| VOTE FOR ME! |
[15 Jun 2007|09:33am] |
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Hi everyone.
I know I have not been around in a long long time. I am currently in the throws of setting up a new blog (trouble is all the names I want on Blogger are already taken) that will be less personal, more ranty commentary. I think I mostly faded from LJ because LJ was a very "Dan and me" thing. When we were no longer together, it felt weird. My life has changed a lot and LJ no longer fits in with it. I've very much missed knowing what you guys were all up to and the regular contact we shared (and sporadically checked in to have a quick read of your journals). I still actively maintain my flickr account and you can spy on my dalliances there (I also have my Europe pics up, which is when many of you would have last heard from me).
Anyway, the reason I am making this brief appearance is because I would like to ask for your help. I need for as many people as possible to go to this site:
http://www.careerchick.com.au/
When you get there, click on my face/name (Kate M) and vote for me to help me win a "Career Makeover" worth $4300!
Just click on my name and then click "Vote Now". I think The site signs you up to the mailing list when you join, but you can unsubscribe after wards. Thanks guys!
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| Something for Kate live @ the Forum, Sydney |
[28 Aug 2006|04:51pm] |
I posted the other day trying to sell off three Something For Kate tickets for a gig I am now unable to attend due to being in Brisbane that night. Unfortunately, I've yet to find someone to buy them for the already below retail price of $35 + free postage, so I am dropping the price. I'd like to get something for these tickets.
Date: 1st September 2006
Venue: The Forum, Sydney (at Fox Studios aka The Entertainment Quater)
Cost: $20 each (they are $36.60 on Ticketek+booking fee)
I have three tickets to sell. Reply here if you're interested.
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| Something for Kate live at the Forum |
[24 Aug 2006|01:59pm] |
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A Perfect Circle - Orestes |
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Unfortunately (for me) I have three tickets for Something For Kate at The Forum in Sydney that I need to sell.
Date: 1st September 2006
Venue: The Forum, Sydney (at Fox Studios aka The Entertainment Quater)
Cost: $35 each (they are $36.60 on Ticketek+booking fee)
I'll post the tickets out to you free of charge. Alternatively, I work in the city so we may be able to meet up for an exchange.
I'm only selling because I am now going to be in Brisbane that night and because I am not going, the Jen and Matt also don't want to go.
But I AM still driving to Newcastle to see them on the Thursday night.
Leave a message or email me at fluttrgrl at gmail dot com if you're interested.
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| City to Surf |
[16 Aug 2006|11:58am] |
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Grant Lee Buffallo - Last Days of Tecumseh |
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Official Time: 81.46
Place: 10836
Woo! Next year I will train and crack the 76 minute mark for sure! I am SO happy with that time considering I'm a lot less fit than I was a year ago. I think I have been for 3 runs since my big fall in December last year. Unfortunately that same ankle has been playing up a little since Sunday.
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| Not so heartbreaking afterall |
[14 Aug 2006|03:59pm] |
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Incubus - Make Yourself |
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Yesterday I participated in my first City to Surf. For those not aware of the City to Surf, it is a 14km fun run from the centre of Sydney city to Bondi Beach.
At the start of the race, I decided I would be stoked if I was able to do it in an hour and a half. I wasn't aiming to run the whole thing, as I had heard others go on about how hard hearbreak hill is. Well, I not only finished in about 80 minutes, I also ran the entire course, including all of heartbreak hill. I am so happy with the result, as I have not been training at all for the race. I only went for two runs in the past two weeks.
I'm still awaiting my official time (which will likely be between 80-85 minutes). My time means I will be able to run in the second half of the first group next year (under 100 min). Next year the aim will be to do it in under 76 minutes, which means I would be able to run in the first part of the first group the following year.
I was super impressed with the organisation of the race. Everything from registration to baggage storage and claim was efficient and easy to follow.
After the race, I managed to bump into an old Uni friend that I had not seen since I'd finished (Liddel for those who know him). I was so shocked he recognised me. I had such a crush on this guy for a long time at Uni. And yeah, he is still hot.
My mum and her boyfriend also entered the race, and afterwards we joined my uncle and grandmother for beers and much needed food. My grandmother lives opposite Bondi Pavillion, so I was able to grab a shower at her place as well. I was so tired and sore afterwards. I think I should book in for a massage. Though, the boy treated me to a calf massage yesterday afternoon.
Now to wait and see what my official time was. Did anyone else go in the race? What did you think? How did you go?
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| Do I look like a suicide bomber? |
[30 Jul 2006|05:57pm] |
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Scary is going through airport security, being randomly selected for explosives testing and testing positive.
Yeah, that happened to me last Tuesday as I went through security at Coffs Harbour airport.
My colleague and I raced to the airport from Grafton, desperate to make the earlier flight we had modified our booking to. We arrived five minutes before the plane was to leave, but noted passengers were still waiting to board. We waited almost five whole minutes for someone to come to the counter to see if we could still check in. We could. So we raced to the security desk to have our things scanned as people started boarding the plane (this was the first regional centre I have been to that actually has safety measures such as this). As I went through, the person who tests from explosives asked to test my bag. No worries. I even made jokes about how my friend Sandy has an explosives licence and her day-to-day occupation involves blasting. There is no way she would make it through one of those scans. Then there was a loud beep.
The woman looked at me seriously and said "the sample has tested positive for explosives" and then proceeded to explain what she needed to do next. She had to take another samples and they both needed to test negative. I was freaking out. I told the woman I had been in an engineering office all day and perhaps there were traces of testable contaminant within the building that had rubbed off on my bags. The plane was waiting on the tarmac, but then the explosives lady said it might not wait for me. Meanwhile my colleague was on the plane wondering why I was taking so long. The second sample tested clear. Now for the third. The third beeped and I started getting visions of being detained for questioning and searched. I asked "oh no, did I just test positive again", but the woman responded by telling me "no, it was negative, you're free to go."
Holy shit, thank god.
Then I had to get on the plane, the person everyone stares at loathingly because it was my fault they would all be late home.
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| Best bedtime story EVER! |
[07 Jun 2006|12:28am] |
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Holy fucking shit!!!
Aaaaiiieeee!!!
BEST NEWS EVER
I just bought myself two tickets. OMG OMG OMG OMG *dies*
Thank fuck I checked my email before going to bed.
If anyone of you is interested in going, buy your tickets NOW! These won't last long.
AT THE BASEMENT.
WITHIN TOUCHING DISTANCE.
WITHIN SEX0RING DISTANCE!!
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| I am teh S-M-R-T |
[01 Jun 2006|10:09am] |
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I received a letter from UTS in the mail yesterday. I made the Dean's Merit List.
I am the awesome!
Disappoinment is that there is no little cocktail function or anything to celebrate our brilliance.
P.S. I just received my new Mototrola RAZR in the mail. Oh she is so pretty. It is so nice to have a RAZR again. How I have missed my lost one.
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[23 May 2006|04:25pm] |
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Something for Kate - Letter to the Editor |
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The other day I posted from UTS shortly before my graduation ceremony. Well now you can see photos of me decked out in the ugly gown and hood, rather than some random dude. The hood looks like a folded in half napkin.
The day was lovely, with mum, dad and Ems coming to Sydney for it. Dad gave me $100 to have my testamur framed and then took us all to lunch (mum included!). I then bummed around Paddy's Markets with Dad as we killed time before he was to meet my uncle and head back to the Hunter.
Afterwards I did a huge grocery shop (god I love grocery shopping) before meeting friends for a celebratory dinner at the Purple Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant prior to seeing Something For Kate at the Metro. But that is another post!
( Just chuck an MEM onto the end of my name as well now )
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| Go Aussie! |
[05 Apr 2006|08:16am] |
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JJJ |
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Mr Dempsey, you have surely perfected the art of composing the perfect climax to a song. I can see myself reduced to a slobbering mess when I next see Something for Kate perform their new single Cigarettes and Suitcases.
Not only did I just hear the recorded version of that song for the first time, but I also just heard the new You Am I single, It Ain't Funny How We Don't Talk Anymore. Hot stuff.
God I love Aussie music.
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| Buono buono! |
[31 Mar 2006|10:17am] |
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Augie March - One Crowded Hour |
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I just enrolled in an 8 week course with Sydney Community College to learn some Italian for my trip.
Woo!
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| I'd like you all to meet Farmer Jones |
[27 Mar 2006|10:42pm] |
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As I mentioned the other day, over the weekend, I met up with a very good friend that I had not seen in three years. He lived 2.5 years in Japan teaching English (one of his students was the CEO of Sony, only they say "soni"). He then spent the last four months in Zimbabwe with his Zimbabwean girlfriend. Many stories and much hilarity ensued.
Moo and I were out with Sandy, Moo's sister Kath, her partner Andrew and their friend Vern.
( Silliness in the extreme )
Me and the Moo (apparently I am a peacock in this picture...)
There are a few more pics here.
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| Random update |
[24 Mar 2006|10:32am] |
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You Am I - Satisfied Mind |
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Well, I took the car to be checked out by an auto electrician. The car has had a flashing airbag light. When we had the car serviced, we were assured by the mechanics that it was a minor wiring issue and the bags still worked.
Bum bow. It was the modulator. $1800 to have replaces plus $350 labour. And the airbags don't work without it. To have a second hand part used (meaning we could not get an invoice) it would be $620 $350 labour. We decided not to bother and to just tell whoever buys the car that the airbag is currently not working. I'll give them the invoice for the $180 diagnostic that was done on the car to determine the fault.
At the moment we have every chocolate imaginable in the lolly jar at work. It isn't faaaaaaaair! I have zero will power and cannot say no to them.
I'm feeling a little unmotivated at work at the moment, even though I have a hideous amount to do. I think it is because the work I am doing is all rather daunting. These Operation and Maintenance Manuals I am writing are bloody heavy going. But I know another big project of mine will soon rear its ugly head and will interfere with my projected progress on the manuals. I need to pull my finger out. But I just can't stop procrastinating. Argh! I am going to come in on Sunday for a few hours, though. And I have been working at least an extra hour a day. I am sure this will need to ramp up soon as well.
I'm seeing a friend tonight that I have not seen in about three years! He has been living in Japan and gallivanting around Zimbabwe with his Zimbabwean girlfriend. And tonight he is in Sydney! I am so excited! He is going to die when he seems me though. I look incredibly different to when I last saw him.
Thanks to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) jeb for putting me on to this. Very cool. Give it a go!
And thanks to those who used my referral link on Threadless! I now have $9 credit. Though, I later found out that I could have also used my own referral link to give myself credit!
I also have a new favourite TV show that you all much see. How I Met Your Mother stars Alyson Hannigan and the guy who played Doogie Howser. So bloody funny!
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| Just call me Blondie |
[20 Mar 2006|10:33pm] |
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Well, it was an arduous process. I was at the hair dressers for four hours in total. Kaarina didn't finish cutting my hair until half an hour after closing time. At least I got a few hours of work done while I was at the salon!
When I told Kaarina I wanted to go blonde, she was excited, but then hesitant. I told her I wanted a caramel blonde with darker foils. I also wanted to keep the really long dark dark brown piece. She was worried the red Majicontrast they had been using in my hair would turn my hair orange when they put the colour stripper in. At first she was 50/50 as to whether or not it would work, but after we discussed the cut and the fact we could take length off the top if it went orange, she was more 75% confident of success. We also decided that if it did go orange, I could go strawberry blonde and we could put lots of lighter and darker foils in. We had a contingency plan.
We needn't have worried. The hair lightened really well. It was scary to see the colour after the colour stripper had been put in! It was yellow! BRIGHT YELLOW! But once the foils and toner went in, all was good again.
( The process begins )
Ta da!
( And the end result... )
So there you go! Blonde Kate!
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| Legally blonde |
[19 Mar 2006|06:50pm] |
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I'm now a blonde!
Photos to come.
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| If it weren't screwed on... |
[13 Mar 2006|02:20pm] |
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Jeff Buckley - River of Dope |
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I am so all over the place right now! I blame the stupidly frustrating meeting I just had to go to to take minutes, even though I have nothing to do with the project and even though my boss knows I am incredibly busy. He even asked me if I needed to delegate the review of a functional specification that has just come in from one of our contractors. But yet I am not too busy to take minutes in a meeting I have nothing to do with. A meeting he assured me would take less than an hour, that actually took 1.5 hours because people kept repeating the same thing over and over. Now it will take me another hour or more to type up the minutes. All this work gets charged to an overhead job number, thus bringing down my utilisation (the proportion of work we charge clients for). Grrr.
Anyway, I digress...
On my lunch break I speed walked up to Dymocks to use the voucher I have that expires on Sunday. I was paying for The Silver Spoon (if you click that link, you can actually access a number of the recipes!) when I realised I had mistakenly tossed the voucher into my paper bin at work this morning as I was cleaning bus and train tickets out of my wallet. Then as the transaction finished, I realised I had forgotten to use my Dymocks card. Had I used it, I would have been entitled to another voucher. I am contemplating taking the book back and asking them if I can re-buy it with the voucher and my Dymocks card. Is that too stingy of me?
Anyhoo, The Silver Spoon is the Italian cook book Bible. Mothers have given it to their daughters as something of an initiation rite for the past 50 years and this is the first time it has been published in English. it has over 2,000 recipes! And it is split up into different types of dishes or food you're cooking with. It has sections for ostrich, hare, woodcock, wild boar, the type of fish or vegetable (including dandelion!), cheese, as well as an extensive suite of appetisers and desserts. It also has diagrams of the different cuts of meat and of pretty much every utensil used ever! It is simply the most incredible cook book I have ever seen! It is my new bible!
Then I went to JB HiFi to buy the Augie March album (score @ only $21.99 for the cardboard case edition), headphones and Sin City. The headphones I wanted weren't there, so I had to settle for some other crap ones. Sin City was $38, even though the only bonus feature was a behind the scenes. Surely there is another edition with more features than that? So I vetoed that purchase. I did notice a Muse Absolution live DVD there for $21.99 though. But I didn't get it because I was confused as to whether or not i might have it somewhere else as a bonus disc, etc. I cannot think today.
Also, when I walked up, George Street was all blocked off for the arrival of the Queen. I saw no Queen (though my housemate did as she works opposite... she was extremely underwhelmed) I did hear a barrage of religious propaganda emitting from the large PA outside the Cathedral. What the fuck is with that?
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| Achy Breaky |
[13 Mar 2006|10:22am] |
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Jeff Buckley - untitled song |
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I am so very sore today. My calf muscles are killing me. It is the running up the hills at Sydney Park that did it. I really underestimated the effect it would have on my body. I did a few minutes of running this morning on a treadmill, thinking it would loosen my muscles. It did for about an hour or two. Now I feel even worse.
Oh a completely different note, a bunch of unreleased Jeff Buckley tracks have somehow leaked out onto the internet. And I am talking new songs. Songs that I have never heard before. Not just new versions of songs, which is what is usually found. This is unbelievable! There is even a version of him doing When The Levee Breaks
Which reminds me, if I was to buy ONE Led Zepplin album, what should I get? Or should I go for a best of? I really like Zepplin, but I've never really gotten into them enough because I'm intimidated by the extent of their back catalogue.
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| Yet another reason why iRiver is better than iPod |
[03 Mar 2006|10:42am] |
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The Devoted Few live on JJJ |
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I downloaded the new firmware for my iRiver H340 last week. This enabled me to watch an episode of Little Britain on my way home from work last night and another on my way to work this morning.
That is right, my previously non-video enabled MP3 player now plays video. And I didn't even have to pay a cent. None of this needing to go out and buy a completely new gadget to take advantage of new technologies. Instead, the lovely folk at iRiver just allow us to upgrade our machines as they develop new software. It explains why after two years, they are still selling what is essentially the same hard drive MP3 players.
Someone on the MisticRiver forums also developed a very cute little piece of software that will open video files and convert them to the right size, format and frame rate for iRiver all within a couple of minutes.
Looks like I'm going to have to find another time of the day to read my book!
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| Gig Ettiquite 101 |
[27 Feb 2006|03:09pm] |
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Something For Kate - Ordinary World |
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whosthatgrrl and I went to see Bernard (that's "Ber-nad" not "Ber-nard") Fanning at the Enmore Theatre on Saturday night. Bern lacked a little in the hip-shaking tambourine-playing department, but this was made up for by the rocking-outness of a number of usually quieter songs. It was a fabulous gig. Too bad the crowd sucked.
The crowd was your typical Powerfinger crowd. Bogans and sqealing drunk women (some of them middle aged) everywhere. My frustration at the crowd's lack of gig ettiquite prompted me to compile this list of must-knows when attending a concert, especially if you find yourself standing near me.
- Yelling. Yelling out during quiet songs in which the crowd is deathly silent is not funny or cool. You will simply end up with people death staring you into silence. Especially when you yell out "That's emotional, Bern! That's emotional."
- Swaying. Please, when you're in a mosh pit do not freaking sway!!! When you sway, I can only see 50% of the show. Not to mention the extensive ramifications swaying can have on the entire crowd. Your continued swaying will force me to take a step left or right, thus possibly blocking another person's view, which means they also have to move, and so forth...
- Hair. Please if you have long hair, tie it back! I do not want to cop a mouthful of your hair every time you decide to flick it. If you do not tie it back, I cannot guarantee that it will not get "tangled" in my hands when I clap.
- Squealy jumping. When you jump up and down squealing about how much you love the singer or guitarist (another thing that no person with any self resppect would do), please ensure you keep well away from my feet. If you breach my personal space, expect my hand or elbow in your back.
- Wearing the band's t-shirt to see the band. Do people really still need to be reminded that this is not cool?
- Drinking. Excessive drinking will not make the gig more fun. It just pisses me and other sober people off and will eliminate much of your memory of the show.
- Doing the metal sign. It looks like this. The index and little fingers are extended, but the thumb is not. If you also extend the thumb, you are making the sign for "I love you". But then again, if you are one of those squealy drunk girls who is in love with the lead singer, perhaps this is your intent.
- Groping. Short skirts are NOT an invitation for you to dare your mate to put his hand up it. Don't DARE fucking touch me at a gig unless I have openly and vocally invited you to.
- PDAs. By this I mean public displays of affection, not those little electronic gadgets more and more people seem to be carrying around these days. Though, if you are on your PDA at a gig, then you really need to learn to unwind. But I digress... couples who insist on pashing one another for the ENTIRE gig. You've paid for a ticket to SEE a band. There is no seeing when you suck face all night. If you want to listen to music and slobber all over one another, go home and put on a CD! I have noticed the main culprits for this behaviour are 16 year old "lesbians".
- Singing. I am all for singing at gigs, except for when the person next to me is singing noticably louder than the vocallist. As a good friend once said "there is a reason they are stage and you paid see them."
Well, I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. Is there anything you particularly hate that I have neglected to mention here?
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| A word of musical wisdom |
[26 Feb 2006|03:07pm] |
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SFK - You Only Hide |
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I have discovered the prevention for supermarket rage.
Take along your MP3 player, put on some soothing tunes and do not take out your earphones until you reach the checkout. No screaming children. No awful supermarket music. No ads selling things. I was in supermarkety bliss. I don't think I have enjoyed a supermarket trip so much. And I am saying this even though I got to bed at 5.30am, got up at 11am and left for the supermarket feeling rather hungover at 12pm. But then again, Something For Kate do cure all ails.
Now I must finish my Mediterranean salad so that I can domestic goddess it up in the kitchen. We're going to Kerryn's friends' place for dinner (after we go to the RSL Club to attempt to win us a meat tray!) and they are cooking us a roast, while I am preparing dessert. Hazelnut and plum flan with ice cream. I've never made it before, so here's hoping it works!
Oh, and one last thing before I go, a girl last night asked me if I was Croatian. Seriously. I mean, I don't care if people think I'm Eastern European and I actually take is as a compliment (dark featured women are so saucy! *reow*), but why is it only in the past month or so that everyone has been saying it? Though it is apparently my gregarious, loud, friendly personality as well as looks that fools everyone.
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| There had to be a downside... |
[24 Feb 2006|04:05pm] |
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disappointed |
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Jeff Buckley - Grace |
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Grace just started playing on my computer. I immediately thought it was my phone ringing. I shouldn't have made the Grace intro my ring tone. I have forever destroyed the best intro to any song ever by making myself associate it with a ringing phone.
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| Need my SFK fix! |
[23 Feb 2006|09:46am] |
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SFK - Working Against Me (Live w/ Julian @ the POW 020904) |
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I am seriously considering getting the car from Dan before we sell it and driving down to Wollongong Uni on the 9th of March to see Something For Kate.
They are on stage at about 10pm, so I figure they will be finished by about 11.30, so I should be home by say 1am. Kerryn said she will go with me if I decide to go (are there any other takers? Jen would you be out because it is a Thursday night?). It is $25 and seems like much better value than The Great Escape festival, where I could see them if I paid $70 for the day. I wish they were playing the Bar on the Hill at Newcastle Uni. I would be there in a heartbeat if that was the case! We could have gotten some of the old crew together and pretended it was 1998. Hehe.
I just miss these guys so much! I was completely blissed out during their Homeback set. I could not believe it had been so long since I'd seen them. To think that for a while there I was worried I was destroying my adoration for them by seeing them too often.
So can anyone tell me if the 'Gong Uni bar is any good for live music? And to those SFK obsessees on my F-list, have you heard if they will be doing any proper shows in Sydney any time soon? If they are, I might just hang out for that. Surely they must be about to embark on a big tour now that the album is done!
I need more SFK!
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