A few quick things

I used to read a lot of books. For a while I was reading the classics . . . War and Peace, The Grapes of Wrath, On The Road, Catcher in the Rye. Then I went through my crime phase - lots of Elmore Leonard and James Ellroy. The last few years it's been more modern literature - Chuck Palahniuk, Brett Easton Ellis, Jay McInerney, stuff like that. But lately, I've just been reading magazines. There's less words, and usually pictures too. I spent $25 yesterday on a subscription to "Esquire", mainly because Chuck Klosterman is a featured columnist. Also, I have a keen interest in how a $3,000 Italian suit could complete me as a person.

On the subject of Chuck, I finished re-reading "Killing Yourself to Live" for like the third time the other day. It is now far and away my favourite of his books, it seems to make more and more sense to me each time I read it.


Hmm, the Owen Wilson fiasco. To start off with, I kind of blame Kate Hudson. But more than that, I blame Goldie Hawn. Yes that's right, Goldie. As I have an important job with the Government, I was discussing the situation with a colleague yesterday afternoon. And she told me that Goldie has gone on record as saying that she doesn't think monogamy is normal. So you raise a daughter who gets married, leaves her husband for a fling with Owen, then dumps him to shack up with some D-list celebrity. Yeah, it's all fun and games, until someone tries to slash their wrists. So if the world misses out on "Wedding Crashers 2", I'm holding you responsible Ms Hawn.

Things are looking up

I got an email today from a girl called Olga. She is 26. And from Russia.

It is quite a sad story actually. Turns out she was corresponding with some guy called Kevin, and things got quite serious. She arranged to get a passport and was going to leave her homeland to visit him when he dropped a bomb on her and told her that he didn't want to meet her, and he was actually married with kids. The bastard!

Anyway, now that things aren't going to work out with Kevin, she's thinking maybe the two of us could hook up. Actually, her words were "Probable it will silly sound but if you will be interested in a meeting with the good woman I will like to meet you sometime soon!" No Olga, it does not silly sound at all.

She continues "It would be fine if we could meet, do friendship or more than simply friendship." Whoa, slow down there . . . let's just meet and see how things go, take it easy.

I didn't see this coming at all, it is all very exciting. A big shock that she would want to meet me, and a little bit flattering actually. She didn't include a pic with her email, but in my mind she looks like this.


Normally I'm more of a brunette kind of guy, but what have I got to lose?

Redheads and bad beats

Last night I decided to give the poker tournament thing another shot. Rather than going back to the Port Adelaide clubrooms, we decided to do it down at The Palais at Semaphore.

Before poker came dinner, and I have to say, The Palais put the Alberton Oval to shame. Both Ando and I had the chicken schnitzel, I had it with the dianne gravy, which was delicious, and especially garlic-y. The surroundings were a bit nicer too - it's certainly better looking out over the sea than framed photos of Port stars of yesteryear.

Ando warned me on our way there that the atmosphere wasn't as good at The Palais, and there were quite a few bogans. So I wasn't expecting the best. I was pleasantly surprised though - our table was made up of some pretty friendly people, none of whom seemed to have bogan qualities. The table's main "character" was Ross, an affable redhead who spent most of the night making jokes and trying to get people to loosen up. Possibly a smart tactic seeing as he eventually became the table's chip leader. We had another redheaded guy on the table too, and I learned that only 2% of the world's population are redheads. Apparently this number jumps to 14% in Scotland, presumably it's much lower in places like Sierra Leone and Vietnam. I started wondering if redheads are friendly people in general, and whether I should look to include some in my circle of close friends. I only really know one, and he's a reasonably pleasant fellow, so there may be something to this.

Anyway, for once I had good cards pretty much from the start. I won my first big hand hitting a flush on the river. With two other players still in the hand, I decided I'd slow play things and checked on the final round of betting, hoping I could sucker someone into a bet. Didn't happen, but I took down a pretty nice pot anyway. I won a few more big hands, including a three-way all in with Big Slick, and by about 9pm had turned 1,500 in chips into 5,300.

Ando was doing well too, and had roughly the same amount of chips as myself, when he went all in with A-J. Ross decided to see him with J-3. Even though Ando was the definite favourite, he told Ross before the flop came down "You're gonna win this one". Sure enough, the first card to come down was a three and none of the following four cards did anything to help Andy.

Shortly after we went to a break, and Ando was still seething over the bad beat. He was looking forward to seeing me potentially go all the way though. I wasn't feeling quite as confident. After the break the blinds were up to 500-1,000, and so with 3,500 in chips left I made my move. After getting A-7 suited, I pushed all in. The next few players folded, and then someone with 4,500 called. Ross (sitting in front of a large stack of chips, thanks not only to his win over Ando but a few other lucky wins too), called, and raised another 1,000, putting the other guy all in. So we all turned over our cards, and I had everyone beat pre-flop. Ross had Q-something, the other guy amazingly went all in on 9-6 suited. After what had happened to Ando, I kind of knew how it was all going to go down though. The flop hits the table and of course there's a Queen out there. The next couple of cards do nothing, and Ross adds another 8,000 in chips to his stack.

We left almost immediately, and I think Andy was more annoyed than I was. To both get knocked out on bad beats to the same guy is a bit annoying, but I was left thinking about the way he did it. He seemed like he was getting lucky on the flop, and playing way too many hands, but I've seen quite a few guys do that in these tournaments and consistently do well. Perhaps I'm too cautious with the hands I play, or maybe thesy are just making really good reads. These guys are obviously doing something right though because they seem to consistently do well (I had a look at the leaderboard as we arrived last night and recognised one of these players who was ranked near the top. His name is Matthew Justice. Cool name).

I was pretty happy with how I finished up though. I finished 12th out of 30 something, and even managed to win one pretty good pot on a bluff. I'm looking forward to our next home game, it's seeminly been ages since we last played.

Matt Damon goes nuts

I'm starting to consider the possibility I might be a Matt Damon fan. I've never really liked him till now, and I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's the Ben Affleck thing. Maybe it's actually Ben Affleck that sucks and he's just an unlucky victim of guilt by association. I don't mind the Bourne movies (although I don't love them as much as other people seem to), but he was in "Rounders", that has to count for something. And I rewatched "The Departed" the other day and enjoyed that even more the second time.

What I guess I'm saying is that perhaps I judged him too soon. And after finding this clip online, I like him even a little more.

(The clip is a set up, but funny nevertheless)

The Office

For quite a while there hasn't been anything really worth watching on TV. Now with the return of The Sopranos and The Office this week there are two shows. They are both on after 10pm, which is a bit of a pain, but nothing that can't be overcome with some careful planning.

Last night was the series return of The Office, and it was fantastic. I know a lot of people refuse to watch this as it doesn't measure up to the UK original, and I kind of understand where they're coming from. I was one of them for a while. But I gave it a chance, and it has got a lot better after the first few shows.

Last night began with Michael Scott (the David Brent character) being confronted by the company's HR manager Toby about him calling Oscar (one of company's accountants) "faggy". Toby explained to Michael that Oscar was, in fact, gay, and found this extremely offensive. Michael then apologised to Oscar but did it in front of several colleagues, inadvertantly "outing him" to the rest of the office. Sure, doesn't necessarily sound hilarious on its own, but the writing is tremendous. Here's a sampling of a few of the lines from the show:

Michael Scott: Did you know that gay used to mean 'happy?' When I was growing up, it meant 'lame.' And now, it means a man who makes love to other men.

Michael Scott: You don't call retarded people retards. It's bad taste. You call your friends retards when they're acting retarded.

Michael Scott: Can you tell who's gay and who's not?
Dwight Schrute: Of course.
Michael Scott: What about Oscar?
Dwight Schrute: Absolutely not.
Michael Scott: Well, he is.
Dwight Schrute: Well, he's not dressed in women's clothes, so...

Michael Scott: There could be others. I need to know. I don't want to offend anybody else.
Dwight Schrute: You could assume everyone is, and not say anything offensive.
Michael Scott: Yeah. I'm sure everyone would appreciate me treating them like they were gay.

And from perhaps the most awkward scene likely to be shown on TV this year:

Michael Scott: Maybe we could go out for a beer sometime, and you could tell me... how you do that to another dude.
Oscar: (horribly embarrassed) That sounds like a great, wonderful idea. Let's do that.

Basketball links

I've been visiting http://www.basketbawful.blogspot.com/ quite a bit lately, and it's worth checking out - a slightly cynical look at the league, and some good pieces on the culture of rec league and pickup basketball.

Also, if you haven't heard the latest Simmons podcast, it's really good. He talks to Steve Kerr, not so much about being the Suns GM, but more about stories of his playing days. Would there be a better guy to have a beer with than Steve Kerr? Down to earth, funny, owner of five championship rings, and a former team mate of Jordan, Duncan, and Shaq. My favourite part is when they talk about how Steve played for the 02 Trailblazers with Zach Randolph, Ruben Patterson, Rasheed Wallace, and Damon Stoudamire, and Simmons asked him if he went back to his room and wept every night. Probably the best of podcast he's done yet, and you can find it here http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/index

Encore!

Last night was the opening of my 2007/08 concert attending season. So I put on my best cowboy shirt, and headed down to Her Majesty's Theatre with Narelle to take in the sweet smooth sounds of Ryan Adams and the Cardinals.

We got there a bit before 8pm, mid way through the opening act. She was actually an Adelaide girl, who had recently relocated to New York (where she had met Ryan Adams, who had brought her back here). She was pretty good - kind of Lucinda Williams-ish. She was accompanied by another guitarist who was great - the leads he played around her parts fitted in really well, he was melodic without overpowering what she was doing. Anyway I'll probably try and track down her album when it comes out later this year (although first I'll have to find out what her name was).

At about 8.40pm Ryan and his band hit the stage. They played almost the entire show in darkness, lit only partially by washes of purple and blue light. The performance was pretty tight, and the Cardinals are obviously a very talented band. Unfortunately I didn't know a lot of the material they played, although I can't blame that on Ryan, that one's all on me. Because I think I probably own six or seven of his albums, and only listen to one and a half of them. The best stuff he did was the heavier stuff towards the end - he played a fantastic version of "I See Monsters" that was the highlight for me.

At about 10.10pm he left the stage, and I assumed he'd be back in a few minutes for an encore. Within seconds though the house lights came on, and The Clash's "Rock the Casbah" came on the PA. Everyone kind of looked at each other confused - was that it? Until last night I don't think I've been to a concert where the performer didn't do at least one encore.

Anyway, once we all realised they weren't coming back (as roadies pulled apart the backdrop and carried off equipment) we all headed home. I felt kind of stupid getting home from a concert at 10.30pm. Got a good night's sleep at least.

For those of you who are interested (OK, it's only Alen), here's the setlist they played:

Goodnight Rose
Please Do Not Let Me Go
Cold Roses
Dear John
Off Broadway
Mockingbird
Peaceful Valley
Wild Flowers
Dear Chicago
I See Monsters
What Sin
Easy Plateau
Magnolia Mountain
A Kiss Before I Go

Getting a haircut

I've got a haircut tonight at "Destination for Men". Normally I can't really afford to get my hair cut anywhere that has a name, but I got a voucher in the mail for this place. Besides, it's been like two months since I last got it cut, it's definitely time.

I'm not a huge fan of the whole haircut experience. This place they make it a little better by offering "guy" stuff eg plasma tvs and free beer, but it's still half an hour of sitting there talking to someone who you don't necessarily connect with. I always get the same hairdresser at this place, and I'm not real keen on her. I'm not sure why, maybe it's because I get the feeling she's as bored as I am during our conversations. Anyway, whenever I book in there they ask me if I want anyone in particular. And I say no, and end up with her. I can't bring myself to say "For the love of God, anyone but the chick who normally cuts my hair", so I imagine I'll be getting her again tonight.

I guess I shouldn't complain, I'm not locked into getting my hair cut here. It's just they lure me in, knowing my love of a good discount voucher they keep bringing me back time and time again. I think they're hoping I'm going to relent one day and in addition to my haircut, book myself in for a $500 spa treatment and facial as well. But that's not gonna happen.

The other thing I really struggle with is when they say "So how do you want it?" I find myself unable to give much direction other than "Much shorter thanks, and kind of spiky on top." This has been known to backfire though, and result in me leaving with a flat top (not so much in classy joints like Destination for Men). Sometimes I consider the idea of bringing in a picture of a hairstyle I might like to try, but I can just picture my hairdresser, taking one look and bursting into laughter, saying "This is Brad Pitt! I could spend all week cutting your hair and there's no way you're going to look like this!" (turns to neighbouring hairdresser) "Hey Sharon - look at this guy - think's he's going to look like Brad Pitt! Yeah that'll happen!" while I slink back into my chair.

Anyway, this time tomorrow I will have shorter, spikier haircut, much like my last and the one before that. And I won't look any more or less like a movie star. But it's OK, I'm fine with it. At least I won't have to go through this again for another couple of months.

R.I.P. Eddie Griffin

Sad news today as it came out that former Timberwolves centre Eddie Griffin drove his car into a freight train last weekend. He was only just identified by his dental records, so it sounds like it wasn't pretty.

I remember when Eddie came out of Seton Hall after one year and it looked like he was going to be a solid pro. The Rockets traded three players to the Nets for his rights (including a pick that was used for Richard Jefferson), and it seemed to me at the time that they got a steal. Now not so much.

Of course Eddie hasn't been relevant in a basketball sense for a while. Other than his ability to occasionally block shots and hit the three (which was usually enough for him to be picked up and dropped between 10 and 15 times a season in our fantasy league), he's been better known for his off court activities. Like shooting at his girlfriend. Or crashing his car, while driving drunk, and um, pleasuring himself. Not the kind of stuff I would endorse, although he's also faced some pretty serious alcoholism and drug addiction problems. When you think about it, it's kind of amazing he hasn't driven his car into a train before now.

I'm not sure if it was deliberate (I'm assuming it was, because from what I know, it was in a pretty barren part of Houston that a millionaire didn't have much business being in) but if it was, it's a pretty sobering (no pun intended) reminder that fame and money have little to do with happiness.

It's back

Looks like the Sopranos is returning to our screens next Tuesday night. At this stage it's on at 10.45pm, but I wouldn't be surprised if they move it past midnight.

Good thing I've got a DVR because no way am I staying up that late. I find these days I'm ready for bed at 10pm. Guess that's what happens when you hit thirty.

Anyway, even though it's like six months late, it will be good to see how the series finishes up. I know a bit of what happens unfortunately, but not the details. And while the show has definitely slipped a bit since it's first few seasons, it's still a great show.

Back in the summer of 69

Tonight I'm seeing Ryan Adams at Her Majesty's Theatre. I have very high expectations. One thing I won't be doing is yelling out requests for "Summer of 69", as one fan once did, referencing the similarly named - but much more rubbish - Canadian artist Bryan Adams. Apparently Ryan stopped that show and said he wouldn't continue until that fan left.

I'm also hoping that he hasn't hit the bottle again. I read a review a week or so ago, where the author recalled a concert of his he'd attended a year ago . . .

"When I saw Ryan Adams last year here in a solo acoustic setting at Seattle's Moore Theatre, the performance was an absolute train wreck. In a weird sort of way, it was actually fascinating to watch as Adams forgot the words to his own songs, and occasionally forgot he had sung them altogether.

But it was also sad, as it became more obvious as the night wore on that - brilliant songwriter that he is - Ryan Adams was far from being, well, you know - "well."

He even "performed" a few of his songs twice - forgetting he had done them the first time around at all. And this was in between slipping behind the amps onstage, to take a hit of whatever "medication" he was apparently taking, only to return to the stage to chase it down with a hit of the wine bottle that he never strayed too far away from."

Word on the street though is that Adams is clean and sober, and performing the best shows of his career. He also seems to be performing exclusively acoustically, which in some ways is a bit of a shame because it means there probably won't be many uptempo songs. If it leads to him playing stuff like "Sweet Illusions" and "How do you keep love alive?" though I'm all for it.

Snow Patrol

Just like the way free food often tastes sweeter, free music sounds better. Which explains my considerable collection of mp3's.

Until now, I've never managed to get free tickets to a concert. I guess it's because you need to be famous, successful, or even lucky to pull that off. But that all changed today, as Narelle secured us free tickets to see Snow Patrol at the Entertainment Centre on 12 September. Sure we have to sit in a corporate box with all of her colleagues, but it's going to be great. I'm looking forward to calling her colleagues "suits" all night, like Billy Walsh's belittling of "E" on Entourage.

I'm pretty excited about this show - I've only heard the latest album, but parts of it are really good. "Make this go on forever" and "Set the fire to the third bar" in particular. Sure you could argue that in many ways they're a U2, or even Coldplay ripoff. And the fact that they are mainly famous for playing in ads for "Grey's Anatomy" doesn't do a lot for me. But you're not going to ruin this for me, damnit.

I'm a fan

There are a few things I'm a big fan of. Like American-style pork spare ribs, Ricky Gervais, Little Creatures Pale Ale, salt and pepper squid, Donnie Darko, fantasy basketball, the original BBC version of The Office, the US remake of The Office, Ron Artest, Maggie Gyllenhall, Judd Apatow, the Larry Sanders Show, Moe Syzlak, Bill Simmons, Arj Barker, about 35% of Ryan Adams' musical output, the Phoenix Suns, all the major holidays, Nike sneakers, Edward Norton, baggy shorts, Drew Barrymore, NBA 2K7, David Letterman, Taco Bell, Quentin Tarantino, No Limit Texas Hold-Em, High Fidelity, Steve Nash, Karen Crouch's melting moments cookies, BMW cars, Dr Pepper, the movies of Rob Zombie, early Public Enemy, Jelly Belly jelly beans, Frank Kozik, Vince Vaughn, the City X Grille, Elmore Leonard, Coopers Dark Ale, NBA Hangtime, Entourage, Salvador Dali, baked cheesecake, Xavier McDaniel, Las Vegas, chocolate milk, Martin Scorcese, Leonard Cohen, Extras, iPods, sizzling food, the last few Nick Cave records, sunset walks on the beach and the books of Brett Easton Ellis.

Also, Chuck Klosterman, Damien Rice, Smash by The Offspring, Bring the Pain-era Chris Rock, Gerald Wallace, Guns 'n' Roses, Robert DeNiro, Tori Amos, The Usual Suspects, George Costanza, Surf 'n' Turf, Fender guitars, Tony Scott, Cadbury chocolate, Christopher Moltisanti, Aimee Mann, orange flavoured Gatorade, my sister's Rocky Road, The Wire, Steve Carrell, cigars, Jose Gonzales, New York City, Fight Club, road trips, John Steinbeck, Michael Mann (the film director, not the guy with the ponytail who used to come to my church), the first Wu-Tang Clan album, polo shirts, the footlong bacon and egg Subway sandwich with southwest sauce, Kaluah and Coke, Derek Hess, Owen Wilson, Tool, my new laptop, orange juice, John Starks, Gourmet Glaze donuts, The Stand (both the book and the surprisingly good mini-series with Gary Sinise and Molly Ringwald), Robert Rodriguez, the world wide interweb, roasted almonds, sleeping in, Malcolm X (the movie and the man), Eli Roth, jetskiing, 80's pop metal, the colours brown and grey, Ice Cube (the rapper, not the actor), Jay McInerney, barbecue chicken pizzas, Grand Theft Auto, Deadwood, Coke Zero, IKEA, Christopher Walken, the number 25, Rome (the TV show, although I'm sure the city is also lovely), American Tabloid and Japanese Maple trees.

Now if there's the chance to combine one or more of these interests (like say a dinner of salt and pepper squid with Maggie Gyllenhall), I'm definitely interested. So I was excited to find out that Nike are going to be releasing a special sneaker commemorating the Guns 'n' Roses classic, "November Rain". Coming out of course in November, just in time for my birthday. Anyone want to buy me a pair?

Me as a Springfieldian

Best hot dog ever?*

If you're ever in town and looking for a great hot dog, you have to try the City X Grill.

Just finished one off five minutes ago and it was truly amazing - a delicious sausage, grilled bacon, onions and cheese, with tomato sauce. Your standard ingredients, sure, but it was what they did with them. I'm officially a convert.

* Yes, that's right, I'm reviewing hot dogs now.

Not even close

For the three of you out there who may have been wondering, we didn't win our basketball final last night. Didn't even come close, I think we went down by about 19. The key causes of this, in no particular order, were:

a) Most of us really aren't that tall. I guess Ash is about 6 foot 2, and he's easily our tallest player. The other team had three guys his size or bigger.

b) We're pretty good at shooting the ball from three point range, and that's about it. I think in the first half we scored 20 points, and 12 of those were from threes.

c) The other team was ridiculously on fire - they normally struggle to score 35-40 points against us, last night they had 56. The worst part was they used to have a few guys who were a bit shaky out there - now these guys still look like they can't play but they were hitting almost every shot they took. So when the guys they have who are actually skilled players scored, it was just a nice bonus for them.

Of course, this being social basketball, the new season starts at 8.40pm next Thursday night, so there's not exactly a lot of time for reflection. I'm hopeful we can pick things up a bit last year - whether it's the rest of the league getting better, or us starting to slide, the last two seasons haven't been real great.

Darren vs the Big Mac

I was curious how much fat there is in a Big Mac. You know, since 31% of me is comprised of fat. Anyway, Mirjana sent me a link to look it up online. It's 12.7%. So 100grams of Darren contains almost three times the fat that 100grams of this delicious hamburger. That doesn't make me feel great.

My health

This morning I had my health check up at work. I've had a lot of requests for the results, and like I always say, my personal health details are everyone's business. So here goes . . .

Since my last (and first) assessment three months ago I've made a bit of progress.

First up, the good news - my weight dropped from 101kg to just under 98kg, and my body fat from 34.3% to 31.1% (that still sounds like a lot though). I lost 4 cm off my waist, and my aerobic fitness was up.

The bad news was the my blood pessure (120/90) was roughly the same as last time, and my cholesterol (5.6) was actually slightly up. So still got a bit of work to do, mainly in the area of diet. Nigel thought I was on the right track though, and said the progress I had made was good so that's encouraging.

I'm not sure when our next check ups are but I really want to keep improving - especially in the body fat percentage, that's kind of embarrassing.

An underappreciated album

I spent today listening to "Bubblegum" by Mark Lanegan at work. I was reminded once again of what a great album it is, and how I completely don't understand popular musical tastes.

To the best of my knowledge, I am the only person I know who owns this album. And it is brilliant. I'm willing to concede it's not the most accessible thing, but it's not particularly weird. You've got fast paced, Queens of the Stone Age-type stuff like "Death Valley Blues" or "Hit The City", brooding Nick Cave-esque ballads like "One Hundred Days", or RL Burnside blues like "Little Willie John".

Over the past few weeks I've managed to talk Ribar and Mirjana into the new National album Boxer, but I don't think I've ever been able to talk anyone into this. And that's a shame.

New treadmills

We have new treadmills at our gym. Not sure why, the old ones seemed fine to me, and not so old really. But when I turned up on the weekend they had replaced them all. Anyway, the new treadmills are not only nice and shiny, they also give you a readout of your heart rate. So I was finishing up last night and I decided to see what mine was, and was surprised to see it was at 182. I don't know a lot about this sort of thing, but that seems really high to me. Like in danger of going into cardiac arrest high. According to the calorie counter I burned almost 1,100 calories during the course of the run, which again, seems like an awful lot. I'm not sure if the machine is lying to me to make me feel good about myself, I would like to think that it has more integrity than that.

Die Hard 4.0

Saturday night went to the movies down at Glenelg with Dad to watch Die Hard 4.0. A few thoughts on the experience:

1. Whoever designed the Glenelg cinema did a terrible job. The main theatre is a giant room with all of the seats in the back half, then a flat floor that takes up the entire front half of the room that is unusable. Then a screen up front that is about half as big as it could/should be. No wonder they're knocking this place down.

2. Phil Smyth and his wife sat right behind us. It's strange seeing someone who is almost a celebrity, but not quite. He looked taller than I thought he would too.

3. The movie was pretty good - much more implausible and ridiculous than any of the other Die Hards, with some awesome stunts, and suitably ridiculous dialogue. Timothy Olyphant was a great bad guy too.

4. Bruce Willis is ageless. I guess he's in his fifties, but it seems like he could make these movies for another 20 years. Its certainly not like Stallone and his surgically and chemically enhanced body doing Rocky at 60.

5. Bruce Willis' sidekick in this movie looks like Justin Mok.

6. I'm a little bit sceptical when it comes to the depiction of technology in films like this. I pointed this out on Friday night watching "The Bourne Identity" with Wheelie - I doubt that someone sitting in a room on a desktop PC can track one person's movements across a city, bring up schematics to buildings in real time, control traffic lights etc. Like Justin Mok said in this film - it took FEMA five days to get water to New Orleans following the flooding there - I really don't think the Government is that efficient (also I work for one, so I should know).

Best concerts ever part two

Pearl Jam at Memorial Drive, 1995

Went along to this with Gav, and Boris. A number of reasons why this makes the list - it was my first concert ever, and Pearl Jam possibly at their peak as a heavy rock band after releasing Vs and then Vitalogy in 1993 and 1994. I remember standing in line for this one from the early afternoon, and then the mad rush for the gates as they opened. I was excited that we were in great position to see the band, although about 15 minutes after the show started I ran into my cousins, and was slightly disappointed to find out they'd arrived an hour or so ago, and just pushed their way to the front.

I also have vivid memories of Boris crowd surfing into the sealed off area up front. This was well before the concert had started, that's how much everyone loved crowd surfing back in the early nineties. I tried it myself a few times that night, and didn't fare so well, seems Pearl Jam fans aren't the strongest of people (I may have been carrying a little extra weight, I can't really remember).

The highlight of the show was during Blood - a relentlessly intense song, during which Eddie destroyed his mic stand. This was obviously back in the days when he was a little more active, and didn't spend the entire show gradually getting drunk on red wine and mumbling stuff about the President.

I've seen them three times since - once at Thebarton Oval on the No Code Tour (an underrated album by the way) and then twice at the Entertainment Centre. Not once have I been disappointed, and I'm pretty sure I'll see them every time they tour here. And I'm not someone who listens to Pearl Jam a lot anymore either, but live they are always good. If I had to rank the remaining three concerts I'd put the first Entertainment Centre one (attended with Alen) next, followed by Thebarton Oval (Ando and Ash) and then their Entertainment Centre show last year (Narelle).

Here's the guys doing Blood at a different show.

One down, one to go . . .

Last night we won our semi final by two points. Not exactly what I was expecting, before the game I remember telling the guys we should focus on winning with a big margin, to give us some confidence going into the grand final next week (not all that cocky, since there wasn't much doubt from any of us that we were clearly the better team). They played well though, and without Jesse we struggled to get much movement in our halfcourt offense. It's a good thing we can shoot threes or we would have been blown away.

One of the highlights of the game was Ando introducing the concept of the "playoff foul" to social basketball. As one of their best players was in mid air attempting to convert a fast break layup, Ando took him down with what could best be described as a combination clothesline/elbow to the eye. He stayed down for a while and it looked pretty bad, but as Andy pointed out after the game, he didn't score again after that so . .

After the game I saw a bit of the other semi final. The team we are most likely going to be playing next week have a guy who looks like an AFL player, but with basketball skills. Apparently he plays in the ABA. As noone on our team plays semi-professionally, I think we're going to be facing quite a challenge.

What goes around . . . comes around

I mean this in all seriousness - this might be the best thing Justin Timberlake has done since "Cry Me A River". OK, that's not convincing anyone, how about this: If I was going to make a "breakup songs" playlist for my ipod (and knowing me, I probably will), this would be the leadoff track, just before "Black" and "Can't Stand Losing You".

Still not sold? Well what if I was to tell you that Scarlett Johansson appears in the video clip? Is that something you might be interested in?

Health assessment

I just found out today that next Wednesday we are having a three month update on our health assessments for work. I'm all signed up and ready to go.

The last assessment was actually the first I've ever done. In terms of my health, I've always gone with the policy that ignorance is bliss. But now that I'm in my thirties, I'm realising I need to pay a little more attention than that. So I signed up for these optional health assessments. The guy who runs them - Nigel - seems like a pretty good guy. Certainly I remember last time he was way less annoying than my old personal trainer, Serious Scott. Quite an impressive feat actually, coming across as likable while you're telling a guy he really needs to lose weight.

Anyway, the low point for me during my session three months ago was when Nigel did a blood sugar test about half way through, and after noting that my sugar levels were quite high, asked if I'd eaten anything today. And I had to admit that I'd eaten a piece of Michella's mum's sultana cake minutes before the session. I think I might have stared at the ground as I was saying this. So I've learned my lesson - no cake this time until after the session is done.

Seriously I think I'll do a bit better this time. I'm pretty sure I've lost a bit of weight in the last three months, and I've been doing a lot more cardio the last few weeks. Anyway, check back next Wednesday night for an update on the current state of my health.

Thanks EzyDVD

Stopped by EzyDVD on my way back to the car after work tonight and picked up a few bargains . . . grabbed "The Departed" and "The Prestige" for under $10 each, and season six of "The Sopranos" for $30. I was especially excited about The Sopranos - at this price I don't feel like I'm paying for those two stupid dream episodes when Tony is in a coma. Those were terrible.

I also grabbed a DVD player for $30 - that's just ridiculous. They give you a 12 month warranty on those things, I'll be amazed if it makes it to six for that price.

Best concerts ever part one

With shows from Ryan Adams, Tori Amos and Something for Kate coming up in the next month or two, I've been doing a bit of thinking lately about the best shows I've seen over the last decade or so. And so you guys get a list. But in the interest of not running out of blog material in the next week, I've decided to break it up. Kind of like Bill Simmons' 33 Best Sports Movies of All Time series, which I'm guessing he has no intention of ever actually finishing. So here they are, the ten best concerts I've ever been to.*

Tomahawk (with the Melvins and Fantomas) at Heaven, 2003

I went to this with Boris, and was blown away. I like Mike Patton, and Tomahawk are probably my favourite of his many bands, but I wasn't expecting anything this good. Part of the appeal I think was the venue - Heaven (now HQ) is easily my favourite place in Adelaide to see bands - the sight lines are good pretty much wherever you are with all the raised areas, and the sound is always great. The sound was spot on for this show, and the guitar tones were fantastic - menacing yet melodic.

This was after Tomahwak's second album Mit Gas had come out, so they didn't have a whole lot of material, but it was a very solid set with hardly any filler. It's fantastic watching Patton perform as well - juggling samplers, a theramin, various microphones, he comes across as equal parts scientist and rock star. After watching this I kind of wished I saw Faith No More live. Mirjana likes to point out that she went to see them when they were in Adelaide at Le Rox, although I think I was in primary school back then so that was probably what stopped me from going. That, and the fact that I preferred the pop-metal stylings of Bon Jovi and Def Leppard.

The support acts were OK - Melvins and Fantomas are both bands which I don't mind in small doses, so the 45 minute sets were just about right.

This isn't from the show, but it's a great Tomahawk clip all the same.



* Not in any kind of an order - that would be too hard, and besides, as I think I may have mentioned before, my memory sucks. I'm just happy I can actually recall attending any of these shows.

Inspiration

A few things

A girl who works at my gym told me the other day I look like a guy from The Cat Empire. Man I hate The Cat Empire.

Speaking of the gym, there's a class they run which is kind of an aerobic type thing but with weights, set to music. The leader looks like a pudgier Richard Simmons, and wears a headset microphone, which he uses to instruct the class. Which is funny by itself. Except every now and again, he gets a little carried away, and starts singing along to the backing music in a horribly off-key voice. This almost always happens during "Addicted to Love".

The new Kevin Costner movie "Mr Brooks" actually looks like it might be OK. Die Hard 4.0 as well.

Just realised today that I'm only about 8 weeks out from my annual fantasy basketball draft. Time to start working on my spreadsheets, and figuring out how I'm going to rig the lottery this year. Looks like I won't be taking Elton Brand though . . .

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AnsNUmd4DFqniwnNMRKR_Ze8vLYF?slug=ap-clippers-brandinjured&prov=ap&type=lgns

The new Smashing Pumpkins album sucks. I haven't made up my mind on the Interpol one yet.

I spent today going through job applications at work. There sure are a lot of "enthusiastic, driven, goal-oriented, motivated, self-starters" out there. Most of them seem to work at Coles. Also, the phrase "submit three copies of your application" is one that is truly understood by very few.

Mike really needs to update his blog more.

Alen still needs his own blog. I think www.myclientsaredrivingmemental.blogspot.com is available.

I rewatched "Hostage" on TV last night. Strangely it was much less enjoyable than the first time I saw it, although it did feature standout performances from Mrs Lanningham from "The West Wing", Aaron from "24" and T-Bag from "Prison Break". Why even bother hiring Bruce Willis for your film when you have those three on board?

That's got to hurt

Wisdom from Chuck

Rereading Chuck Klosterman's "Killing Yourself to Live" today I came across the following passage, and realised he'd summed up my attitudes to health and exercise perfectly.

My aquaintances in New York tend to act shocked when they discover I am an avid runner, since the rest of my life skews unhealthy (my cholesterol is 383). But that is why I must run: running keeps me alive. Physically, I almost never enjoy the process of exercise, but I feel mentally tougher when I finish. More important, running lets me eat anything I want, and it allows me to drink every day (if I need to). So I run, and I run fast. I run with focus. In 1989, I could run 4oo metres in 53.9 seconds. And the fact that I can so precisely remember this reminds me why I will never, ever be cool.

Bathroom update

Yeah, still working on those damn bathroom renovations. Like most things in life, renovating a bathroom is harder than you would think it would be.

Anyway, as you can see, Team Hunter has made some progress. The new bath is in, and we've built a box for it to sit in. The ceiling is completely painted, and the walls just need one final coat once the tiling is done. The floor is now level, after we spent yesterday putting in a new concrete floor (note: mixing cement and plaster without the aid of a cement mixer is another of those things that is harder than you might think. Much harder.) The next step is to paint on the waterproofing around the shower, and then start tiling the walls.

My sore toe

As of today I only have nine toe nails. Trust me, you need more than that, it doesn't feel real good. My toe and toe nail related problems go back about a week, I was running on the treadmill at the gym and developed a blister. Rather than resting the next day, I decided to run it out. It got worse. That was last Thursday and other than a brief two minute attempt earlier this week, I haven't been able to use the treadmill since.

As of last night the toe nail was barely hanging to my toe, so I took preemptive action and decided to sever relations with it immediately. I was hoping this would make everything better, and I could resume my City to Bay training. Given the fact that I'm walking today with a Verbal Kint-like limp, that's clearly not going to happen. The frustrating part is that after 30 odd years of lethargy I actually really feel like exercising now but I can't.

I've been told that if it's not better in a few days I should seek medical advice, so that's probably the next step. Or wait for the toe to fall off and send it to a girl as an expression of my love, Van Gogh style. I hope it gets better soon.

Note: I was going to include a picture, but it looked pretty disgusting and I figure noone wants to see that.

New laptop

I have a new computer. A laptop. My old one kept crashing, so I decided to invest in this. When it came time to choose a model, it was an easy decision. A very good friend of mine recently bought an ASUS PRO31F, and I was very impressed, so decided to buy the exact same one.

I made the decision to buy it (actually salary sacrifice it through work) at about 2.30pm Tuesday afternoon, and by 4.30pm, I was standing in JB Hi-Fi at Marion, talking to the sales guy (yes, Tuesday was a work day, that's how impulsive I am, I left work early to buy it).

I was particularly pleased that they threw in a wireless router - no longer will I be chained to my freezing cold study, I'll now be able to blog away and surf the interweb in the warmth and comfort of my own bed. I'm looking forward to blogging about my dreams - the next time I'm attacked by giant turkeys as I sleep, I'll have an outlet to discuss how it made me feel. And presumably I'll save all kinds of money on psychiatrist's bills.

I'm sure you're curious about the many features my new laptop has, so here goes - 120 gigabyte hard drive . . . 1 gig of RAM . . . CD and DVD burner . . . 1.3 megapixel webcam . . . colour screen . . . keyboard. It's got it all. Actually the screen is great - I moved over all of my photos, and realised I'm not the terrible photographer I thought I was, it was (at least partially) my computer screen that was making everything seem dark and hazy. Now my pics are bright, bursting with colour and life, I think it's possible I have real talent in this area.