Oh Mercy- Keith St. 7" Single Launch

Tonight Tash and I met up at The Toff in Town for the launch of Oh Mercy's new 7" single "Keith St." The two opening acts were lead singers from up and coming Melbourne bands: Geoff O'Connor of Crayon Fields and Kieran Ryan of Kid Sam. Geoff played his set on electric guitar with a sampler, while Kieran's set was all on acoustic guitar. It was good to see them both play for the first time after hearing positive things about their respective bands.

Oh Mercy started the night with "Lay Everything on Me" and then segued into "Seemed Like a Good Idea." Their set consisted mostly of new material from their upcoming album, which will be out in early 2011. It was nice to get a sneak preview and hear what they have been working on, including the new single "Keith St." A few of the songs really stood out on first listen, and Eliza even sang lead on one song called "Doldrums." We also got some of my favorites like "Broken Ears" and "In My Stride," and they finished their set with "Get You Back." The only downside of the evening was the fact that guitarist Thomas Savage has gone MIA. For some reason he is no longer touring with the band, which is a bit of a worry as he and Alex are such a great songwriting partnership. I would hate it if he has left the band.

Ruth and Danny's Wedding

Yesterday was Ruth and Danny's "Dutchnamese" wedding day. They started the morning with a traditional Vietnamese ceremony with both families, and then had the wedding in the afternoon at St. Margaret Mary's Church in Brunswick. It was a joyous ceremony and the priest's homily about them was quite funny. I hitched a ride with people over to the reception at Abbotsford Convent, and while they took photos we killed time in a cafe and then a small bar.

At 6pm the reception officially started with hors d'oeuvres and drinks in the courtyard. We then headed inside and sat down for the eight course Vietnamese seafood banquet which included oysters, scallops, lobster, abalone, and trout. In between the courses we had speeches, the cutting of the cake and first dance, which Danny and Ruth had a refresher swing dancing lesson for. After all that food we managed to hit the dance floor during the last hour of the reception. It was a great night and I am sure they will have a long and happy marriage.

Hungry Kids of Hungary- Shady Haze of Winter Tour

Last night Tash, Mary and I met up at the East Brunswick Club for Hungry Kids of Hungary's Shady Haze of Winter tour. After eating dinner in the bar we headed for the bandroom to catch the first act, Auckland's Artisan Guns, who were good. Next up was Sydney band The Holidays, who Tash and I last saw a couple years ago. They entered the stage to Berlin's "Take My Breath Away" complete with lights flashing along to the beat (quite funny). Their set consisted entirely of new songs off their upcoming debut album Post Paradise, which I thought was a brave choice. The standout track for me was "6am."

Hungry Kids of Hungary hit the stage to big cheers from the crowd. They opened the night with "Set It Right." This was their first sold out show in Melbourne, which was exciting. The set list consisted of a few new songs, but was mostly all of their released material. "Wristwatch," "Scattered Diamonds" and "Let You Down" had the audience singing along and it was also good to hear some rarely played songs such as "Arrest This Heart" and "One By One." The encore saw an invasion of about 20 members of the crowd onto the stage for "Lenny" and "Good Times." It was another fun show by the Hungry Kids, and I can't wait for the release of their debut album Escapades on October 1st.

Here's the video for their latest single "Wristwatch"

Music Video Star

I got an interesting message from Mary yesterday alerting me to the fact that she, Tash and I appear in The Basics latest video for "Better." This was filmed at the last night of their Northcote Social Club residency in June, and is the first single off their new live album /ðə'bæzɪtʃ/, which is available now for free download.


Amazingly, this is not my first appearance in a music video. I am also in the Crowded House video for "It's Only Natural" in a crowd shot from a free show they played in Golden Gate Park in 1991 at the 2:22 minute mark (center of front row, black top). Blink and you'll miss me!

Ruth's Hen Night

Last night was Ruth's hen (or bachelorette) night. It was thankfully a very civilized affair. We started at Ruth's place around 4pm for the "triangles of wisdom" craft activity where everyone created a colorful triangle with some words of wisdom that were then strung together to create a banner. Next we headed out to dinner at the Turkish and Middle Eastern inspired restaurant Baba on Lygon Street in East Brunswick. For $35 per person we got a massive amount of food off the three course food safari banquet, which ranged from dips to assorted vegetables dishes and a lamb roast claypot. It was all very good and we had heaps of food left over.

After dinner we discovered a cute little bar a few doors down from the restaurant called Eydie's. We found a nice quiet spot at the back near a fake fireplace and had a couple of drinks before heading for home. Next Saturday is the wedding, so it was nice to meet and chat with Ruth's family and friends before the big day.

Visiting Schools

Over the last week and a half I have been able to escape the office and visit schools to do some filming. We are putting together a short DVD to show what a wider workforce in schools looks like and try to get away from the image of one teacher in front of 25 students in a classroom. We went to schools in the eastern and northern suburbs, as well as Ballarat. All these schools are using a variety of staff with different expertise to work in teams with students. Some of the schools also have built brand new open learning spaces using state and federal funding. It was good to get back into a school environment, and one school in particular with open learning spaces and teams of teachers made me even consider wanting to return to teaching. Now the fun will be editing down the massive amount of footage we have into 10 minutes. We probably have enough material to make several clips on different topics.

Mamasita

One of the biggest things I miss from home is Mexican food, and trying to find a decent Mexican restaurant in Australia has been a struggle. A few months ago I heard about a new restaurant opening in the former space of the Recorded Music Salon on Collins Street called Mamasita. I have been wanting to try it out and today Clinton, Jonathan and I headed over there for lunch. We got seats at the bar and started off with chips and salsa. The salsa had that smokey flavor that I love and the chips were made fresh (not from some cheap kilo tortilla chips bag like most places).

Next we shared a tostada tasting board with four tostadidas each of the de Maiz (sweet corn, black beans, epazote & jalapeno salsa, queso fresco) and de Pescado (market fish with lime, guacamole, nasturtiums & serrano chili). They both tasted fresh and delicious. For my main I ordered three de Pescado tacos (soft corn tortillas with grilled fish with lime, achiote paste & red onion salsa) which were absolutely amazing and had the most fantastic flavors. I also had bites of Jonathan and Clinton's food and it was great as well. Every dish I tasted just made me happier and excited to have finally found a fabulous Mexican restaurant in Melbourne. I can't wait to go back and try out more dishes on the menu.

The Return to endota spa

Tonight I treated myself to an hour and a half of bliss at endota spa. I had received a gift certificate from endota around my birthday for a free 30 minute facial with any hour-long treatment. Since it was about to expire in a few weeks I finally made an appointment to go. I started off the evening with the scrub and glow body treatment. It began with a billabong footbath, then a body scrub with essential oils, salts and organic herbs. After washing off the salts she applied the lilly pilly moisturiser. Next I had the organic endota facial, which involved cleansing my skin, putting on a mask, a scalp massage, and then moisturising my face. I felt great after the treatments were finished and it was such a relaxing process having all these things massaged into my skin, which has never felt so soft and smooth.

Little Red- "Rock It" Single Tour

Last night I met up with Tash for dinner at SoulMama, a vegetarian cafe at the St Kilda Baths. It has a cafeteria set up where you pay by how many different sides you want and then get into a serving line to make your selections. The food was good, flavorful and filling.

After eating we headed over to the Prince Bandroom for Little Red's sold out show. First band for the night was the eclectic outfit Richie 1250 and the Brides of Christ. Richie may be a good DJ, but I'm not so sure about his band. Next up was Melbourne duo Big Scary. Most of their songs were played on guitar and drums (a bit of a light version of The White Stripes), but I preferred it when the lead singer Tom switched onto the keyboard for the songs "Autumn" and "Falling Away."

The crowd was already cheering even before Little Red hit the stage. It was good to see them sell out their biggest venue to date, especially since they have been out of the spotlight for quite a while. They opened the evening with "Stare In Love" then segued into "She's Not The Only One." The setlist was an even mix of old songs and new ones from their upcoming album. Standouts of the new material were "Slow Motion" and "Forget About Your Man." Their new single "Rock It" got a big reception, as did old favorites "Little Annie" and "Jackie Cooper." The band sounded great with the addition of a horn section for most of the songs, as well as having Tom on keyboards to fill out the sound. They finished off their set with "Coca Cola" and played "It's Alright" for an encore. I can't wait for the second album to finally be released in a couple months.

Here's the video for the new single "Rock It"

The Basics June Residency

The Northcote Social Club extended The Basics Tuesday night residency into the month of June. However, Mary and I have been bad fans as we did not attend any of the June shows until tonight, which was the last one. At least Tash had a good excuse- she's been overseas for the past few weeks. We met up in the dining area for dinner and to hear about Tash's trip. Then it was time to go into the bandroom to get a spot before The Basics set.

They started the night in traditional fashion with "Yeah, Yeah" and had quite the choreographed hand movements in the middle. It was a classic rock 'n' roll Basics gig with songs such as "Lovin' Man," "My Baby," "Money (Gimme, Gimme)" and "Call It Rhythm and Blues" played. There were surprisingly no songs played from the new album. As expected, there were several covers, including Electric Coconut's "Jungle Juice," Bill Scott's "Hey Rain" (which had the talkers quiet by the second verse), and an encore medley of Harry Nilsson's "Coconut," Wilson Pickett's "Land of a 1000 Dances" and The Spencer Davis Group's "Gimme Some Lovin'."

Kris also made mention during the show of Kevin Rudd's departure as Prime Minister and when they met him at this Australia Day celebration in Canberra in 2008. Here they are playing "Just Hold On" and "Hey There!"

A Week Of Win

This has been a very good week for me personally as I have made progress on two big goals for the year. The first is that I finally have permanent employment as a Senior Research and Policy Officer in the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. I thought this day would never come as I have been applying for ongoing jobs for quite a while and just missing out. It has been a frustrating and stressful time as my latest fixed term contract was due to finish in September. Thankfully I no longer have to worry and can relax. I will be working in the same research and policy area I have been in for the last two years doing work focused on school workforce reform, pre-service teacher education, and open learning spaces in schools.

The other thing I have had to deal with is applying for Australian citizenship. My permanent residency visa needed to been renewed this year if I ever wanted to leave and get back into the country. Since I was going to have to pay the government either way, I decided it was time to finally put in my application for citizenship. My citizenship appointment was originally scheduled for early August, but in a strangely proactive move for a bureaucracy, I got a call last week asking if I would like to move up my appointment. "Yes please" I said, so today was the new day. I had spent this week getting certified copies of documents done and studying for the citizenship test by reading Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond. The whole appointment took about 20 minutes from start to finish. First they went through my application and checked all my original documents to verify my identity. Next I was brought into the testing room to take the test, which I passed with a 100% score! I now need to wait 4-6 weeks for a decision, and then anywhere from 3-6 months to attend a citizenship ceremony, which is the final stage of the process. I am hoping it won't take too long because I would really like to be able to vote in the upcoming state and federal elections. It will be fun to have dual citizenship.

Australia's New Prime Minister

It has been a crazy 24 hours in Australian national politics. In what I view to be a bloodless coup, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was challenged to a leadership vote in the Labor Party and ended up resigning this morning when he didn't have enough support to overcome the challenge of his Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. As a result, Australia now has its first female Prime Minister. I feel sad for Rudd as I don't think he deserved what happened to him today. It's not like there has been any scandal or anything. You might ask what did Rudd do to deserve being tossed out before the end of his first term in office? Well, it seems his greatest failure was falling poll numbers with an election on the horizon. Factions in the party felt is was time for a change, but I'm not so sure there will be much difference in policy. And don't get me wrong, I really do like Gillard and think she will make a great Prime Minister. I just wish she didn't come into power like this.

Here are some articles from The Age that explain everything a bit further:
Phillip Coorey and Tim Lester- "Gillard becomes Australia's first female Prime Minster as tearful Rudd stands aside"
Megan Levy- "Labor Party was losing its way under Rudd: Gillard"
Shaun Carney- "Hell hath no fury like a deputy scorned"

And here is video of Kevin Rudd's farewell speech and excerpts from Julia Gillard's address to the media.

Boy & Bear

Clinton, Kevin and I went to see Boy & Bear tonight for their first headlining tour in support of their new EP With Emperor Antarctica. Before hitting the venue we went and had dinner at Warwick Thai on Sydney Road in Brunswick. The food was good with generous serving sizes and fairly cheap prices.

We arrived at Northcote Social Club just as Oh Ye Denver Birds was about to start their set. I had a quick listen to their Myspace page and thought they would be decent, but the band that played tonight sounded nothing like the recorded songs. It was quite disappointing.

Boy & Bear came out to big cheers from the sold out crowd and opened with "Blood to Gold." They played all the songs off the EP and a few new ones as well. Lead singer Dave Hosking has such a soothing voice I could listen to him sing all night. That combined with the harmonies from the other band members made every song sound fantastic. The current single "Rabbit Song" received a great reception from the crowd and was probably the highlight of the evening. They also treated us to a cover of Bon Iver's "Flume," and finished the night with their first ever single "Mexican Mavis." Although it was a short set due to their lack of material (which Dave was apologetic about), they are an absolutely amazing band and I can't wait for them to write enough songs to be able to release a full length album.

Here's the video for "Rabbit Song" for your viewing pleasure:

Cloud Control: Bliss Release Tour

Last night Clinton and Kevin came to pick me up (saving me walking in the cold) and we headed to The East Brunswick Club to see Cloud Control's sold out show in support of their fantastic new album Bliss Release. When we arrived Richard In Your Mind was starting their set. I thought they were okay but after a while I found the lead singer's voice to be annoying and their songs didn't really draw me in to their performance.

Cloud Control came out onto the smoky stage to enthusiastic cheers from the crowd. Their set list consisted of songs from the new album and their self-titled EP. My favorites for the evening were "There's Nothing In The Water We Can't Fight," "The Rolling Stone," "My Fear #2," "Vintage Books" and "Gold Canary," which received the biggest response of the night likely due to its airplay on Triple J. They finished their set with "Buffalo Country" and we thought for sure there would be an encore but the lights went up and the show was over. It was a bit disappointing as they could have easily played 2-3 more songs. The boys gave me a ride home and I even got a couple pieces of homemade cake to take with me.

The Basics May Residency

Each Tuesday in May The Basics are playing a residency at Northcote Social Club in support of the release of their new EP Wait For You. The usual suspects (aka Tash, Mary and I) were in attendance and here is a report of what happened at the shows.

May 11
Lachlan Bryan from The Wildes had the opening slot this week. He played a solo acoustic set and told some very funny stories to intro his songs. Unlike for many opening acts, the audience was actually quiet and listening to him sing instead of chatting away. It was good to see some musical manners in Melbourne.

I didn't make it to the first week of the residency, but had heard reports about what a disastrous performance The Basics gave last week, which had me worried. There are obvious tensions within the band, and it seems they had a therapeutic paintball session together over the weekend. This week was better than last, but it's still not quite up to standard. The set list was about half covers and half band songs. Kris played the first few songs wearing a parka (it has gotten cold, but not that cold) and took a phone call on stage from someone in the audience. "Second Best" got an extended heavy jam in the middle of it, and "With This Ship" was played when they pulled the plug on another song. It was mostly Wally singing lead tonight with "Memory Lane," "Just Hold On," and "Rattle My Chain" in the set. They also played the title track from their new EP "Wait For You," which is actually an older song that just hasn't been released before. Some of the covers throughout the evening included The Cure's "Lovesong," Electric Coconut's "Jungle Juice," which then led into Harry Nilsson's "Coconut." We also had a rocking version of The Beatles' "Day Tripper" and an audience request for George Harrison's "Got My Mind Set On You."

May 18
The Basics are nearly back! What a difference a week makes. Although Kris was still a bit off, they were smart this week and had a fan make the set list. We got a lot more Basics this time, which made me happy. They began the evening with the rarely played "Get Me Down," which is a b-side on the latest album and also included on the EP. Other rarities played included "Lovin' Man," "Call It Rhythm and Blues," and "Keep The Door Open." As always it was good to hear "Better" and my favorite "The No. 1 Cause of Death Amongst Youth Today." All the new songs on the EP got an airing with the inclusions of "Wait For You" and "I Could Be Happy" in the set list. Towards the end of the set Kris ran off stage to go to the bathroom, so we got a bit of surf guitar music from Tim and Wally. Covers were kept to a minimum, but they did play Neil Young's "Southern Man," a beautiful a cappella version of Bill Scott's "Hey Rain" and The Police's "Roxanne" for an encore. It's Wally's 30th birthday on Friday, so I hope he has a good one!

Karaoke

Today was Natalie's birthday so she invited some friends and a group of us from work to celebrate with her by having a karaoke fest at Chi Lounge in Chinatown. We had our own private room for four hours at $25 per person, which was used to cover food and drinks for the group. It was an entertaining evening and we had a wide selection of music to choose from. Clinton did a good job of picking the divas to sing along to- Mariah, Britney, Beyonce, Lady GaGa, and Madonna. We also had some ABBA, Snoop Dogg, *NSYNC, Kanye West, and finished up the night with a rousing rendition of the Spice Girls' "Spice Up Your Life." I was hoarse by the end of the night but had a great time.

Vampire Weekend

Danny and I headed to Festival Hall tonight to see the second Melbourne show for New York band Vampire Weekend. It was an all ages gig and I was flattered to have been carded at the door (although they may have been doing that to everyone). The opening act was Sydney band Cloud Control, who I have been wanting to see for a while now. Their set was full of lovely harmonies and "Gold Canary" and "Buffalo Country" were highlights of the evening.

Vampire Weekend came out to huge cheers from the crowd. I am not as familiar with their music as Danny is, but they put on a solid set playing the majority of the songs from their two albums. Their indie rock sound is infused with Calypso rhythms, and while interesting, some of songs started to sound a bit the same after a while. My favorites of the evening were "Oxford Coma," "Cousins," "A-Punk," and the current single "Giving Up The Gun." They closed out the night with "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa," which I found amusing since kids from Melbourne were singing along to a song about Cape Cod. All in all it was a good night of music, and my first time in the box that is Festival Hall.

ANZAC Day Match

Today is ANZAC Day, the Australian and New Zealand equivalent of Memorial Day. Besides the dawn service and veterans marches, there is also the tradition of the annual footy match between Essendon and Collingwood at the MCG. Jonathan joined me on the day and wore the Essendon colors even though he is a Melbourne supporter. We had standing room tickets near the members' section, and were surrounded by Collingwood fans (more on that later). I knew going into this game that either we would play well and win or get destroyed. Unfortunately, the later was the case and it was all pretty much over after the first quarter. The boys seem to have lost all their confidence and had so many skill errors. We could not move the ball inside 50 and often if we did it got turned over. We were dominated by Collingwood all day and at the end of the match it was a disappointing 65 point loss. I have a feeling this is going to be a long season.

Being at the footy surrounded by the people we were made me wonder why no one has done a sitcom focused on footy fans. Jonathan and I were amazed by all the different characters standing around us. There was the loud guy who would start cheers or rebuke the fans of the other team's cheering efforts. There was the one liner guy who I am convinced spends his week coming up with lines about various players to shout out at the game and impress his friends. Then there were the hangers on or yes men, who are big, burly, and you wouldn't want to meet them in a dark alley. At least they all provided some entertainment on a depressing afternoon.

Final Score
Essendon: 8.7 (55)
Collingwood: 18.12 (120)

The Good China April Residency

This month The Good China are doing a Tuesday night residency at The Evelyn. Tash is such a hard core fan that she drove down from Ballarat to see them play. She came by and picked me up and then we headed to Brunswick Street. We ate dinner at Bimbo Deluxe, sharing our $4 pizzas and then indulging in the chocolate dessert pizza (kind of a pain au chocolat).

We arrived at The Evelyn for the start of the second support act Mercury White. The lead singer switched between keyboards and a keytar! Though hard to pinpoint, the band have a bit of an Irish rock sound to them and some songs reminded me of New York City band Black 47. They got a group of people up on stage with them to play percussion and sing along for "Sticks and Stones." It was an energetic set.

The Good China opened the evening with "No More Maps." There were a few issues they had to deal with this week, including a leaking roof and some of the band members having the flu. However, they persevered and put on a solid set of old and new songs. It was good to hear my favorite "If Pain Persists" and "Turn the Page." Each week the band are taking requests from fans for a cover song to perform at the each show. This week we got Arcade Fire's "Rebellion (Lies)," which was a fitting choice because Arcade Fire was one of the bands that inspired them to form The Good China two years ago. They finished their set with "We Found 3 Whistles" and then came out to do "All Nothing" for the encore.

Pumpkin Bread

I made some pumpkin bread last week and it was a big hit at work. Using pumpkin in baking is not a familiar thing for Australians, so after explaining that it's like a spice bread they give it a try and usually like it. Or love it in my case. I'm currently baking a second loaf to use up the rest of the canned pumpkin. Here's the recipe if you would like to make it for yourself:

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350F/180C. Grease a 9 x 5 inch (8 cup) loaf pan.

In a medium size bowl whisk together thoroughly:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground Saigon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Combine in another bowl:
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl beat until creamy:
6 tablespoons butter
Gradually add and beat until lightened in color and texture:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
Beat in one at a time:
2 large eggs
Add and beat until just blended:
1 cup pumpkin puree

Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk mixture in two parts, stirring until smooth. Fold in:
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/3 cup raisins

Scrape the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes before unmolding to cool completely on a rack.