road. A new bloke came and got all the receipts back off everyone. Of course every receipt would get a return visit with payment of their commission. We were waiting in this holding area for some more time, I got talking to a couple of blokes who lived in England. Most of the people we met in the course of the trip were English come to think of it.

Anyhow, one of these first guys was heading down to NZ for the World Cup (Rugby) after his travels in Thailand. I got talking to him about Union even though I don't really know very much, but I steered the conversation into the Manly/Melbourne fighting match, what a classic that was.

Another classic in their encounters was that 40-0 Grand Final scoreline. The Raiders won the under 20s that day, what promise that showed.....most of that side are in the firsts lineup now and have brought them precariously close to the wooden spoon. Results from tonight mean they will narrowly avoid that unwanted piece of kitchenware no matter what. That has nothing to do with our trip though, back on with the show.

We're talking to the blokes and a guy tells us the bus will be hear in five more minutes. Sure. Sure enough, five more minutes we're crossing over the road to get to the bus. One of these Rugby blokes had gone to the toilet so he had to make a mad dash to even get on the bus. On the bus we saw a couple of movies. First up was The Lincoln Lawyer which was ok, particularly for a movie shown on the bus, but then the next one Stuck, this was up there with the absolute worst movies I have ever seen. Even the fact that the main girl (Mena Savari??) bopped some other girl, who was at the time naked, with a frying pan, could not save this movie. I am currently looking on IMDB for a verdict of just how bad this movie is according to others, but the bus seemed to give it an all round score of about 1/10.

After the movies it seemed it was time for lights out. We weren't too tired yet and we had a game of chess on the mini chess set I have been carrying around, which hadn't been brought out yet. We had played some of the other games inside, particularly snakes and ladders, but no chess. Anyhow, it seemed we were the only people with our above light on, but all of a sudden all the lights came on, it was time to stop.

As per any long distance bus trip, we stopped in some crappy little down, it was no difference to stopping at the service station outside of Holbrook or outside of Bowen on the Greyhound in Australia. I hadn't eaten any dinner so I gladly gobbled down some veg noodles, mainly as something to go with my concoction of medicines. I think there are still quite a few days to go until the 10 days of taking all these medicines concludes, but I'll say now that the old overnight bus wasn't the best for the ankle. All seems ok now, but not just my ankle,but my right leg was quite swollen from the ride last night.

Anyhow, we got some eats, then game back to our match of chess when suddenly it was lights out. Just like in the movies in jail, the time comes for lights out, but no warning. I guess that meant time for sleep. I really barely slept at all. Some posts ago I talked about some albums of the past, and instead of sleeping I was thinking of an album to represent each year. Seeing as some of these were a long time ago, I'm not sure if the years are accurate, but I had something for each year...

1994- Midnight Oil- Blue Sky Mining

1995- Oasis- What's The Story Morning Glory

1996- Silverchair- Freak Show

1997- The Living End- The Living End

1998- Frenzal Rhomb- Meet The Family (including Mongrel live album)

1999- Slipknot- Slipknot

2000- 28 Days- Upstyle Down

2001- Superheist- The Prize Recruit

2002- Soilwork- Natural Born Chaos

2003- The Butterfly Effect- Begins Here

2004- Machine Head- Through The Ashes of Empires

2005- Parkway Drive- Killing With A Smile

2006- 4 Dead- Blood and Piss

2007- Daysend- The Warning

2008- Samsara- The Emptiness

2009- A Secret Death- A Secret Death

2010- Break Even- The Bright Side

2011- Miles Away- Endless Roads

That was the list that I came up with of the top of my head, or something along those lines. Funnily enough it's the more recent years where I'm listening to albums a year or two out of date. Of course anybody could do this exercise one day and then come up with a completely different answer a few days later, and maybe I will experiment with that in some days.

Maybe after I'm done resting at the beach.....

So back on the bus, we're sleeping. Well I barely slept at all, but we have to be trying to sleep because you can't even turn on your light. I listened to some music for a while, and I was kind of hoping to drop off doing that, but no such luck. In the whole journey I don't think I would have slept much more than an hour.

I must have got to sleep in the morning because suddenly there was a commotion, it seemed it was time to get off the bus and change to our transfer to the ferry. Of course that was not just waiting where we arrived, we had to wait some more time for that, then sit on the bus to the ferry.

Even though it's just 10pm, I'm feeling pretty tired. I may continue this one tomorrow. We met some really nice people here at the place we're staying, can fill more about that tomorrow. I think the first thing to do tomorrow will be to walk the length of the beach which is just a stone throw away. Of course I would love to do a run, but that's not really on the cards.

Where will we be in 10 (or 15) years...

So I was reading an article on Pitchfork magazine, not something that I usually do and a lot of this people I was reading about I either don't know or don't like, however, this article was a bit interesting just in the idea of it.

Most of them chose an album to represent 1996/2001/2006/2011

1996- Silverchair- Freak Show

Well, after a google search, turns out this came out in 1997, but this was my real introduction into the world of rock music, moreso of my choosing to immerse myself in rock music. It was particularly the film clip for Freak, I used to watch Rage every weekend and I had head Frogstomp already which I kind of liked, but this had me. I didn't actually own the album proper for ages, but I had a tape of the album being played on community radio (same station that I mentioned about my mum a couple of posts ago), on the weekly album show.

I was listening to that tape not long ago. The announcer says midway through, alrighty time to rattle a few more brain cells...Silverchair were really the band that got me into rock music, that's for sure.

2001- Superheist- The Prize Recruit

Now, I know it's not very cool or whatever to admit to liking nu-metal these days, but those who are about my age were right in the thick of it. Some people were a bit older and so they preferred Pantera etc but people now who are about 25-28, it was only really a few years, they were there for the rise.

Anyway, on to Superheist. I really loved this album, and the EP before that. Actually I managed to get the Chrome Matrix EP (Sanity Merimbula of all places) and I liked that a lot too. Superheist actually played in Bega as well. I remember being totally stoked about that, as they were my favourite band at the time. I only saw them with Joey Biro though, never with Berger.

My friends had this cover band in high school and one time their singer was away, so I got up and sang a cover of Bullet with them. I got stage fright in front of the few people that were there, and didn't know where to come in and forgot the words etc. A similar performance would be repeated about 5 years down the track with Templestowe, singing Slaughter of the Soul.

I saw Superheist a few times once I finished high school as well. I saw them at Homebake, but they were clashing with The Butterfly Effect, that was a weird lineup, because all the clashes were bands that were very similar in style....Another time I saw them was at the Granville Youth Centre, in an all ages show. I guess I had been living in Sydney for a couple of months, and I'm sure glad that show was in the day because I was a bit concerned for my safety heading out that way.

I did an interview with Fetah who played keyboards, about his new band Jerrico. I had been asking away some questions and then I said before we finish, I have one last question...will Superheist ever reform?

He said no.

2006- 4 Dead- Blood and Piss

I guess at this stage I'm going to have more of a variety to choose from, a stronger memory of what I was listening to, etc. This, the most recent offering from the Canberra stalwarts...that's 5 years now. The band has been going for a long long time now, and we haven't got too much to see for that.

Anyhow, this tries to put the intensity of a 4 Dead show on to your musical device of choice and it doesn't get close. However, it has its own form of intensity in itself. 4 Dead are now one of the bands I have been going to watch over a consistent period, they must be the longest (first viewing would be approx Oct 2004, most recent July 2011). This album, and its reflections on being a man in the world, in punk, in Canberra etc, I have listened to it so many times, seen the songs live so many times, and I can't really say that I'm sick of it.

2011- Miles Away- Endless Roads

I didn't mean for this list to be an all-aussie lineup, but that's the way it's panned out. I've always been a big fan of Australian bands, which is not to say they are better or worse than other bands, but moreso these particular years brought out some Australian bands in the memories.

And I mentioned the consistency of going to see 4 Dead, even though some years they'd only play a couple of shows in the year. I actually first saw Miles Away before I had seen 4 Dead. I was, to use that horrible term "a nu-jack", as they say. I went to Hardcore 04, and you know Miles Away were first up, followed by a newish band with a promising EP called Parkway Drive.

Anyway, each year I have probably gone to see Miles Away a couple of times, but you know I have never followed them too much. This album though has had a different feel, just for me personally. Yesterday when I fell down the stairs, I came back to the room with some ice and a fair bit of pain. I decided I wanted to listen to some music and I listened to Anywhere.

So there we have just 4 albums which can sum up my musical experiences. It's only a little bit to go on but it does tell a fair amount of the story. Maybe at a future date I will fill in the gaps for each year.

So far from home, with the sound of the waves crashing below me

Break Even, one of my definite favourite bands of the last few years, have put up a new song from their next album. It's a bit of a different sound, and from the self proclaimed experts on hardcore I talked to last night, they are disappointed in what they're hearing.

Personally I love the new sound I'm hearing, but after listening to the song over and over again on repeat, I don't think the sound is particularly removed from The Bright Side. Particularly the song "October 27th". If you were to replace the lines "so far from home", with that refrain of "shine bright, baby shine bright", in all honesty it's not that far off.

I hear a lot of people saying it has too much of a "Triple J rock" sound and that they expected Break Even to go heavier. I'm not sure if it's because I read an interview in the new issue of No Heroes that predicted a bit of change and the possibility of disappointment, however after Young At Heart, Break Even's work I guess had more of a punk sound, rather than a Miles Away-lite sound that they were renowned for on their earlier works.

I don't really think it sounds like bands like The Butterfly Effect or Karnivool, if this was the "triple j rock" sound people were describing. I have enjoyed the new song "Hells Gates" and can't wait to hear some more tracks. Maybe tomorrow, when Break Even play alongside 4 Dead and I Exist...seriously, what a lineup.

Triple J's Hottest 100 Australian Albums

This is a competition which I think will have people like me much more interested in the results than the current Hottest 100 etc.

You pick ten of your favourite Australian albums. Of course there were some I'd go for in my list that weren't available, but there was a pretty good selection. This top 10 pretty well sums up my Australian listening history....

You told us your favourite acts were:
Radio Birdman - Radios Appear
Midnight Oil - Blue Sky Mining
Bodyjar - No Touch Red
Butterfly Effect, The - Begins Here
Mindsnare - The Death
Frenzal Rhomb - Coughing Up a Storm
Grinspoon - Guide to Better Living
Living End, The - The Living End
Cog - The New Normal
Parkway Drive - Killing With a Smile

Hardcore 2010

Now in it's 11th year, Hardcore 2010 is shaping up to again prove itself as Australia's premier hardcore music event. This year focusing on showcasing the best Australia has to offer the festival spans across July 2nd at the Manning Bar (18+) and July 3rd at the Factory Theatre (All Ages). Not wanting to keep anyone in suspense, this years line up is announced in full with the following bands playing.

July 2nd - Manning Bar 18+

Mindsnare

Toe To Toe

Extortion

Blkout

Relentless

Ill Brigade

July 3rd - Factory Theatre AA

Mindsnare

Extortion

50 Lions

Blkout

Dropsaw

Hand Of Mercy

I Exist

Ghost Town

Persist

Phantoms

So the lineup for Hardcore 2010 just got announced, and it looks like a lot of fun. I haven't been since 2006, I went the two years before that, and they were all a lot of fun. The recent ones haven't interested me that much. I like it how there's not some big international band, and that it's not in a massive venue either.

Also great that Canberra's own I EXIST will be playing. As well as that you have the great combination of Mindsnare/Toe To Toe. It's quite the lineup.

Cairns Central

Driving into Cairns once we got down the dreaded mountain, I came to the realisation it was a fair size city. Big wide roads, and even a Sizzler which we unfortunately didn't dine at over the course of our stay.

We checked into the Cairns Central YHA, which was completely different to what I expected. I was expecting some sort of towering building, something like a smaller version of Sydney Central, but it's more like an island resort, which has the pool in the centre.

We had ourselves a family room with our own bathroom. Unfortunately however, there was a big bunch of blokes having themselves a wild time, directly outside our room. One of them had made the purchase of a didgeridoo, which I'm sure he will regret once he leaves Cairns, and various people were having turns, making a similar sound to a foghorn.

We went to find something for dinner. The reception advised that the Green Ant made delicious meals, unfortunately for us however, it was closed for the Christmas period. We headed down towards the water and ended up at a Vietnamese restaraunt, Bobby's. The food here was pretty awesome, and the prices were quite reasonable, which is not customary anywhere in the north of Queensland.

We walked down by the lagoon, another artifical lagoon just like in Airlie Beach. It is not quite as deep as Airlie, I think it might take up more space, but the one in Airlie seems bigger. We timed it quite well as there was a game of canoe polo taking place. This was a surprising omission from the book I bought the next day "World's Weirdest Sports". Basically it's similar to water polo, but you paddle around in a small canoe, and shoot at a goal which is suspended above the water.

Unfortunately for these guys, there was nothing behind the goal, so every missed shot meant someone having to run after the ball. On the way home we actually got incredibly lost. I had smartly left the map we were given inside the room, where it was definitely going to come in handy.

At some stage we just caught the end of the sports news, which was incredibly Canberra-centric for somewhere that's, well, not Canberra. These were the three articles that came up: "Patrick Mills (from Canberra) makes his NBA debut", "Canberra Vikings extend their lead in the George Bass surfboat marathon" and "former Raider Todd Carney in trouble again". The footage that accompanied that story was of him walking past the statue of Laurie Daley at Bruce Stadium dejectedly after being thrown out of the Raiders.

I hadn't really been paying attention at the time, but the story turned out to be that whilst celebrating New Year's Eve, in, of all places...Airlie Beach, one of his "mates" ended up with burns on his buttocks, scrotum and thigh as a result of a "prank gone wrong". I wonder if he was associated with the two blokes who ran in for a dip sans clothes in water that is infested with box jellyfish.

We took a swim in the pool. The Cairns hostel has an excellent sized pool. The one in Airlie is pretty small, if there's anyone else in there, it gets a bit overcrowded for my likings. This pool is a great size, and has two spas adjoining as well.

I had to sort out some work things on the internet, and once I came back, who should I see but our old friend the schoolteacher. I restrained myself from saying "what happened to the third night on Magnetic Island" but tried to make my way off as quickly as possible, as I really didn't want anything more to do with him. Not far away from him was old mate with the 99 year old father, busily planning further adventures. Before he could catch sight of me I made it into the safety of the room.

We didn't really have a plan for the next day. We were hoping to make some sort of trip but our financial resources were dwindling quickly and I had to be back at work the next day and there was a long bus trip in between.

Francisca told me if she was inspired by the city she would stick around a few more days. We took a bit of a wander and then a bit of a drive, decided against going on any tours, and booked tickets on the next bus.

There was a shopping centre across the road across the road and I had some JB vouchers I needed to spend so I got myself Propaghandi- Today's Empires, Tomorrow's Ashes, Miles Away- Rewind Repeat, Rise Against- Siren Songs of the Counter Culture, Converge- Jane Doe and Parkway Drive- "The DVD".

We got some kebabs before boarding the bus, however I don't think we were mentally prepared for the journey. 11 hours...There are a lot longer trips available, especially on the Greyhound network (for example I booked a guy today to leave Airlie Beach at 2.15am before arriving in Alice Spring at 9.30am the next day with changes in Townsville, Mt Isa and Tennant Creek).

However, this was a long trip in itself. The first section didn't go so bad, it was light, I had a couple of books to read- the aforementioned "Worlds Weirdest Sports" as well as Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest". I also had an ipod with full battery (thanks fantastic car) and it was light so we could look out the window.

We stopped in Cardwell, just as we had on the way up, however we weren't ready for dinner at this stage, so Annie and her kitchen didn't have a second chance to give me a heart attack. Cardwell is just across the water from Hinchinbrook Island (picture at the top of this post) and has some impressive views. It was dark on our previous visit, so it was great to see the town in the light.

In Townsville we had to change buses. At this point it felt like we were nearly there...just five more hours! The worst part though, was the "dinner break" which Greyhound always schedule at inconvenient hours in inconvenient places. The dinner break on this trip was in Bowen, less than an hour from our stop. So we had to stand around a horrible, horrible service station for an hour. I ate a chiko roll, which was probably the worst thing I've ever eaten in my life and later a packet of corn chips, which cost me exactly one arm and one leg.

The feeling of relief upon arriving at the Airlie Beach bus terminal was simply unfathomable. The fact it was just a short walk and we were home made things even better. On arrival we simply crashed in the bed. I was certainly glad we took this option rather than going overnight to arrive just a few minutes before beginning work.