Open Your Ears Wk 17

Matthew Good (Band)

it was inevitable, I delayed as long as I could muster. For those who know me too well then you will know I am the Matthew Good punisher. I have becomed somewhat obsessed with his music, unfortunately for me, probably most fortunate for everyone else, I have not been able to find any hard copies of his albums in JB or any other store.

He has taken the mantle of my second favourite artist, but most alarming he is far and away the musician I have listened to the most in the last 18 months. What's so Good about him? (pun intended) well to be honest nothing stands out about him or his music, not a epic singer or supertalented guitarist. What he is, is a songwriter, heartfelt and honest, the music doesnt overwhelm, all the pieces fit.

He is a politically charged but not in your face about it, he is often viewed as arrogant but has done some self loathing marketing such as mass sales of a t-shirt "I hear Matt Good is a Real Asshole"

He has had a history of mental illness and prescription drug abuse but has channelled it into his songwriting

here is an exerpt from wikipedia
"In the aftermath of divorcing his wife, developing an addiction to Ativan and being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Good channeled the emotional turmoil into his next album, 2007's Hostpital Music. The album was the first self-produced effort of his career and was written during his recovery from overdosing on Ativan and a stay in the psychiatric ward."

www.myspace.com/officialmatthewgood

most recent single "Last Parade"

his mellow side "Metal Airplanes"

his rock side "Load me Up"

his commercial style single "Born Losers"

He isn't well known even in America, being a Canadian and rarely travels outside of North America so I seriously doubt I'll ever see him play live, but one can only hope

finall I'll leave you with his epic cover of Depeche Mode's classic "Enjoy the Silence"

Weekly WTF: Shower Scream

There's no one in the shower..... or is there?

Belly Up

Right

That's it

Whats the big deal about Underbelly? Can anyone tell me............please, seriously I need to know.

For those that haven't seen it, lets paint the picture:

- Weekly episodes depicting underworld activities, cash, drugs, violence etc
- Retro setting, bizarre music, long hair, oversize moustaches
- C grade actors
- Dark, dingy, secretive scenes
- Tits every 20 seconds with the occasional suggestive scene
- Has to be viewed after 8.30pm

There's another result that ticks all these boxes and its been around ever since the invention of the video camera. Porn.

Cmon Underbelly fans, who are you kidding? If you enjoy a bit of T&A, whats the big problem - hire porn! You'll be getting stuff 10 times as good and you wont have to lie to all the other fellas at work around the watercooler.

On Monday morning blow everyone away by saying "Naa I skipped last nights episode and watched Forrest Hump instead. I dunno, I just realised I didn't give 2 shits about the plot and was just watching it for a titty show". Sure you might offend some of them but rest will look to you as their mentor!

On the other hand - maybe I'm totally wrong, maybe people actually follow the 'storyline'. Could it extend beyond Underbelly? I remember watching Body Of Evidence and Basic Instinct a few too many times when I was a kid so perhaps that had nothing to do with Madge and Shazza, they just had gripping plots!

PLEASE!
.

Naked But Whole Again

So as with every house move there is a period of 'disconnection' to the world and while the phone may be reconnected quite quickly, a decent internet connection is known to be as delayed as a recent flight to Reykjavik.

With the dawning of the new Dawson premises I've been putting some thought into how I'd like to wire it up............. once! The factors are nothing out of the ordinary: time, cost, effort, return, flexibility and most importantly - as future proof as possible! Recent lengthy discussions with a certain relative of mine who's building a house arrived at the realisation that you need nothing more than a live network port in each room.

In the past it was cool to have audio/video links from room to room, phone ports all over the place but these days, what CANT you do with a network port? Older office PCs are literally being given away so we can say for sure that our kids will have at least 1 PC each. With a network port in each room you have AV streaming from wherever to wherever, internet connections, file sharing, print sharing, web chat, video calling, voip phones etc etc.

I know what some of you are thinking, "why not just go wireless and then you don't have to do anything!". In response to that, I say "ttthhwwwpppppttttt". Home wireless is good for sitting on your laptop out the back browsing the net or on your lap in the lounge - other than that, its fucking crap. Absolute administrative nightmare, limited chocked bandwidth and an ongoing pig to support. Enough said.

With all that in mind I decided to go the full monty, dice the old analog line rental charges and go naked. Sadly, due to their coverage in Edgewater, I couldn't stay with Amnet but iiNet picked up the slack and connected us today. While we were painting I patched up all the analog phone ports so at the moment there is a phone line swinging in the roof, just waiting for a home. I figured that no one REALLY wants a phone point in their kitchen nowadays anyway. Cordless phone with a base station in the office - ding dang do.

With Naked we have been issued a new '6' number and with a fancy new adsl2/router/voip converter I purchased, we can still use normal analog phones, not those poxy usb ones. Call charges are alot lower, especially STD and the only downside is if the power goes out or your internet goes down, you cant ring anyone. No big deal.

Will hopefully give it a try tonight or tomorrow or when I next have a free minute......... in 2016! Another long weekend to power through the remainder of the DIY before DJ is born - we're replacing most of the patio, painting door frames/doors and hopefully squeezing in some relaxation.

So much to do, so little time :)

Later Gators

Soundtrack Of The Day: Sugar Army - The Parallels Amongst Ourselves
.

Open Your Ears Wk 16

Folding Chair - Regina Spektor

she has a totally recognisable voice and a uniqueness which makes her infinitely interesting, not always good but always interesting. She is a Russian born, American singer based in New York. She comes from a totally musical family

myspace.com/reginaspektor

i chose this track for no particular reason, you cannot say it is a typical Spektor tune, coz you wouldn't want to catagorise her like that. I wouldn't even call myself a fan, but as a music enthusiast I don't turn her songs off when they come on the radio.

Folding Chair @ Youtube

her fantastic duet with Ben Folds "You Don't Know Me"

if you like her then check out Emeliana Torrini "Big Jumps"

Weekly WTF: Fish Tank Toilet

Open Your Ears Wk 15

I can talk - Two Door Cinema Club

Coming out of Northern Ireland are some likely lads who have released a little beauty of an album in realm of electronic/indie/pop bliss. They appear to be a three piece band but have no percussionist just utilise electronic beats. So two guitarists and a bass player and a computer!

Quite aptly they describe themselves as a mix of Bloc Party and Death Cab for Cutie, similar to Broken Social Scene. Upon reading that I really could not put a more accurate description. Its so common to hear artists say they don't sound like anyone so kind of refreshing to see this so accurately described.

I Can Talk Utube

latest single : Undercover Martyn Utube and played unplugged ft glock/xylophone be sure to listen to both versions, one song with two great variations!

http://www.myspace.com/twodoorcinemaclub

Weekly WTF: Dockers Winning 3 In A Row

I'm A Mac + I'm A PC

I haven't seen any new Apple Ads come up on YouTube recently so I kinda figured the Mac Vs PC campaign was over but no ending would be complete without a greatest hits!

One of my daily reads, Gearlog.com, posted a link to a terrific 10min edit containing all of the Ads which I recommend you check out if you're a fan..... or just bored!

Get A Mac Collection

There were a couple in there that I hadn't seen before and all the oldies that still made me 'laugh out loud'.

Even though it wasn't enough to convince me, you've gotta hand it to Apple marketing. Their probably the highest paid marketing team on the planet and their kicking goals all over the shop. This particular campaign was golden goldy goodtimes goodness and I'd expect it wont be the last brilliance to flow from their offices.

It goes to show you that throwing money at special effects, animations, big name actors or extravagant productions doesn't guarantee anything. I reckon I could have filmed this series on my digital camera!

Its good to know that cash, computers and other technology can never replace a room of creative minded humans.
.

Birthing Adam and Eve

So as I said, last night was our last ante-natal class and it included a tour of the birth suite, or should I say Garden Of Eden!

They make it very clear in the lessons that during labour everything possible is done to make your child exiting your body as, pardon the pun, painless as possible.

The suite is way more extravagant and plush than I could have ever imagined. You name it, its in there - Bedroom, Lounge, Bathroom, stereo, tv, fridge, tea/coffee, couches, pillows, fit balls, beanbags etc along with the stuff THEY need. There is also a spa room painted like the bloody sistine chapel complete with a sky ceiling, roman columns painted on the walls and lots of 'happy place' visual imagery.

At first while walking through I was very impressed but after a little while I realised that, yes, its impressive but its really because they feel somewhat helpless and can only assist you in birthing your child. At the end of the day you can have as many support people/midwives/Drs around you as you like but they aren't having the kid are they!

Our due date is still the 6th May but we've always thought we're a little further along than they think. In reality it could be anytime now but due to first children typically being overdue, the factors should counteract each other and DJ's birthday will be between the 1st - 10th May. Not that I have a clue!

We were also told NOT to Google 'birth' as it only generally shows bad things, instead Google 'SVD'. If you've had a kid you might know what it stands for but what the heck, does anyone actually know off the top of their heads?
.

Easter? Whats Easter?

To say its been a mad few days would be the greatest understatement of the year..... and there's no signs of it easing up soon!

Here are the days at a glance:
Friday (Unloaded trailer, loaded fridge, took pre DIY video!)
- Wood panels removed from Family
- Wallpaper and adhesive removed from Kitchen, Lounge, Reception, Dining, 3 Bedrooms and Hall
- Hooks, wall plugs etc removed from walls/roof (200+!) holes filled and sanded
- 4 Gutter overflows fitted
- BIR and bedroom doors removed
- Cork wall in entry annihilated!

Saturday
- Light electricity off
- All ex-wallpapered walls sugar soaped
- Cornices painted in 3 bedrooms and hall (2 coats)
- Cork wall glue removed
- Ceilings painted in 3 Bedrooms and hall (1st coat)
- Ex-wood panelled walls prepped (stage 1)

Sunday
- Ceilings painted in Bedrooms and hall (2nd coat)
- Sanity lost
- Cut in 3 Bedrooms, Hall, Bathroom, Laundry and Toilet
- Bed 1/2 walls painted (1st coat)
- More cork wall glue removed
- Ex-wood panelled walls prepped (stage 2)
- Cornices in Kitchen, Lounge, Dining, Reception painted (2 coats)
- Kitchen cut in and painted (1st coat)

Monday
- Hall, Bed 3, Bathroom, Laundry and Toilet walls painted (1st coat)
- 3 Bedrooms, Hall, Bathroom walls painted (2nd coat)
- Lounge/Dining cut in
- Cornice repaired in Lounge
- Kitchen painted (2nd coat)
- Bed 1/2 and Hall skirtings filled
- Lounge/Dining/Reception painted (1st coat)
- Light electricity on!
- All rubbish dumped from trailer

Tuesday
- Ex-wood panelled walls prepped (stage 3)
- Kitchen wall skimmed
- Bed 3, Lounge, Dining and Reception skirtings filled
- Lounge/Dining painted (2nd coat)
- Ceilings painted in Lounge, Family, Kitchen (1st coat)
- Cornices painted in Family (2 coats)
- Cut in Family
- Skirtings, BIRs painted in Bed 1 and 2 (1st coat)

Tonight
- Sand Kitchen wall
- Skim Family/Cork wall
- Paint Kitchen wall (1st coat)
- ?

Tomorrow Night
- Sand Family wall
- Paint Family wall (2 coats)
- Paint Kitchen wall (2nd coat)
- Paint Reception walls (2nd coat)
- Paint skirtings in Bed 1, 2 and BIRs (2nd coat)
- Paint skirtings in Bed 3, Hall, Lounge, Dining and Reception (2 coats)
- Begin cleaning

Friday Night

- Sand Cork wall
- Paint Cork wall (2 coats)
- Touch up skirtings
- Clean!

... and tonight is our final Ante-natal class to boot! Add pregnancy, packing our old house, cleaning and eating to the above and there's not much time for sleep let me tell you.

All needs to be completed before Saturday as we'll be rolling the moving truck into the driveway!

Weekly WTF: Tampon Chandelier

Open Your Ears Wk 14

Walk You Home / Night Vision Binoculars - Passenger

this is entirely weird, I have had this song on my computer for a couple of years now and I love it but over the last two weeks for some reason it has been popping up more often and it sparked enough interest to want to listen to more of their songs

so today i hunt down their myspace site and low and behold they are touring Australia..in April..in Perth...on the 5th. Yep today, a 2pm gig in Freo. Pity it's 4pm when i look at the website!

anyway this guy is a 23 year old from the UK and he has written a killer pop song about being a stalker, haha another in the line of Every Step you Take by the Police or On My Mind by Powderfinger

also interestingly enough as a single it was released under two different names, obviously a little obtuse to get the attention of the Yanks but pretty straight down the line for the UK audience. Its a bit weird a concept to give one song a couple of names.

Single Version on Youtube

Live on a radio gig

I see you nearly everyday.
I see you, but you don't see me.
I wish I had something clever to say.
And I wish I had something better I could be.

We touched hands by the coffee machine the other day.
I know you've forgotten already,
But I'm gonna take that moment to the grave.
To the grave.

Cuz I just wanna walk you home.
I just wanna walk you home.
Oh, yea.

I see you nearly every night.
I see you when you're down in your house.
With my night vision binoculars
I creep quiet as a mouse.

And I get jealous when I see you stroking his hair.
But it's okay, I tell myself 'cause I know
It's only I'm not there.
I'm not there.

Cuz I just wanna walk you home.
I just wanna walk you home.
Well I just need some time alone.
I just need some time alone.

I'm the boy who watches the phone.
I'm the boy who eats lunch on his own.
I'm the boy with the monotone.
I'm the boy who still lives at home.

I'm the boy with the ironed shirt.
I'm the boy who watches you work.
I know where you keep your skirts.
I know where your secrets lurk.

I'm the boy that's calling your house.
I'm the boy that's freaking you out.
With my thermal flask of tea.
Up there in your neighbor's tree.

I'm the boy that's crossing borders.
I'm the boy with social disorders.
I'm the boy with restraining orders.
I'm the boy, yeah.

Cuz I just wanna walk you home.
I just wanna walk you home.
And I know that's it not right to creep.
But I just wanna watch you sleep alone.

Cuz I just wanna walk you home.
I just wanna walk you home.

Weekly WTF: Moral Kombat

"Home Of Dawson" feat. Dee-I-Why

There is .. a house .. in Edgewater
They caaaaaaaaall the Home Of Dawson
And it's been .. the ruin .. of rolls of wallpaper
And God .. I know .. of 10

My mother .. was a painter
The laundry tiiiiiiiiiles coooooooouldnt save her
My wife .. wants everything orange
Down .. in Edge .. water

Now the oooooooonly thing .. a painter needs
Is a waaaaaaaall .. caaaaaaaan .. and brush
And the oooooooonly time he's saaaaaatisfied
Is when .. he's complete-ly done

Oh mother .. tell your children
To grab a steamer .. scraper .. and bin
Spend your Eeeeeeeeeaster .. in DIY .. misery
In the home .. of the .. Daw-sons

Well, I got oooooooone foot on the ladder
The ooooooother foot on the bench
I'm guuuuuuunna try .. to clean up this .. pig sty
To prepare .. for our next .. genera-tion

There is .. a house .. in Edgewater
They caaaaaaaaall the Home Of Dawson
And it's been .. the ruin .. of rolls of wallpaper
And God .. I know .. of 10
.