TELLING OF THE BEES

I am extremely excited for Castratii's second EP named 'Telling of the Bees' which is due to be released any day now. The Sydney band are also due to bring out a videoclip for 'Listen Lovers', one of their tracks from the first EP "The Music of Chance".

I can't keep still, I am just too damn impatient!

Imagine all the people living for today.

Lots of people like to live for today, but what about for tomorrow or the week after, or a decade after? Our world is a beautiful place, amid the disasters and the murders and abuse, the world is visually stunning and I find I learn a lot from it and the living organisms that inhabit it. It's such a shame though that our convenient, luxurious and fast way of living is choking such a special planet.

I have changed my light bulbs to 80% energy saving lights, turn off power points when they are not in use, turn my computer screen off when I shut down my computer, use less hot water, eating less meat than I usually consume, walk whenever I can or otherwise take public transport. These are things I am doing to lower carbon emissions that are impacting and inevitably destroying the beautiful world we live in. Some people may be skeptical about humans' position on climate change, some say it is just a natural occurrence, but I do believe the way we are living is causing some degradation to the natural environment and we need to do what we can to help.

My mum recently turned vegetarian for personal reasons, but without her even knowing she is saving 5000lbs of carbon emissions per year. If she bought food that is organic and locally sourced she would save a few more thousands of pounds of carbon emissions per year. That is what one person can do, it sounds like a lot already, imagine what we could do if many people did the same thing and saved millions of pounds of carbon emissions.

This all came about after I watched An Inconvenient Truth. The documentary opened up my mind to what I was ignoring a little, and Al Gore made me realise that one person can make a change and every person can make their effort count. www.climatecrisis.net is a website referred by the documentary that can give you pointers on how you can save energy and carbon emissions.

Pity

Pity is a complicated thing. It is something i frequently feel when I see everyday people around me. I don't like feeling pity, but what sparked me to write this was when I left work the other day. There is this man I see often around my local shopping centre and he seems to have a neuromuscular problem, he leans forward when he walks and he tends to drag his feet. His legs are a bit like jelly. He also slurs when he talks.

I saw this man when I left work and he happen to be walking the same route as me and I was absolutely disgusted my how many people were staring at him and whispering or laughing. I felt pity for him. I also felt like I was going to be sick because it amazes me how cruel people can be. Most of the time noone wants to be pitied. Maybe he doesn't notice people stare, maybe he doesn't care that they do. I put away my pity and just felt like striking up a conversation with him.

I was imagining how I would feel if I were to have his legs and to have people stare at me like that. Some people walked past and kept as much distance from him as they could. Since we were walking the same route I decided to walk alongside him and I turned my head to see he was looking at me. I said "Hello, how are you?" and he half-smiled, half-said "hi" and answered that he was "good". It wasn't much of a conversation but I would rather greet someone randomly than join the crowds of spectators who like to stare, taunt and treat fellow humans as if they are anything less.

"Pity" by William Blake

Packwood (formerly Bear and I)- free Bear & I EP

Packwood (Formerly Bear & I) is Bayden Hine, a young man who resides most of the time in Bathurst and part of his time in Sydney. Within in the last few months he has released his first EP (self-titled as Bear & I) on his myspace page as a free download.

Packwood's EP revolves around the ideology of love and Packwood's struggle to understand his place in the universe; the music however, elicits romantic envisions of flowery fields full of animals running about freely.

‘Sloan Great Wall’ is named so after the largest observable structure within the universe-it is a track embodying the dawn of a new day of Packwood's utopia, a place where the world wakes up with nature and without the complexities of the modern world; Bear & I reflects on what is most beautiful to him in life. The transition from the sole restless thoughts of the banjo to the orchestra expressing its celebration of life is symbolic of sunrise and the energy it brings with it.

‘Longyearbyen’ is the second track, named after a small town close to the North Pole but is rather Packwood’s imaginary haven, his Utopia observing the daily activities of the natural world where he finds comfort and solitude within and freely sings to the living inhabitants of this place.

‘Western Spiral Arm of the Milky Way’ is a string-instrument piece, wading through Packwood’s thoughts of Earth’s location within the universe and his pondering to his existence within this universe.

Packwood’s thoughts peeled away from his Utopia where he finds himself back down to Earth where in ‘Alone At Midnight’ and ‘Quickly Speak Celanesi, I Fear The Sun is Dying!’ he sings about his experiences of lust, the challenges of love and his inability to find comfort and understanding in the real world. The latter track is quickly paced and has a farewell feeling, a sense that the sun is setting leading to the end of another day but metaphorically that our world is heading the wrong direction.

This EP lets us into the romantic mind of Packwood and his olden-day values but how he has a tug-o-war between his idyllic world and reality. Upon first listen my eyes were watery and I escaped into Packwood's Utopia of a place we wish still existed.

[MP3] Packwood (Bear & I)- Longyearbyen

Coco Repose

Today I visited the most darling shop in Sydney, it is called Coco Repose.
Situated on Fitzroy St in Surry Hills it sells the most beautiful dresses and cardigans from the late 1800s-1960s (but sometimes they allow themselves to stock the creme de la creme of clothing from the 1970s). Forget about all of those op shops that say they sell 'vintage' clothing, this store has good quality clothing from the eras without the mothballs and old dusty smell.

While I was in the store I totally lost myself, I was immersed in the intricate, feminine and generally stunning things in there! I didn't even notice the traffic outside and ended up drawing towards a beautiful Oroton scarf for $15 and a very sweet vintage pill-box hat for $49. I decided that I should only treat myself once today so I bought the hat, if the scarf is there next time I go then it's meant to be! I'm definitely going back, it's just one of those places that made me feel so welcome and fed my craving for true vintage beauties!



I was also lucky enough today to receive some lovely black leather gloves from my Grandma. Oh life is sweet.

Ragged & Ecstatic

Did you hear Yves Klein Blue went to Hollywood to record their new album? 'Tis true! The Brisbane foursome have been on the circuit for a few years now but have released and re-released EPs, the last one being 'Yves Klein Blue Draw Attention To Themselves' included in it the well-known 'Polka' that turned up all over the Triple J airwaves and on a car commercial too.

That background aside, they have just released their debut album 'Ragged & Ecstatic", a 12-track composition of some wailing vocals, diverse range of instruments as well as the basis of drum, guitar and bass; the album surprising exhibits versatility of the band captured under the bright lights of Hollywood. The first track 'Make Up Your Mind' does not tastefully start off the album for me personally, I find the repeptitive loop of piano and guitar riffs build up pressure in my head like something's running around in there. Skip, next song.
YKB begin to hit a better note with me when it comes around to 'Getting Wise' and 'Digital Love'; 'Getting Wise' has a catchy melody and is one of those kind of songs where you bring out the invisible piano as well as skipping on the spot. 'Digital Love' is a track that feels darker than the others but that's what I like about it, it's separated itself from the other fluffier songs and has delved into unpredictable territory with sensual undertones.

YKB manage to slip in an acoustic and more down-tone mood mid-way through the album but the boys re-emerge with their ska-type of energy in 'Summer Sheets'- a charming song about young love with trumpets reminiscent of the '10 Things I Hate About You Soundtrack' but it's an optimistic track that really lifts the album. The lyrics are amusing and clever: "..when we make love it's like a great conversation where we always end up agreeing".
'Polka' is like the celebrity of the album, everyone know it and everyone has heard it more times than their fingers and thumbs can count..but there is good reason to it, it's a cleverly structured and constantly teases you when it appears to build up and gives a sudden drop, then another build up. It is infectiously a track to dance to and with the ripping guitars it's easy to dance like you're possessed. 'Polka' has all the highs and lows that it should, which makes it a stand out from the more straight forward tracks. The closing track 'Gin Sling' has a country twist on it and offers a laid-back last impression of the album.

I admit, I've had to listen to this album four times in order to write something constructive and I have begun to like and differentiate certain tracks. There are plenty of danceable tracks and a generous variation in flavours-this is not the sort of album you would say all the songs "sound the same". Overall YKB have assembled an unpredictable album together and the future is looking bright, this album proves that after "Polka's" success they are not a one-trick pony.

SAVE FBI + CREATE.

This weekend I have been saving fbi radio by supporting them and going to their gigs. Last night they had a gig at the Metro with bands such as Dappled Cities, Decoder Ring, Muscles, Midnight Juggernauts, SPOD etc and there was a merch table with a bunch of CDs for sale (all sold on Etch n Sketch label)that were running at $5. By the end of the night they were being sold by gold coin donation so a few bucks got me:
*Black Lips-"Good Bad Not Evil"
*Fields-"Everything Last Winter"
*Amiina-"Kurr"
*The Brunettes-"Structure & Cosmetics"

So far I've had a quick listen and I've always liked Amiina so 'Kurr' is a thumbs up, but I had a listen to Fields and I like their sound too, although I will need a further listen before I write a review.

AND FOR TODAY I decided I was going to 'CREATE' through drawing. This drawing isn't as good as my last, but I just could not get the eye on the left right! I have changed it since I took this photo but it still looks wrong. Bahhhh!

Twine & Brown Paper.

Last night I made a mixtape (in cd form haha) for my boyfriend. The mix includes songs from Australian indie bands because he's more in touch with indie bands from overseas.
I burned the cd and then wrote the tracklisting on some paper from a Nepalese note book and wrapped it with twine. Then I put the tracklisting in a carboard box that was finished with red ribbon and a metal trinket:


To follow I wrapped the box in some brown paper and finished it with more twine and wrote on the back on a photo of us and slipped it under the twine. I also grabbed some chamomile from my backyard and put that in too:

Now I should probably do some study for my exam. Eep!

The Bookworm

Today I am avoiding studying for my last exam..but after searching around for artwork or something to amuse me or conjure some sort of emotion I have found this:

I love the light beaming from the ceiling and how he is completely immersed in the book, with another book in his other hand waiting to be explored. What a beautiful piece of art! The Bookworm by Carl Spitweg (1850, oil on canvas).

Disorder.

I think he had a girl at every port..

Picture by Darren V.