new records!

Before I start, let me share my excitement that the blog called  'Wok and spoon' is back! A good friend started this years before I ever thought of blogging, and now that the young children are at a point where mum, can sneak a couple of minutes to herself. Wok and Spoon is back and has a yum recipe. If you have time, do check it out.

Now... me, me me!!!!

Speaking of which, I treated myself (for my birthday), with some new vinyl. Being online purchases means these are only recent arrivals (yes they took that long to arrive).  However, better late than never! So now, let me share these little beauties with you.


First off the starting block is The Black Keys and their Lp- 'El Camino'.

A sticker on the cover of this Lp advises to play it loud! It is such a great,fun and rocking record... and yes.. play it loud!


'Dead and Gone':



Kate Bush- '50 words for snow'

'50 words for snow' is a beautiful and meditative record. Every time I listen to this I feel that I should be curled up in front of a fire, with winters rain or snow falling against the window and this record playing in the background.

Wild man (segment of track with animation). This is one of the more 'groove driven' tracks on the LP.




Little Dragon- 'Ritual Union'

The great title track 'Ritual Union' was posted on a past blog. Click here for their great tune 'Ritual union' performed live!.  Let me remind you that this tune can in at number 82 on Triple J's hottest 100!


Pet Shop Boys- 'Format'. A collection of B-sides and bonus tracks from 1996-2009. I love the  cover of this collection. Unfortunately this is not on vinyl, but cd.

The pet shop boys are famous for the high quality of their B-sides, as this compilation demonstrates. Here is the Pet Shop Boys with Elton John- 'In Private' (7 inch version). This track was originally written for Dusty Springfield and appeared on her 1991 LP 'Reputation'. Let me dedicate this track to the married 'straight' men out there, who say one thing in private, but something different in public.




Lastly, Lana Del Rey- 'Born to Die'.. poor thing... so many haters, so what if she changed her name, her look (including lip injections (not that I agree with it)), but judge her on her music, not how she looks.. Sure her SNL performance was a bit dodgy, but she was great On 'Live later with Jools Holland'!! I guess everyone has a bad day ...

Her beautiful track Video Games was posted on a prior blog. Click here to see her great clip for 'Video Games'. Let me remind you that this song came in at number 6 on Triple J's Hottest 100!

The good, the bad and the ugly: Feb 2012 (where for some reason, Death seems to feature).

The Good: Bored to Death.
As you may or may not know, I have a crush on John Kellogg Hodgman. This was indicated in a previous blog post which also had a Photoshopped image of my love and I. Just to be creepy (again).. here is my hubby John Hodgman and I, at my graduation (pic kindly 'taken' by my mate Ric):

Ok, so J.H. (ekk!! I just realised, This is the third straight man I have had a crush on who's initials are J.H.!),  Anyway enough about me, and more about the love of my life John Hodgman, who is in a great television program called 'Bored to Death'.. (If you haven't seen it, go straight to season 2). A mate of mine was recently fortunate enough to see season 3 of this American series and teasingly told me that J.H. 'gets it on with a man'!! I suspect it might just be a kiss, rather than full-blown 'let me take you to a special place' type intimacy.. still.. There is a God and my heart is a flutter.. because maybe, just maybe if his character in this TV series kisses a man on screen, then maybe my Hodgy Podgy (we are friends here, I feel I can share my love and I's pet names for each other), will turn gay, fly to Australia, somehow bump into me and then we live happily ever after behind our white picket fence.

If you are reading this my little Hodgy Podgy, you do know that I love you, but that facial hair you've recently been sporting?.. seriously? It has to go!

The Bad: Arguing with Death... well kind of.

I guess I could call it a result of living alone for so long, every now and then I find myself talking to myself out loud. This doesn't just take place at home, but also in public spaces such cafes and public transport.  So.. today I was showering, thinking about being forty (as you do) and how some people really hate aging and see forty as a death knell. I was thinking about how I like it and how we are all getting older and closer to death each moment... death could be a just heartbeat away, a blink, or much further off.. who can say?... So I suddenly think about death approaching me, and how I am feeling ok about it.. sure I want to live, but the next adventure lays ahead. .. and sure, maybe if I had someone special in my life, I wouldn't be feeling so 'ok' about it all. Anyway, as I am showering I start to imaging meeting death and chatting...My hands start to gesture (as they do when I am in conversation) and death tells me that it is not my time...
I reply 'really?.. well I am happy to go out on a high..seriously'.
Death thinks I'm a fool and says 'no you have to go back'..
"Well, I have had a bit of a crazy life and yeah things are much better now.. but if I go back are they going to stay good, or is there more crap to come.. cause I am over crap and drama?" I am not convinced that Death knows my story or what is best for me.
Death sighs heavily 'look, it's not your time, you need to go back'
'umm well if you want to swap for a while.. I mean you can go back as me and I can take you scythe and just do the whole reaper thing, that might be fun for a change, at least for a while.. you know there was that TV series 'dead like me'..?'
Even though death has no eye balls, I can tell he is rolling his eyes at me.. so like an idiot I take that as an invitation to continue...
"You know,  I can do the whole sneaking up on people, say something like daggy but cool, like Arnold Schwarzenegger does in his films and then 'scythe' them".. I even do the actions...
Again Death 'rolls his eyes'.. well he gives off the whole eye rolling vibe and exasperatedly says 'no'.
At this point I realise I am in the shower talking out loud to myself with hands gesturing madly. So I stop.

Maybe I have been living on my own for a little bit too long?

Speaking about Death, Neil Gaiman had an amazing comic called "The Sandman'. It ran from 1989-1996. In it 'Dream' a.k.a 'Morpheus' (as well as a host of other names) is part of a family called 'the endless'. His older sister is 'Death'. Death is a portrayed as cool, fun, perky and kind Goth-looking young woman.  According to Wikipedia "One day every century, Death lives (and dies) as a mortal, in order to understand the value of the life she takes. She does this by becoming a mortal fated to die that day."
Here are some pics of Neil Gaiman's Death. The top one is definitely drawn by Chris Bachalo, not sure about the others:

The Ugly: The Death Of Whitney Houston


 Some might say that the Whitney we knew died years ago, with substance use...I won't weigh in on that discussion, but rather will just acknowledge the death this past week of an artist who filled my early years with hope and happiness. Early in my record buying life, her debut LP was on my turntable often. In my bedroom I sang and performed the songs, escaping from the life we lived. 'How will I know', 'Saving all my love' and of course 'the greatest love of all'. With this last song, Whitney taught me that it didn't matter what anyone else thought, It only mattered what I thought about me. She helped get me through so much. So to you Whitney, thank you and may you rest in peace.

The greatest love of all:

"I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadows
If I fail, if I succeed
At least I live as I believe
No matter what they take from me
They can't take away my dignity
Because the greatest love of all
Is happening to me
I found the greatest love of all
Inside of me
The greatest love of all
Is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It is the greatest love of all "



Find your strength in love
(find your strength in you).

pics with the new camera

A new camera means working out how to use it and taking a billion photos along the way. In all seriousness I have at least an extra 20Gb of photos on my hard drive now. Allow me to share some of the fun I have been having with the new camera and my 50mm fixed/prime lens :


People:

If you hang out with me, your photo gets taken.. as my brother now knows.

Strolling the streets at night with my mate Dean:

My famous friend (doesn't everyone have one?)

Famous friend again! (yes I am milking it). (please note that an unattractive fan was 'Photoshopped' out of the window.. you didn't want to see 'fanboy' gushing and finger pointing did you?)

Dani:

Stuff:

Westgarth at dusk

Photographing stuff as I waited for a friend at Rubicon cafe in North Melbourne

The city on a Sunday evening:

North Fitzroy backstreet:

All photographs copyright matthew schiavello 2012

The big 4 Oh

January was a busy month. I turned 40 as did a close friend (who is older by a huge 5,760 minutes!!). I had a great birthday, made more special by being able to spend it with loved friends and family. A fragment from my birthday speech follows.. (yes, I wrote a speech..):


"Life is indeed beautiful, and in time we all find our way. Patience and love are gifts that are never wasted, not even when we think they might be."


Something I definitely need to remind myself of often!


 Speaking of beautiful, here is a beautiful 'one-off' card, given to me by a beautiful 'one-off' friend:

If you would like to have something similarly cool like this in your own home then check out this site for original 'one-off' art!

My friend Ric loaned me his amazing camera...all of  the below pics are all taken with his camera and his beautiful lens! I am happy to report that with the kind monies gifted to me on my birthday, I was able to buy the same camera as Ric... albeit without his amazing lens... Santa if you are listening, you now know what to get me!


After a yum birthday dinner of Thai , Double D and I headed back to Danni's for this gorgeous surprise! Someone needs to marry that woman, Pronto!:

 

The day after my birthday my friend Julie and I went to Phillip Island. She surfed, I watched.

Julie's Board resting at Smiths Beach:

Soon the clouds parted and we went to a bird sanctuary at Swan Lake, Phillip Island. While the wildlife were too far away to capture decently on film, I did photograph the sun setting over a rise as we made our way back to the car:

So far 'Forty' has been really good! I haven't put on heaps of extra weight (yet!), but, I have spent most of my spare time taking photos and gazing lovingly at my new camera...so to those who chipped in for my new camera 'Thank you'... and for those that have been 'modelling' for me as I practiced with my new partner.. er I mean camera, another heartfelt 'thank you!'



all photographs Copyright Matthew Schiavello 2011
Artwork- Copyright Tomboybill 2011

Triple J hottest 100

Wow, what a great achievement Triple J's Hottest 100 was this year... 44 tunes in the list were Australian! 7 of these Aussie tunes were voted into the top ten! Plus, I think the list was compiled from something like 1.3 Million votes!

The top 10 are:


#10: Hilltop Hoods - I Love It {Ft. Sia}
#9: The Jezabels - Endless Summer
#8: 360 - Boys Like You {Ft. Gossling}
#7: San Cisco - Awkward
#6: Lana Del Rey - Video Games
#5: M83 - Midnight City
#4: Boy & Bear - Feeding Line
#3: Matt Corby - Brother
#2: The Black Keys - Lonely Boy
#1: Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know {Ft. Kimbra}

Here are a few clips of songs from the List. Their placing in this years Hottest 100 precedes the artist and song info. If you only have time to check out one tune..go straight to #6: Lana Del Rey - Video Games!


#92: James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream. This is a great live version from Jools Holland's show. If you like interesting electronic music that has a sense of soul... check this out and get lost in the sound.



#85: Cosmo Jarvis - Gay Pirates. Yes you read right... GAY Pirates!



#82: Little Dragon - Ritual Union

#77: Metronomy - The Look


#44: Hermitude - Speak Of The Devil

#23: Emma Louise - Jungle. Aussie artist  from Triple J Unearthed



#7: San Cisco - Awkward. Aussie artists From Triple J Unearthed.



#6: Lana Del Rey - Video Games. This song is so beautiful. If you haven't heard it yet, give it a listen.



#5: M83 - Midnight City. Is that a sax solo and why does the solo remind me of the film 'The lost boys'?

 

#2: The Black Keys - Lonely Boy

#1: Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know {Ft. Kimbra}  An Aussie number 1!

Bogan ROCK Day!!!

Bogan rock, come on, we bag them, but secretly and not-so-secretly we LOVE the tunes!!!!
Who doesn't like a bit of Akka Dakka, Farnsey, Barnsey etc? Come on Aussie, Come on, Come on!!!
I bet you started singing along to that one... Ahhhh AHHH! Howzat! .. yeah.. maybe not, maybe I am just showing my age?

Anyway the 26th of January, aside from being my dad's birthday, is also Invasion day or Australia day, depending which side of the socio-political fence you sit on. Today I am going to focus on music and air some great classic Aussie tunes! So sit back, crack open a tinnie, slap on some zinc, pop on ya best blue Bonds singlet, ya new thongs, ya Stubbies/Hard Yakka, or King Gee shorts, make sure you have a fair bit of bum crack showing and enjoy the 26th of January, which I am officially changing the name to - Bogan Rock day!!!

( For the haters out there, you know who you are, I have some non-bogan Aussie tunes towards the end of the list!)


Australian Crawl- "Beautiful People"


Cold Chisel - "Flame Trees".  It was either this or Khe Sanh either way, you can't go wrong!



The Divinyls - "Boys in Town"



Paul Kelly and the Coloured girls - "To her door"



And now for a couple of cool Aussie non-bogan tunes..


INXS: "Don't change". Ok, Some Bogans Like INXS, so this is bogan borderline rock, either way this tune ROCKS and I love they way they start off on the back of a ute!!!!!! Call me crazy..but I would date the keyboard player based on his outfit in this clip! I do like a sensibly dressed man.


Jimmy Little covering The Church's "Under the Milkyway". I loved this Lp when it came out! Total legend and a total legendary tune!


The Go-Betweens - "Cattle and Cane". Legendary band and tune!


After hearing all these solid tunes... All I will say is forget 'Advance Australia Fair', any of the tunes posted here should be the our National Anthem (or Waltzing Matilda). Come on,  Fair suck of the sav!
OMG!  how passionately would we all sing along to 'Don't Change' or 'Flame trees' ????
No dinky di Aussie knows the words to Advance Australia Fair.... But some Aussie rock???  Too right! "Don't change for you, Don't change a thing..for me!'..  I reckon those words kick lame-o  'Australian's all let us rejoice, for we are young and free' for a bloody sixer! And Mate, don't even get me started on The Angels and 'Am I ever gonna see your face again' !!!!

Visitors, being a tourist and photos - Jan 2011

I recently had a guest here from overseas, So I did all of the nice host things including taking the guest about town and the state!. We went to; Daylesford, The Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, The Otways,  The Yarra Valley, as well as many City and Inner suburban sites. Here are some pictures from the Twelve Apostles Trip.

Standard shot of a couple of  'Apostles':

Despite the spectacular nature of the Apostles, I seemed drawn to the low growing coastal flora, as you can see below:


Variations on an unknown plant #1:

Variations on an unknown plant #2:

And now for something not so completely different:

At Loch Ard Gorge, signs of bush fires were all around. The black burnt out shrubs looked surreal. I wish I could have captured the feel better:

The thin Wispy clouds in the sky:

The next day we went to Williamstown beach. It was really hot and the beach was full. As all of the covered and shady areas were taken, we walked across the road and lay on the grass at the Botanical Gardens. This is the view above me, the trees and sky, so beautiful, serene and shady!: