Making Friends With The Neighbours

P.S. The Cardinals were A-MA-ZING! Ryan's voice is so incredible and clear and poignant and the Cardinals are a tight-sounding band and such talented musicians. Their renditions of Cold Roses and Mockingbird and Dear John and Let it Ride were especially memorable for me. I DO wish he'd have played 29 though... Admittedly, Ryan continues to be hilarious. At one point he forgot his words and stopped and quickly assured the audience that, "It's ok! It's no-one's fault! I'm not in a bad mood or anything, and it's not your fault." Glad you cleared that up, Ryan. He also appears to dislike standing on the soles of his feet, opting instead for the outsides or the arches. Really. I know it sounds weird, but you should see how it looks!! Bless him though - it is endearing. Finally... Dear Neil Casal , Will you marry me? Best wishes, Rebecca

So yesterday I was on one of my massive walks around my 'hood, when a car load of boys drove past, tooting their horn and screamed out, "Yeeeeeaaaah!! Pussy time! and waved. At me! Someone remind me why I don't get out and socialise more in this city?

Only one more sleep til I get to see RYAN ADAMS AND THE CARDINALS LIVE!! This one is certainly a sad old country ballad but the man can rock too, don't you worry about that! And he can also throw some kind of tantrum. Going to see one of his shows can be a slightly anxious experience as you can never be quite certain that he's not going to have a hissy fit and walk off stage (he did last time I saw him, but he came back. Eventually.). Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnd, he doesn't deal well with criticism. This sound clip is amazing! At the end of it all though, anybody who can work double denim is a winner in my book!

Getting stung for DUI seems to be a rather sobering experience. The people I know who have been done tend to explain how ashamed they felt, to say that it was "an easy way to learn a difficult lesson", " a stupid thing to do" or "a wakeup call". Maybe it's not that way for everyone, but these are the kinds of things I hear when my friends talk about it. Drink driving has come to be a socially unacceptable behaviour that is little encouraged and rarely condoned. The main line of reasoning that I hear made against those who do it, goes along the lines of; "I don't care if you want to go out and kill yourself, that's your choice, but what if you hit me, or if you hit a kid? If you killed someone that way, you'd go to gaol. You'd be a criminal. Do you want to end up in Grafton?" And I agree wholeheartedly. I was talking to another friend about drink-driving over Xmas. I was telling her how unacceptable it is amongst my friends ...

Jono Ware took these pictures when we went surfing together a few years ago. I still like them a lot. It was a pretty day and we had fun. We were both working nights in a restaurant then, so we could surf as long as we wanted and then, to warm up, we would get a coffee and sit in the sun. Gracious - it really was small though!! I also like this photograph that he took, which I think is beautiful and still and quiet. He's quite a clever man. And he is still taking beautiful photographs.

Ok, ok, ok!! I've been on a slightly verbose trip the past few days, so let me lighten the atmosphere by sharing this very particular aspiration of mine... If all I achieve this year is to learn and replicate this routine * in it's entirety, I will be beyond satisfied with myself. If you are not a particular fan of Mrs Jay-Z (and I count myself amongst this number) then you may be quick to navigate away from this page. Don't. Give the dance a chance my friend. Give it two perhaps. There is truly something for everyone in here. I would like to point out that the moves displayed at 1:32 are particularly spectacular and impressive. Sometimes, just sometimes, pop music is all that will really do. *Clearly I could go on at some length about my conflicted feelings regarding the lyrics - commodified version of commitment and so on and so forth - but in this case, I'm just going to let it all go and DANCE. And if you think for a moment that I am not going to be bopping around t...

A couple of nights ago I went and saw Under the Sun (you might just be able to see it here if you're in time). The film sells itself as an exploration of the interesting dichotomy of approaches to surfing that exist between the Gold Coast and Byron Bay, which, geographically, lie so close together. Certainly, an interesting premise. The film was a joy to watch - the production was beautiful, the images hypnotic and the editing created a strong and spirited story that was easy to travel with. Truly I enjoyed the film. However... As a passionate local of Byron Bay, I was disappointed with the liberties that Cyrus Sutton felt he was able to make in his representation of the town and the community, especially in contrast to the way he represented the Gold Coast. Let's begin with his 'local'* surfers. Neither Dave Rastovich, Beau Young nor Nat Young could be called local to Byron. OK, Rastovich I'll give you at a stretch, but allocating them as spokespeople for the t...

Yesterday I (and some more than delightful company) went to see Optimism at the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane. It's an exhibition of contemporary Australian artists and is generally viewed as being timely in these economic climes. The exhibition certainly lives up to its mandate, with a majority of pieces that are big and bright. Indeed, the overwhelming feeling for me as I walked around was one of colour and size and the pieces are easily consumed and appreciated. They are challenging in their own ways, but on the whole they were easy to connect with and showed an outlook that was delightful to be a part of. Despite this, I left feeling a little hollow and unsure of what this exhibition actually had to say. The use of colour seemed trite and repetitive and I thought that there were few pieces that explored the way we can be optimistic even when we are unhappy. Optimism should not be associated only with progression and development and positive outcomes. Optimism can in ...

Can it be? And what does this mean? From SBS World News site: Susan Crawford, the Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo detainees to trial, told the Post that the suspect cannot be tried because he was tortured. US military interrogators subjected Mohammed al-Qahtani, 30, to sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold, leaving him in a "life-threatening condition," Crawford said. ... "You think of torture, you think of some horrendous physical act done to an individual. This was not any one particular act; this was just a combination of things that had a medical impact on him, that hurt his health. It was abusive and uncalled for. And coercive. Clearly coercive. It was that medical impact that pushed me over the edge" to call it torture, she said.

Didn't you hear? Practising Catholicism is good for the environment ...

I don't like to wish away my time... but, well, thank god that's over!