I recall a bigger brighter world

1. Get inspired to re-read this article about Grant McLennan and Robert Forster and the Go-Betweens.

Robert Forster interview

2. Marvel about the fact that this article may result in the waterworks being turned on, but that things printed in the goddamn sodding Courier Mail usually make me cry for another reason.

3. Understand the many layers of Brisbane references in the interview and in their songs, in the way that someone who spent their whole entire life (excluding the last year + five months) living in Brisbane can. And well, hell, the Go-Betweens song "Karen" used to pop into my head when I entered the library at the University of Queenland when I studied there. And plus, I am forever a sucker for hearing the tales of people who have lived long, interesting lives in my town.

3. Watch the Go-Betweens song "Cattle and Cane" several times on Youtube



4. Then watch Grant Mc and Robert F performing it together




5. Feel a little homesick, feel a lot alone, wish for someone to give you a hug, and settle for going back out into the freezing, grey, cold, Melbourne winter day. But tell yourself to stop moping around and pick up the pace a little with the catchiest most summer-sounding substitute-for-serotonin soundtrack:

Frankie Norman Warsaw Stubbs

I got a ticket for the Poison City Weekender today...yep, I'll get to see one of my favourite-ever bands Leatherface for the third time in my life this September. And the serendipitous state of things is such that they are playing at the nearest pub to my house.

Frankie, if you're reading this, please play:

Watching You Sleep
Dead Industrial Atmosphere
I Don't Want to be the one to say it
Springtime
Hops and Barley
Not Superstitious
anything from the split with Hot Water Music

and I know it hasn't been announced yet, but if you do happen to get added to the Sunday arvo acoustic show, please play the Ship Song cover. that is all.

close your eyes, i'll be here for awhile

me, swigging from a bottle of wine, anxiety, my bed, this song (close your eyes, I'll be here in the morning):



I think there's a TVZ film showing in Melbourne sometime soon

young hearts be free tonight

spent tonight watching Love, Lust and Lies in an almost-empty cinema on my own. it's an Australian version of the 7 Up series. It starts with 3 young teenage girls in Adelaide in the 1970s and follows their lives every 7 years or so, until they're in their late 40s.

Lots of insights into love, relationships, hopes, dreams, hopes and dreams being crushed, lives not turning out like you expected, the Australian suburban landscape...and the whole thing is like an example of the effects of feminism on the ambitions/possibilities available to girls/females. I was a blubbering mess at least 4 times during this film.

also, unlike documentaries like Cunnamulla, it doesn't have an exploitative feel. as in, the documentary-maker is really sweet and sensitive and seems to have a genuine interest in the lives of the 3 women, and they seem to really like and trust her.

I think it's worth mentioning, because sometimes I watch these sort of documentaries and feel like the documentary-maker gained the trust of the "subjects" and then betrayed that trust by highlighting little things about their lives completely out of context. it can come across as really classist, like "can you believe people actually live like this?", and I nearly lose my mind when I witness people in the cinema laughing at parts of other people's lives that were never intended to be humourous.

when I came home I lay in my bed, listening to a combination of the rain outside my window and this song by Little Joy

everybody says they want a million bucks

but I'd rather have a million days with you

I need you so much closer

(so come on, come on)

you can't be lonely in this town, the pubs won't let you

The other night I was at a rollerderby match in Reservoir, got a lift home, got a reminder text message about a very important show, and promptly got on my bike and rode like a person possessed to the Birmingham Hotel to see Like...Alaska play.

I got there just as they were setting up, breathed a sigh of relief and then watched the hell outta my favourite current Australian indie folk-tinged Lucero-loving punk band.

Some of the newer songs actually seem a little reminiscent of another (now defunct - although recently they *did* go on a reunion tour of Australia to launch a never-released CD) Newcastle band CONATION. Which is kinda funny, because Dale from Conation now plays in Like Alaska.

When I witness Like Alaska (on or off stage) they seem like a gang to me. Like a tightly-knit gang of totally good friends who play their hearts out and have the best time doing so. (I could watch their drummer Lauren forever and never ever get tired of it).

And it goes without saying that it seems like a gang I wish I was in. I wish I had a gang of besties who loved stuff like Lucero and the Weakerthans and Samiam as much as I do, and lived in the same town as me, doing something we were crazily passionate about together.

They were on tour to launch their new record "Insufficient Funds" that's out on Poison City Records. I realised that I religiously attend Like Alaska shows whenever they're passing through in my town, but never actually listen to them at home. Apart from 1 song on the second Poison City comp!

Yesterday I was helping my friend Chris do a morning radio-show on 4ZZZ and he played "Drug Runs" off the new record. I remembered this song being one of my favourites from the show at the Birmy, and to make it even better, Chris read me the lyrics too. Pretty sure I will have to urgently take a trip to Poison City to pick up the Like Alaska CD and the new Leatherface record while I'm at it.



like alasksa on myspace