Kick Europe in the face 2009!

Moving Blog...

2009-06-24T06:05:00.001-07:00

Now all the rubbish I post will be over here!

http://nicklucasbc.wordpress.com/
http://nicklucasbc.wordpress.com/
http://nicklucasbc.wordpress.com/
http://nicklucasbc.wordpress.com/
http://nicklucasbc.wordpress.com/

It looks nicer and Trad has one, so it is automatically better.

Peace blogspot. x

Paris

2009-06-22T15:38:00.000-07:00

Mum and I went to Paris for a couple of days last week. I'd never been there before so was super stoked. Was awesome to hang with mum. We had a few run ins with gypsies and pickpockets trying to swindle us. No deal you gypo scum.

My camera ran out of batteries when we got half way through The Louvre, so no photos of Les Champs Elysees and the Arc De Triumph and the Eiffel Tower. Mum has photos of them though.

Here are photos from The Louvre, Notre Dame, The Pantheon, The Catacombs and Sacre Cur. Also a couple of sneaky photos from London.

Also, I like to think I can be pretty rude sometimes, but holy piss some French people are so rude they make me look...not very rude. (Couldn't think of a person who is known for being particularly friendly).

The Louvre

The Louvre - stupid big rooms

Mum!

He has a knife through the head and she is touching his waa-waa...

Lucky I'm tall and have a decent zoom - You can't see the 200 people stood in front of me

Trad! Crash! I found Trina's mum!

Candyman...

Notre Dame Cathedral - 10:30pm - broad daylight

First of many photos of Mum taking a photo

I take good photos for strangers, then they take this for us... So that's me and mum in front of a concrete wall... The Sienne River and the Eiffel Tower are behind us somewhere...

The Sienne River and The Eiffel Tower - put that shit on a postcard

This Ain't No Cross On My Hand - Notre Dame Cathedral

You can also help upkeep my great organ...

Why does religion get the best architecture? This place was ridiiiiiculous

Cool party trick

The Pantheon - Paris style

Mum & I

Just missed her with her camera in her hand

Foucault's Pendulum at The Pantheon... Smart dude. Look it up.

Jay Z... A dead Frenchman...

Photo From The Crypt

Catacombs - Love heart skulls

Compulsory photo

There is no god

Scary face

Stooged

Epic

Sacre Cur

Stairway to Heaven...or, see the next photo...

Stairway to a fountain filled with green piss water. Water to wine and all that...

Oh, Paris...

Tower

Back in London - photo of a photo being taken

#3 photo of photo

Ride it...

Europe. Done.

2009-06-22T14:04:00.000-07:00

I'M GOING HOME. CLEAR A PATH YOU MOTHERFUCKERS. CLEAR A PATH.

Departs
Amsterdam
(AMS - Schiphol Intl)
11:30am (04 Aug)

Arrives
Brisbane
(BNE - Brisbane Intl)
19:25pm (05 Aug)

Goodbye Ryan Sim

2009-06-22T13:44:00.000-07:00

Ryan went home from his world travels last week. We all went to a restaurant called Mildreds and had a gnar feast to bid him farewell. I had the mushroom and red pepper stroganoff with mashed potato and then a coconut cheesecake with banana. Delicious shit.

Vincent Elvis Glasson

2009-06-15T12:19:00.001-07:00

Jaimie and Tim had their baby yesterday - awesome!

Download Festivus 2009

2009-06-15T07:27:00.000-07:00

Download Festival 2009. A good year? Yes!
Worked the Atticus tent again, I held that shit down this year. Sold a truck full of clothing, hung out with lots of friends, drank cider, walked a long way each night at 3am, didn't shower for a week, ate a lot of Mexican food, had a blast.

Highlight: Watching Faith No More sound check to an empty field on the Thursday afternoon. They played five songs. So amazing. Then getting to see them play on Friday night was incredible.

Also saw the following bands. Some good, most bad, pretty ugly. Our tent was in front of the 2nd stage, so I saw every band that played there. Line up is here if you're interested.

Also saw Limp Bizkit, Slipknot and Korn. The 14 year old me probably would have loved that shit. The 24 year old version of me thought it was all a bit silly.

Nicey Nicey Zoo Zoo

2009-06-07T14:00:00.000-07:00

Went to the London Zoo today with Ryan, Nicole and Jacob. The last time I went here was with Jaimie and Tim in Winter of 2005... It sucked then because it was raining and most of the animals were in their sheds, not outside...

Today was awesome though! Here are some photos.

Weeping Matt Ash

Gnarly vultures

DO NOT FEED OUR ANIMALS VERY SMALL APPLES

Jacob's head is the same size as this moth

Danny DeVito & Friends

4th from Left: Lady with painted face... Wowie.

And that's why I don't like cricket...

HYPNO TOAD

My sister would have lost her shit over these little guys

Dude wanted out

Hey Trad, I met Trina's mum

Ant Eater - letting it all hang out

Shut up and kiss me

Oh hey friend

Saddest gorillas on earth? Possibly.

Stevie... Put it on my chest

You Otter know better

Okapi - pretty fond of that tree branch...

Dude was sat down, I wasn't up on a viewing platform

Awesome

Owl Lunch

Schreepy!

Overdue

2009-06-07T13:46:00.001-07:00

When I moved to London in 2005, I came with Jaimie and Tim. We lived together for the first six months and then I traveled and toured like a fiend while they settled down. They got married over here and got pregnant last year.

Jaimie was due last Tuesday or Wednesday... Vincent/Vinny/Vinnie (not sure of spelling yet) doesn't want to come out yet though.

We went to Tate Modern the other day with Jaimie's parents who flew in from home last weekend. Jaimie's mum was my kindergarten teacher. Small world.

Jaimie and Tim and Jaimie's mum and dad, Cherilyn and Wayne

The F--kin' Hate

2009-06-04T15:02:00.000-07:00

Went to hang out at The F--kin' Hate band practice this afternoon. This is Gareth, Jimmy and Hunter's band. Great dudes, great band. New songs sound really gnarly also. Ryan was shredding at this practice also, which meant that there were three members of Swandive (BC) present and three members of The F--kin' Hate present. Gareth being the only person who transcends the SDBC/TFH barrier.

Just booked tickets to Paris for me and mum for her birthday. We are there the 17th and 18th of June. Stoked. I've never been to Paris before. I want to go to Serge Gainsbourg's grave and smoke a fistful of cigarettes.

Also booked a flight back to Amsterdam for once mum goes home. Going to fly back into Amsterdam on the 30th of June. The plan from there is to stick around for a couple of days, the fly to Rome and check that shit out for a few days, fly back to Amsterdam and hang, then fly to Stockholm for the weekend of the 10th or 11th of July, train to Gothenburg, hang with Ylva and Johan, go to Ylva's lake house and do all sorts of fauna and flora based activities for a few days before heading back to Norrkoping and partying in Johan's parents farm/barn for some Swedish tradition... Then head back to Stockholm, hang with my cousin Tom for a couple of days, then fly back to Amsterdam.

From Amsterdam, drive to Czech Republic to go to Fluff Fest (hardcore Summer camp for 3 days...30 bands play, swimming, bbqs, camping, awesome) then drive back to Amsterdam and fly home to Brisbane a couple of days later.

Anyone in Brisbane need someone to move in at the start of August? I asked Scrad, but I think he will be happy to stay under the stairs at Trad's house like the ass-gremlin he is.

Coming and going

2009-06-03T16:38:00.000-07:00

Coming home - first week of August (if all goes according to plan).

The plan from now:
London -> Download Festival -> London -> Paris -> London -> Amsterdam -> Rome -> Stockholm -> Amsterdam -> Prague -> Amsterdam -> Asia Stopover -> Brisbane!

National Portrait Gallery - 03.06.09

Can't stop listening to this. Wish I was still working at Epitaph so I could meet him.

Shit happens...

2009-06-02T15:54:00.000-07:00

LDN

2009-06-02T14:24:00.000-07:00

Finished touring with Gallows now so I'm hanging in London doing tourist things. Went to see Ghost Of A Thousand's album launch last night at Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes. Good show. Dudes rule and so does the album.

Went to the Tower Of London today with Ryan. Completely rad. Good little history lesson. Huge ravens waddling around, bigger than most cats.

Went to a restaurant called Crazy Homies for dinner. Awesome Mexican food.

I'm working Download Festival next week from Tuesday until next Monday - doing the tent like I used to when I worked for Atticus/Macbeth...should be a blast. Faith No More and ZZ Top are playing!

Then I come back to London and mum is here for two weeks... She goes home at the start of July, so I think I will go to Sweden for a couple of weeks and then back to Amsterdam and maybe for a quick trip to Italy or Greece before heading home to Brisbane at the start of August...

I'm watching The Godfather again. Fuuuuuuuuuck it is the best.

Ryan "I've never been in a London cab before" Sim

Ryan, London Bridge

Me, Rubbish Bin, London Bridge

Crazy Homies Mexican. Will eat again.

I Heart London

2009-05-29T15:05:00.001-07:00

Hung out in London today with Ryan and Nina. My friend Susie from Brisbane plays in a band called I Heart Hiroshima, and they are on tour at the moment around UK and Europe. They have a few days off in London, so they came and hung out with us and we showed them around a bit of the city.

We went to a delicious cafe called Lantana. Awesome food. Going there again tomorrow. We then went record shopping. Everyone spent way too much money. I bought some records... Songs: Ohia, Genghis Tron and Rocket From The Crypt.

Then we went to the British Museum, awesome Egyptian shit everywhere. Then we went to Green Park and St. James Park... Hung out, got some beers, Gareth came after he finished work, we saw some chavs getting arrested for being shit humans. Saw a CCTV camera attached to a tree. Gareth lost his mind. London is Orwellian mental...

Also - went and saw Polar Bear Club play last night in Camden. They were rad again. Defeater played as well and they were really good. Ruiner played but I didn't enjoy them as much as when I saw them in Brisbane. The Lock And Keys played as well, they were awesome. So glad I got to see them play over here. Maybe a Japanese new year with Liena and Niall.... We'll see!

Brighton...

2009-05-24T04:27:00.000-07:00

Had a day off tour so went to Brighton for the day with Ryan and Nina. Got shit on by a seagull as soon as we walked out of the train station, so I knew the day was going to be good.
Sunny day, lots of good food, saw heaps of rad shit, bought some Hold Steady records, bumped into Tim from Ghost Of A Thousand, went down to the pier and saw a girl giving a guy a public hand job. Photos below. Got back to London and went out for dinner to Mildreds with Brendan Casey and his girlfriend Amber who are visiting from NYC.

Good times. About to drive to Ireland. Drive to somewhere and get a ferry to Ireland. Good shit!

What is art?

Just playing a violin and standing on a tight rope.

Morrissey pose.

Classy lady. Tramp stamp in henna.

Nice photo of me on the Brighton Pier? Not quite...

Public hand job. Nice Ugg boots, chick.

Brendan and Amber!

London is the reason

2009-05-20T16:21:00.000-07:00

Just had a day off in London. Last night was our last on the bus. Played Portsmouth. Got in another fight with some shitbags who were heckling Eva from Rolo Tomassi. Keith from ETID stole a cut out of Beth Ditto the other night in Nottingham, so we had some fun with that last night. Day off today so I hung with Ryan and did all my washing at Gareth and Nina's. Went out for dinner to Papa Gonnes. We always used to go there when Gareth and Lucy and Jimmy lived around the corner and I lived on their couch... Awesome restaurant... Hannah from Neighbours used to work there. Good for her.

London Forum tomorrow, then two days off, then drive to Ireland for two shows, then a week off, then mainland Europe.

Cross my Ts and dot my...lower case Js

Tour for sure.

2009-05-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

We're in Portsmouth right now. My head is stinging from last night. I went for a walk along the pier with Bagel, Keith and Doug this morning. Doug flew in the other day from the US to film the new Everytime I Die DVD. I did something silly that is going to end up in it. Doug got me to film some things last night for him...I filmed some titties. Girls Gone Wild style. The girl's boyfriend was standing not too far away, yet she was happy to pop them out for the camera.

Last night we were in Bristol and Throats supported. They're brilliant. Really good live. Check them out if you like Deathwish style bands. Like I said, tonight we're in Portsmouth, we get dropped in London tomorrow to hang for a day. TV's Ryan Sim is in London at the moment so we're going to hang. I need to do my washing, and maybe sleep a bit. Here's some photos of the past few days.

Rolo Tomassi in Birmingham. So stoked I get to see them play almost every night of this tour.

Yesterday in Bristol was Eva from Rolo Tomassi's birthday. She turned 19.

Black Metal yawn.

The Night Marcher himself.

Russ Miller. The C Word.

Everytime I Die in Bristol.

Gallows in Bristol. Killed it. So good. New album is brilliant. Stage dived with my video camera, looks great but the file won't transfer to my laptop. Bummer.

The silly thing I did last night may have involved this statue...

Stage dives ruin lives

2009-05-15T09:03:00.000-07:00

Norwich show the other night. Lots of kids. Stage dived. Knocked a kid out and ripped my jeans. I don't really have much money, so two of the most expensive things I owned are now ruined/lost. Ipod and Nudies. Bummer. We're in Oxford now and had a day off yesterday. I watched a lot of Antiques Roadshow in the Travel Lodge, then we went out for dinner to a place called QUOD. I think you have to be an Oxford graduate to eat there...

My most expensive stage dive ever.

Keith saw my Kill The Music tshirt and got a bit excited. Next time he's in Brisbane he is going to pay Paul and Dan a visit. I hope you like the picture Paul/Dan, sorry I ruined it with my fat face.

This is what I sell every night. If you want something...

I just found out today that Gallows have another dude doing Warped Tour for the, so the merch company they go through have hooked me up some more work with a band called TESLA. Interesting.

Listen to them here: http://www.myspace.com/teslatheband
Read all about them here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_(band)

Nottingham Knock City

2009-05-13T06:08:00.000-07:00

Gallows, Everytime I Die and Hexes played last night in Nottingham. Frank kicked a monitor off the stage and the monitor guy pushed him off the stage head first. That didn't end well for the monitor guy... Lags then knocked himself out with his own guitar.

After the show I was walking to the after party on my own from the bus when I got jumped by a group of three scumbags... One of the dudes walked straight up to me and took a swing which I blocked with my arm. He then walked behind me and the other two dudes squared off at me... I had noticed that they had four mates further up the road, which meant there were seven of them... I can't fight so I legged it past the two dudes into the club and grabbed half of Everytime I Die, most of Gallows and all their crew and went back outside... The seven dudes were three blocks away by now, and Nottingham is the knife and gun crime capital of the UK apparently, so Keith our TM decided to leave it at that and not start something silly in the middle of the street...

We'll see how my wrist feels by the end of the night, might get some X-rays...

After party was a rager though...

Lags DJing. Keith dancing to Fleetwood Mac.

James from Rolo Tomassi w/ friend.

Josh from Everytime I Die w/ friend.

Stu from Gallows w/ lady friend.

Keith from Everytime I Die w/ doppelganger/Seth Rogan.

Party guy

The Venga Bus is coming...

2009-05-12T07:15:00.000-07:00

I thought while I was at it, I should put some photos up of the bus...

The tour bus. Completely jokes!

Bottom lounge. Nothing in the fridge. Bummer.

Upstairs hallway - bunks.

Top lounge.

My bed. Unsoiled.

Watching the Parkway Drive DVD trailer. It looks jokes!

Tour laminate & my Sonic Youth earplugs container.

Gallows tour of Wagamamas UK

2009-05-12T05:45:00.000-07:00

There hasn't been much catering on this tour, so we pretty much just eat Wagamamas everyday. Either that or Pizza Express or Nandos.

Sheffield Wagamamas was possibly the worst dining experience any of us have ever had. Stu won a free Kirin Ichi Ban Beer tshirt, though even that wasn't enough to make up for their complete shit service and rubbish food. Pizza Express in Nottingham last night was definitely not an Express. It stopped at every station on the line from London to Nottingham. It took 40 minutes for our starters to arrive... Poor effort Pizza Express Nottingham.

Still waiting. Unimpressed.

It hasn't been all bad though! Wagamamas in Nottingham served us up a feast. Good shit.

An old favourite! Ebi Katsu. Note the wedge of lime and delicious chilli sauce accompaniment.

Can't remember the name of this one that Stu got, but it is DE-LICIOUS.

Stu laying into a ridiculously tasty piece of cheesecake.

Other than that, we have been partying quite a bit. Stu and Lags are carrying the party torches. We went out in Glasgow the other night to a club called The Cat House. It had about seven rooms and one was filled with metal dudes shredding air guitar, non-stop. We then went out to a club in Newcastle called Crash. It is basically Snitch/Thriller but filled with (if it is even possible) more sluts... There were in fact girls paid to dance on platforms. The DJ played Gallows and Everytime I Die while we were all in there and the boys enjoyed seeing what were essentially strippers dancing to their songs. Good times.

We're in Nottingham at the moment. I have a stomach ache from a shitty fry up at the Premier Inn hotel this morning. I should feel great after sleeping in a hotel bed for two nights instead of the bus, but instead I have been sitting on the toilet for most of the morning. Bad scene, Premier Inn's fault.

Everytime I Die have been killing it every night. They play Floater which makes me happy. Andy is a complete dude and so is Josh. So far Rolo Tomassi, Throats, Blackhole and Hexes have opened the shows. All brilliant.

Nottingham Rock City - about to load in.

RESET YOUR DONGLE!

Newcastle ABC. There was a concession stand this night so I watched the guys play and then dived during the last song. Destroyer.

I got a tie dye tshirt from my friends Liena and Neil. They play in a band called The Lock And Keys. Listen to them.

Listen to these bands:

http://www.myspace.com/hexes
http://www.myspace.com/rolotomassi
http://www.myspace.com/throatsofgold
http://www.myspace.com/blackhole
http://www.myspace.com/thelockandkeys

Things that we have been doing on the bus:

Listening to Big Business.
Playing Golden Axe and Streets Of Rage.
Watching Sean Connery movies.
Youtubing the following. Incredible.

Leeds Sucks

2009-05-10T12:37:00.000-07:00

This is Bagel. He is selling merch for Everytime I Die. We're really not enjoying our night in Leeds. The kids are douchebags and the hole they've got us selling merch in also sucks.

God speed us to Nottingham!

Gallows UK tour so far...

2009-05-07T10:32:00.000-07:00

London - day before tour practice

Spending money

Instore at Rough Trade Record Store

Lags getting a short back and sides

Steph cracking Andy from Everytime I Die's back

Tom - Ghost Of A Thousand

London 04.05.09

2009-05-06T06:23:00.000-07:00

Fuck the border

2009-05-01T08:01:00.000-07:00

Officially Euroswine. For the next year at least...

Killing me softly

2009-05-01T04:58:00.001-07:00

I just ate what might have been the best sandwich I've ever encountered. Most people know I love a sandwich. I can't cook for shit, but I can cook a delicious sandwich better than anyone you know.

On Hunter and Nina's recommendation, I went to a little cafe in Crouch End called Hot Pepper Jelly...just around the corner from Gareth and Nina's flat.

Triple decker American Hot Jelly Sandwich... HOLY SHIT. So good.

Peanut butter, bacon, hot pepper jelly, toasted bread...

New favourite restaurant in London.

Do you like Spaghetti-o's?

2009-04-30T16:22:00.001-07:00

I have an ingrown hair on my chin at the moment and was trying to get the little prick out with a pair of tweezers. I couldn't get it, but I had a bit of a weird snot situation going on from the flight yesterday from Amsterdam to London... So I blew my nose with my hands and a bit of the end of a booger came out. I decided to grab onto it with the tweezers instead of my fingers. I pulled it, and it just kept coming. I was about two inches long by the time it exited my nostril completely. Like a piece of spaghetti; it wasn't liquidy, it was solid. I think I pulled part of my brain out, or part of my nose that was holding up my eye socket. For the rest of the night it felt like my face was about to cave in.

Gallows tour starts tomorrow. I'm really tired right now, but I can't wait for it to kick off. Yahtzee.

TWO WEEKS!!!

2009-04-26T16:31:00.000-07:00

I just bought this.

How long are you planning to stay? Two weeks.
Are you bringing in any fruits or vegetables? TWO WEEKS!
TWO WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKSSSSS...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

National Lampoons European Vacation

2009-04-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

So my sister and her husband just came to Amsterdam for the weekend. Her name is Kim & his name is Nick - yes she married a dude named Nick... at least she found a dude named Nick who isn't a douchebag like me.

They went to the Tulip fields on Saturday morning, but I was hungover and didn't want to deal with a thousand tourists so I met up with them in the afternoon and we went for a walk around town. I showed them some cool shit, had some nice Belgian beers at De Zotte and then took them to The Taco Shop for dinner. Had a huge Mexi feast. Delicious. After dinner we were going to go out to a bar or a show, but there wasn't anything too exciting happening in Amsterdam. We ended up buying some beers and wine and hung out in their hotel room watching German MTV. Brett Michaels from Poison is a complete shit bag. Also, G To Gent is one of the worst shows I've ever seen. Also one of the best.

Today Kim and Nick decided to wake up at stupid o'clock to go and get breakfast... It was raining all morning, so that was pretty dank. Had a pancake feast for breakfast, then went for a walk around, got fries with mayonaise and curry ketchup, kept walking, met up with Gijs, Santina and Andrew from Comeback Kid who had a few hours to kill in Amsterdam before he flew to Thailand to sit on a beach for three weeks. We had some bagels then went for a walk... By this time Kim and Nick were pretty wrecked. All we'd been doing was eating and walking. They jumped a train to the airport and I came home and had some pasta with Gijs and Santina.

Have a bit of shit to do over the next few days before I fly to London. Can't wait for tour.

Dudes partying on a bike/bar... You pedal while you drink a shit tonne of beer.

These are two of the babes Santina works with at the Coffee Company. I am going to miss getting free iced coffee everyday.

Goodbye Epitaph Records...for now...

2009-04-25T04:30:00.000-07:00

I finished at Epitaph Records yesterday. Kind of bitter sweet I think - they were some of the best people I've ever worked with, yet I obviously couldn't stay there forever given my financial situation...

Going to get some Mexican food some time before I leave with some of my Eurotaph friends. I will miss them. They might miss me.

So get money, get paid... I'm flying to London on Wednesday to go out on tour for the next month and a half with Gallows. Mum and other people who don't know who they are, listen to them by clicking HERE.

These are the tour dates. Super stoked.

2 May Concorde 2 - Brighton, UK
5 May Leadmill - Sheffield, UK
6 May 2009 Academy - Manchester, UK
8 May 2009 ABC - Glasgow, UK
9 May 2009 Academy - Newcastle, UK
10 May 2009 Metropolitan Uni - Leeds, UK
12 May 2009 Rock City - Nottingham, UK
13 May 2009 UEA - Norwich, UK
15 May 2009 Academy - Oxford, UK
16 May 2009 Academy - Birmingham, UK
18 May 2009 Academy - Bristol, UK
19 May 2009 Pyramids - Portsmouth, UK
21 May 2009 HMV Forum - London, UK
25 May 2009 Limelight - Belfast, Northern Ireland
26 May 2009 O2 Academy - Dublin, Ireland
3 Jun 2009 Divan du Monde - Paris, France
5 Jun 2009 ROCK IM PARK FESTIVAL - Nurnberg, Germany
7 Jun 2009 ROCK AM RING FESTIVAL - Nurburgring, Germany
8 Jun 2009 Zitadelle - Berlin, Germany
9 Jun 2009 013 - Tilburg, Netherlands
10 Jun 2009 AB Club - Brussels, Belgium
12 Jun 2009 GREENFIELD FESTIVAL - Interlaken, Switzerland
14 Jun 2009 ROCK IN IDRO FESTIVAL - Milan, Italy

Went and watched The Real Danger last night - really good band from Amsterdam. They were supporting The Living End... I don't think I've listened to The Living End since I was 16... We left after The Real Danger finished then went and watched The Grey Daturas from Melbourne play - they were super loud. Epic.

Listen to The Real Danger HERE.

Motherly advice...

2009-04-20T14:43:00.000-07:00

Miss you boy - take care and stop drinking so much - your poor liver will be shot before you reach 30! I think you should become straight edge. What do you think??
xxoo

Anders! I'm coming to save you!

2009-04-20T12:26:00.000-07:00

Groezrock weekend

2009-04-19T16:42:00.000-07:00

I just got home from Groezrock Festival in Belgium. It was a fucking hoot. I left on Thursday afternoon with the Epitaph crew, dropped by the warehouse and picked up a heap of shit to sell and then drove to Belgium. Saw the "Spare Rib Express", got in to the hotel and hit the bar. I got drunk on Duvel beer and had some nice beer brewed at a local monastery as well as a cherry beer called Kriek. I got to sleep in a bed for the first time since I left Australia over two months ago... It was amazing. Double bed. Nice pillows. A room with a door! Huzzah!

We left the hotel on Friday morning into some seriously cold and shitty weather. All day it was around 12 degrees. Loaded in to the market stall area after we got lost trying to find the parking area. I took a few photos of the area before the mongrel children got in and ripped it to pieces. Friday was pretty chill because the doors to the festival opened at 5pm. Hung out with a few people I hadn't seen in a long time and made some new friends.

On Friday I saw:
United Nations - Only their second show ever - was short and fucking rad. Daryl Palumbo wasn't there. Ben from Converge is an amazing drummer.
Poison The Well - Awesome as always. New stuff sounds good. Drummer is great.
Thursday - Seemed happier and to play better than the last couple of times I've seen them. New stuff live is awesome.
Taking Back Sunday - Hadn't seen them since 2006. Super rad. Adam climbed a giant scaffolding and hung upside down for most of the last song. Epic.
Amen Ra - Holy fuck. So incredible. They are from Belgium and played the small stage in complete darkness except for small fluorescent lights on their guitar pedals. I think they are one of the loudest bands I have ever seen. Completely fucking epic.
Bring Me The Horizon - Kids really, really, really like this band. Really.

United Nations

Thursday

Saturday! Woke up a little hung over. Got to the festival just after 10am. Loaded in, went to find the Comeback Kid guys. By the time I had walked to see them and walked back to the second stage Outbreak had started and finished their set. Bummer. Saw lots of friends that I hadn't seen since I'd left London in 2007. Hung out and worked a bit at the Epitaph stand - luckily there were a few of us working so we took shifts and got to hang for the rest of the day. I didn't really take many photos - a lot of videos though. I can't be fucked uploading them at the moment, but I will hopefully get around to it at some point.

On Saturday I saw:
Death Before Dishonor - Heavy mosh. Dudes getting carried out on stretchers from the tent.
Bane - The first time I'd ever seen them play. Well worth the wait. Really fucking cool and dude had shit to say that made sense and wasn't the regular hardcore bullshit banter.
Misery Signals - Any friends of Amity are bound to become new friends of mine. Great dudes. Kids were psyched on them as well.
The Ghost Of A Thousand - Holy shit. They've gotten better since I last saw them at Download in 2007. Can't wait to see them 4 nights in a row next month.
First Blood - FUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!! So heavy. Completely epic. No RAMBO prints on their merch though. Bummer.
No Fun At All - Old dudes. Decent live. Never really got too into them, so probably didn't appreciate it as much as some others would have.
The Get Up Kids - The band I was looking forward to the most out of the whole weekend. They were brilliant. Played Ten Minutes, Red Letter Day, covered The Cure, played a heap of old stuff and finished with Walking On A Wire... It was a bit of an anti-climax I think finishing with such a mellow and drawn out song, but they were fucking rad nonetheless! They are probably coming back to Europe in July/August and want to do Australia this year as well. Rob told me that Brisbane is his favourite city in Australia. Maybe he was drunk...
NOFX - I watched the Backstage Passport DVD with Anna and Scrad before I left Australia which rekindled my love for NOFX. I think there were about 50 people on the side of the stage watching them play. Fat Mike is a funny dude. They definitely played the hits.
Bleeding Through - Biggest circle pit of the day that I saw. Rise was epic.
Comeback Kid - Only saw the first 4 or 5 songs because The Get Up Kids were starting, but they had the biggest crowd I saw on the second stage for the whole weekend. Rad.

The Get Up Kids

Sunday (today) we drove home from Belgium. Made one emergency stop because someone wasn't feeling too well after last night's after party (it wasn't me thankfully). Got back to the office and loaded the rest of the gear up out of the van. Walked home and then Gijs, Santina and I got a tram to Sammi's place. We met Gijs' other mate Kevin there and I found a bike out the front of a church that we are going to fix up! Stoked.

We then got in Sammi's van and drove to Haarlem to see the Comeback Kid, Misery Signals, Bane, Architects, Outbreak show. Hung out with the CBK dudes which was fun. Outbreak were fucking sweet. Architects were brilliant. Saw the other three yesterday as well, but today was better for Bane I think because the club was more intimate. Mike Raio was riding with Bane and is now hanging in Amsterdam for a few days which will also be a blast. I'm super tired now so I'm going to go to bed.

Got some good news about some work which I will divulge tomorrow. I'm going to be out of Amsterdam for the next month, hopefully for the rest of the Summer!

As you can see in pretty much every photo that I am in, I have been wearing a hat for the past month or so. I need to find a barber. Need a short back and sides.

The past week...

2009-04-15T15:12:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 8th April -
William Elliott Whitmore was in Amsterdam to play a show at the Paradiso and also to perform an instore at Concerto Records. He is on ANTI Records, so we hung out then headed to the instore. Instore was great - I think there ended up being about 50 or more people packed into the small room. After that we headed to the Paradiso and drank some beers. William was opening for Alela Diane - big deal I hear... Room was packed, and William destroyed. Sounded fucking amazing and filled the whole room. We had planned to all go out for dinner after he played, but decided to hang out and talk about farms and Off Minor touring Australia and Swedish black metal. Dude has a very Southern gentile personality and was very obliging to share his bottle of Jack. A great night ensued that ended with us all at De Zotte paying a little man a few euros to take polaroids, and then eating felafal at 3am.

Listen to William Elliott Whitmore here!

Thursday 9th April -

Almost vomitted while I was brushing my teeth. Super hung over. William and his driver/merch guy/part time drummer Paul and I stayed out until after 3am drinking a lot of whiskey. Paul used to play in a band from UK called Rainy Day Fuck Parade. Turns out we have a lot of mutual friends. Top bloke!

I go to work and have a regular day, then I leave early and meet up with Gijs and his friend Kevin as well as Jovka who works for Epitaph/Kings Road Merch - Jovka hired a car to drive to Arnheim to catch up with 50 Lions who are on tour with Reign Supreme from the US. The show was pretty good. Dutch dudes like to crowd slay. A band called Bun Dem Out played - holy fuck, thought I was going to get shot... Kind of like a slower Brujeria. Heavvvvvvvvvvvy... Listen to them here. Seriously heavy.
Reign Supreme were fucking awesome but their drummer was having issues with the kick he borrowed so there was like a minute break between each song where they would normally flow into each other... Kind of a bummer, but their singer is a funny dude so it wasn't so bad. The show ended with a bit of a ruckus, and a bunch of Dutch dudes yelling at each other. I think Reign Supreme are going to Australia later this year. Didn't take my camera to this show - so no photos.

Friday 10th April -
The Blackout are a band from Wales who just signed to Epitaph. I hung with them a few times when I used to work at Atticus/Macbeth - good dudes. They came to Amsterdam to have bit of a welcoming party to Epitaph on the Friday and then to play a show on the Saturday.

Friday consisted of lunch at the Epitaph office - a bit of tennis on the roof, some beers at a nice pub, a boat ride for a few hours around the Amsterdam canals on a private boat with more booze than an Amity rider, pinball and gnarly Belgian beers at another pub, dinner at a Japanese restaurant, strippers and lap dances with highly skilled women taking 20 euro notes off our faces without using their hands... then finally to the Melkweg to see some (apparently) huge DJ/s named Boyz Noise (?) and more beer and dancing like assholes until stupid o'clock...

Saturday 11th April -
Met up with Alma and got a tram to the hire car company. Alma, her sister Jasmina, Carolina, Anders, his sister and her boyfriend and I drove to Paaspop Festival in Southern Holland. What a party. Very strange festival... 20,000 (?) people (farmers and strange fancy Dutch people) drinking beer and wearing funny hats in the middle of a field surrounded by farm land. The Blackout played twice, an AC/DC cover band played, a band that sounded like the Dutch version of the Dropkick Murphys played, The Tenement Kids played (though we missed them), and a bunch of Dutch DJs played... I got shit faced on free beer and Jack Daniels, found a bottle of wine for Alma's sister Jasmina, had a blast, ate a shit tonne of traditional and not so traditional Dutch food, drove back to Amsterdam and woke up feeling like shit on Sunday!

Sunday 12th April -
Easter Sunday! What better way to spend it than hung over and helping Carolina move house (the cute Colombian I work with - featured in a lot of these photos). Got up early, got a tram to her old house, carried a shit load of boxes, a washing machine and a large leather sofa down two flights of stairs, into a truck, drove truck to new house, loaded heavy shit onto an elevator/cherry picker contraption... Load shit on, shit gets lifted up to 5th floor of building, we then step out onto the window ledge and try to lift said heavy shit in through a window while trying not to drop it or fall off. Hung over, hadn't had breakfast, not super keen on heights, not in any sort of physical shape... Cool combination. Shit sucked. Good news was, Carolina bought us all Mexican for lunch from my new favourite restaurant in Amsterdam - The Taco Shop. Came home and slept after that enjoyable day. Didn't take camera.

Monday 13th April -
Easter Monday - Jesus and a cave and that... I went to Independant Outlet with Gijs and bought some records. On credit. I got Artimus Pyle, Jason Molina, 7 Seconds, Blank Stare, Dead Stop, Violent Minds, Mid Youth Crisis/Sommerset split, Case For Jefferson (Yes! Two Australian records in one Dutch store) and maybe some other records I can't remember.

Tuesday 14th April -
Back to work. Had to hand stamp 5000 bags on both sides for Groezrock Festival giveaway bags from Epitaph. Stamp place fucked up and took two weeks which meant I had to do the stamping myself instead of the hired goons they normally get to do menial tasks like that. I got through 2000 of the pricks before my right arm felt like it was going to beat the shit out of me. In the time it took to stamp both sides of 2000 brown paper bags with a stamp that required you to basically smash it into the table for the ink to stay, I watched A Clockwork Orange, Iron Man, Serial Mom, The Godfather Part I and several episodes of the Might Boosh. We then stayed at the office until 10pm filling the bags with free shit.

Wednesday 15th April -
Worked - more packing bags - listened to a lot of Wu Tang Clan and Trash Talk.
My $900 from the Australian Government came through! I took Gijs and Santina out to dinner at Waggamammas. We are all leaving for Groezrock Festival tomorrow. Lots of old friends will be there and lots of fun bands to watch. I get to see The Get Up Kids. Super fucking stoked.

Cheers Kev. Top bloke.

Sping time is here

2009-04-07T10:03:00.000-07:00

I just saw three boy ducks gang banging a girl duck in a park. Several people had stopped walking and were watching. It reminded me of the final scene from Last Exit To Brooklyn or The Accused...

Only I don't think a duck can get in trouble for R-ing another duck.

If only I had a better camera on my phone.

Giant Wombok

2009-04-06T11:13:00.001-07:00

Somewhere in China. I want to go there.

Nick In The Mist

2009-04-05T08:17:00.000-07:00

Nick With Body Of Ape. By Jonah.

Shit the bed

2009-04-05T04:23:00.000-07:00

Friday - beers on the roof of the Epitaph office. The weather was super nice and the office manager was leaving, so we hung out there for a while. I left work early to go and see Rise And Fall play in Tilburg... Shit fell apart. Long story short (not like me is it...) I didn't end up going. Major bummer. Might go and see them play at the end of the month in Germany.

I got drunk last night and went to a bar called New Anita. There was a magazine launch party there and my friend Anders from work had his art featured in the magazine and on the cover. I got drunk. Amongst other things, I drank a pina colada. It was disgusting. Too milky. I went with Niels and a couple of his mates to a bar up the road from Gijs and Santina's place. It used to be a squat, but now it is kind of on the level. It was pretty fucking rad. You have to walk through a residential court yard to get to the entrance, then it is kind of like two warehouses joined together and a few other rooms. Got more drunk. They let children into bars and clubs over here. There were 16 year olds hanging around drinking. Weird. Sent drunk texts and walked home.

Find out about some possible tour work tomorrow. Not holding my breath though. Why did I never learn to play the guitar? I guess I could learn...

Yesterday I spoke to my Swedish friend Ylva. She stayed with us for just under a year when I was in year 12 and my sister was in Japan. An exchange if you will. An exchange of students. She was our Swedish exchange student. I might go hang with her this Summer in Norrkoping. I went there in Winter 2006 but she says Summer in the countryside where she grew up is great.

Fuck I want some bagels right now.

Here's a couple of nice photos I took years ago. These two ended up getting married. I think they're both pretty fucking cool (people). (The photos go alright as well).

WKND

2009-03-30T02:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some things Santina said to me last night.

You're so stupid that you thought Fleetwood Mac was a new burger at McDonalds.
You're so fat that when you get in an elevator, it has to go down.
You're so poor that when I took your family portrait and said cheese, you went looking for it.
You're so stupid that you took a ruler to bed to see how long you slept.
You're so ugly that your birth certificate was an apology letter from the condom company.

The WKND was:

Friday night I did nothing. It was raining when I walked out of work so I just went home and drank beer. Saturday I slept in then watched a documentary My Life As A Terrorist, about a German dude who was a terrorist in the 70s and was on the run for 23 years. It wasn't as exciting as I had hoped it would be. Then I watched the Radiohead documentary Meeting People Is Easy and shaved my attempt at a moustache. That thing was fucking hideous. I am not going to try to grow another one until I have grey hair. At least grey hair looks noble and George Clooneyesque; He really is an important guy.

A lady on a bike got hit by a guy on a scooter out the front of Gijs and Santina's flat. She was on the ground crying, a crowd formed, helped her out, got her a chair from a cafe over the road, the police eventually came, then an ambulance... Then she got up and walked to the stretcher and went for a ride to the hospital.

Two things:
1. The cops and the ambulance took about 30 minutes to arrive. Lazy Dutch.
2. When the ambulance came, she just got up and walked to the stretcher. She walked. She was fine. Eerrrggghhh......

After I fixed my face I went to meet Santina after she finished work. I went around the corner to my new favourite sandwich cafe on Ree Straat and got the Cremonese on brown (salami, green olives, pesto, tomato and mozzarella - melted). Santina had to put some fliers for her DJ night into some record stores so we walked around for a while. We ended up at Independent Outlet (Amsterdam's version on Kill The Music) and I bought a couple of records. I got Murder City Devils 10" Thelma, and finally found the Lambchop LP Aw C'mon, No You C'mon. I always look for that record in stores, but have never seen it. I am too lazy to look on the net or to go on ebay. Anyway, bought those two and put a few back. I'm going to go in with Gijs and get him to recommend all the good Dutch shit they have.

Saturday night we jumped a train to Harlem with two of the guys from Gijs' band to go and watch Mono from Japan. We get to the show and it is sold out. Pretty fucking bummed. I missed Mono when they played in Brisbane, so I was really looking forward to seeing them. Also, after seeing Earth play last week as well, I was kind of in the mood for more of the same atmospheric shit. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. Gijs and I get a train back to Amsterdam. The other guys had bought their tickets weeks ago...smart guys. We go home and I drink a bottle of wine.

We then find out that friends of Gijs' The Real Danger are playing at the Winston. This saves our Saturday night from becoming a boring disappointment. These guys are super fucking rad. Similar to Face To Face and Descendents I guess. Listen to them here - http://www.myspace.com/therealdanger

Party for a while and then head home. The clocks wind forward an hour at 2am for Summer time... We get home and legally it is around 5am. Am I losing touch that I note the time when I get home from being out on the weekend? I need to get loose a bit more. I don't think I drink like I used to. I need to start kicking Europe in the face a bit more. That's what I'm in this for...

Sunday sleep in, walk into town, get some coffee, Santina ends up helping her friend out at the coffeeshop because it is so busy, Gijs and I go for a walk, I buy a Sunn 0))) LP Domkirke and Gijs buys some DVDs. I get an egg salad sandwich and an hour later have to run into a cafe and use their bathroom. Bung! Saw this awesome old guy floating around near a bridge with about 100 people watching him play. He had a wind-up organ on his boat and was playing a trumpet and whistling with his other hand. I wanted to throw some coins at him, but wasn't sure if he was busking or just an old dude chilling out cutting laps and playing music for tourists.

Best busker I've seen in Amsterdam.

I'm going to see Rise And Fall play this week, I think in Belgium? Super fucking stoked. Also found out that Tragedy are playing in Utrecht the night before I leave for Groezrock. Holy Daryl Sommers! I can't fucking wait.
Groezrock Festival is going to be awesome. Have a look at the line up here - http://groezrock.be/
I get to see The Get Up Kids. Do I dare call it early and say best show of 2009? We'll see...

Pause & photograph.

Shave for a cure

2009-03-28T05:58:00.000-07:00

I found a cure; my razor. I think the final straw for me was Alma calling it "yellow" yesterday at work. I didn't even last three weeks.

Until I become a grizzly old man who doesn't give a fuck, my face will stay clean shaven.

I'm going to watch Mono tonight. Fuck yes.

3 photos of me & one not of me

2009-03-27T02:17:00.000-07:00

Master Crumble is back in stock at LIDL. You never know how often it will be on the shelves, so Gijs and I bought six boxes of that delicious shit.

My mustache is growing. Slowly. I made this photo black and white because it is truly disgusting in colour.

I had to delete a heap of shit from my laptop because it is running out of space. I found a photo of me from January 3rd 2006. What a babe.

Screenshot w/ subtitles. New hobby.

Gijs and I went and saw Earth play last night at The Paradiso. They were brilliant. I definitely felt like a fucking hippie while they were playing. You could say I "lost" myself for the hour and a half that they played... You could say that, but it would sound totally gay. Let's just say they were fucking amazing.

After that we went home and watched Defiance - the Daniel Craig movie about WW2. This movie is complete horse shit. Do not waste your time. First Valkyrie, now this... I think I see a pattern emerging from Hollywood concerning WW2 movies with American actors attempting Eastern European accents.

Two things

2009-03-26T03:15:00.000-07:00

The 12 year old had a paternity test. He didn't know what a DNA test was, but he knew that they were checking if he was the daddy or not... He is not the father. Homegirl was laying 7 other dudes.

Bummer.

Also... Wow.

Leeroy Cloggins

2009-03-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

Party clog.

...is ten minutes too far

2009-03-23T02:35:00.000-07:00

My friend Abby came to Amsterdam for the weekend. She and Trad were together a few years back and we've been friends ever since. She lives in London now and works in fashion PR. She is a pretty fancy girl and is a lot of fun to hang out with. We used to catch up every now and then when I was living in London, so it was cool to be able to show her around some places here. She stayed with her friend Savvi who works for Nike Europe. Savvi grew up in Melbourne and has lived here for a while now. Her apartment is fucking amazing. Super fantastiche.

Abby

Two more of Abby's friends were in Amsterdam this weekend as well; Emily and Campbell. They are friends of Abby's who have been traveling Europe for the past year or so in a camper van. I'd met Emily years ago but I have a memory like a deflated football, so I didn't really remember her. She is Jesse's sister... That more than likely means nothing to almost everyone who is reading this. In saying that, if you are Leo, Carlos, Trad, Rea or anyone else from Noosa/Sunshine Coast, then you will be able to make all the necessary connections. Emily and Campbell are about to fly back to Australia via Sri Lanka. Rad.

Campbell & Emily

On Saturday the four of us went to the Noord Market (Noord is Dutch for...North), then the three of them went on a guided tour of the red light district and smoked some weed. I don't dig on grass and I have seen the red light district enough, so I went home and fell asleep listening to the new M. Ward record. I'm kicking myself in the face for not going to see M. Ward two weeks ago when I had the chance. Piss. Gijs and Santina came home from work and we cooked some food. I stayed home on Saturday night because I was tired from walking around all day and my cash is really starting to dwindle. I stayed up until 4am and finished the bottle of Jack that I bought duty free, then gave Trad a call. He wasn't easy like Sunday morning like Lionel Richie would have you believe. I woke the wookie.

Let sleepers lie

Princengracht

Jesus & Abby & I

Please rob us

Ummm.... You're white. You can't get a Rasta tattoo... Unless it is meant to be as ridiculous as my Tupac tattoo. I have a feeling she is serious though.

Window shopping

On Sunday we (Abby, Campbell, Emily, Gijs, Santina, Savvi and myself - fuck yes, that list is in alphabetical order - almost) went and had bagels and coffee, then went to the library near Central Station. The library is huge and is pretty magnificent piece of modern architecture. It has a restaurant on the top floor and pretty gnarly views of the city and part of the harbour. No photos this time, I left my camera at home.

Santina and Gijs and Patrick came and visited me at work on Friday. I went for a spin on Santina's bike. I'm going to try and get one this week I think.

Shit I've been getting down with:

Röyksopp - Junior
Only Pat will like this album. Everyone else who even bothers to heed my recommendation will think it is complete Euroswine. Even I'm not 100% convinced yet. We just sat through five of the eleven tracks. Santina wasn't really feeling it. Her favourite band is KISS though, so figure that one out.

Little Miss Sunshine
I watched ten minutes of this movie on the plane from Brisbane to Singapore, but then my TV fucked itself. I just watched the whole thing with Gijs and Santina and I think it is great. My favourite scene might be when the doctor tells the family that the grandpa has died, then says he will get the grief counsellor to come and talk to them about the remains... "LINDA!" Funny shit. Also, the contest is held in Redondo Beach... Morrissey... mmm.

Booker T & The MGs
Dude is a Soul & R'n'B legend from the 60s who is releasing his new album on ANTI. He played Amsterdam last week and I went along to the show with a few people from work. I think Booker T's most famous song is "Green Onions" - I guarantee you know it, just maybe didn't know who wrote it. Anyway, dude was super friendly and extremely intelligent. When I spoke to him, he really seemed to consider every word before he would say it. The guitarist who was playing with him is named Steve Cooder and wrote Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay. We had a good old chat about Guy Sebastian; Australia's favourite Idol. You might remember "our Guy" released a covers album in late 2007? It stormed the charts that Christmas. His voice being that of an angel, carried it on wings, straight off the shelves and into the CD collections of thousands of Australians. Well my mate Coods recorded it for Guy in Memphis or some shit. Anyway, fuck Guy Sebastian, watch Booker laying out some sweet organ work. Another side note, I bought a round of beers during the show which came to €9.20 and I paid with a €20 note. The barman gave me €30.80 in change. Super stoked.

Movie Stills w/ Sub-titles
Gijs and Santina always watch DVDs with the sub-titles on, either in English or Dutch. This results in some interesting screen shots.

Two final things:
1. I'm going to send some postcards soon. If you want one (with a personalised message from myself), then email/msn/aim/myspace/facebook/sms me your address.
2. I'm going to try and grow a mustachio like John Waters. Wish me luck.

Master Crumble for dinner

2009-03-17T01:54:00.000-07:00

Hello. I started an internship at Epitaph Records Europe last week and have been pretty busy since then. Epitaph also does Hellcat Records, Burning Heart Records and ANTI Records. Neko Case debuted at #3 on the US Billboard chart and she is on ANTI. People at work are losing their shit. The album is really nice. Listen to it if you like chicks with nice voices playing nice country-ish music. Journalism degree and I still really like using the word nice. Nice. This is the first time in about two months that I've worked (I work 10-6 five days a week) at a desk, and to be honest I am really enjoying be back in an office and having a bit of a routine. I guess it helps that I'm not working at the Department of Main Roads anymore... This job is a touch more exciting.

So I guess I knew before I came over here that it was going to be a stretch for me to get a full time job with solid cash in this industry, however I think I really underestimated the current global economic crisis... If shit doesn't work out so well then Brisbane might cop a raw deal and be seeing me a whole lot sooner than planned... Having said that, I'm staying positive. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive. (Reminds me I never got around to doing a Top 10 records of last year. I might do that if I get bored at work this week...)

Anyway, I used to do a lot of work with Alma from Epitaph when I worked for Atticus/Macbeth, so she was nice enough to hook me up this work even though she said I am "way over qualified" to be doing it... Pretty minimal cash as its an internship, but fuck it, I get to work with some cool people and I get paid some cash each month as well as a shit tonne of free vinyl and CDs and shows etc, so its not all bad. Another good thing is that I'll probably get some tours out of it. Epitaph just started a merch company, so there should be a bit of work for me in the next few months that will pay properly. Hopefully Warped Tour in one capacity or another...

Other than that, I haven't been doing too much. We don't have the internet at home anymore because whichever neighbour we were stealing wireless from figured it out. Bummer. I did stay up until 4am a few nights though talking shit on msn to people in Australia and downloading a lot of music, so I guess we milked it for all it was worth. I'm still staying at Gijs and Santina's place in the living room. I owe them one hundred thousand vegan Euros. Or even better, I will just return the favour when they come to Australia to hang out. Pretty sure the Dutch hung out in Australia before Captain Cook did... It'll be like homecoming when they come down.

Gijs and Santina scored a washing machine off their friends the other night, so Gijs' parents came to Amsterdam to help pick it up and get it into the flat. Flats in Amsterdam are generally in the four or so floors above the shop fronts on the road level. Gijs and Santina live on the first floor. Thank the sweet Duke John for that! Gijs, his mate, his dad and myself had to carry a washing machine down four flights of stairs and load it into Gijs' dad's car. That sucked. The Dutch didn't design their hallways and stairwells for fatties, let alone four dudes trying to carry an antique washing machine. The thing weighed more than Nina's fridge at our old place. Luckily the hallway was a decent width.

So we get it back to Gijs' flat, but there is no way it is going to fit up the stairs in their building, so it has to come through the front window. I'll let the photos do the talking. They say a picture tells a thousand words. If these pictures had voice boxes or fingers to hold pens and could write legibly, these are some of the words they would say:

"This thing is really fucking heavy, dude."

"Gijs, hurry up! Your mum can't hold it for much longer." (Ho ho ho! You laugh?)

"This is bullshit."

"No, I didn't piss my pants from straining. The water leaked out of the machine when we pulled it over the railing."

"This rope burn on my hands makes me look like I've been masturbating for 14 hours. You should see my dick."

"I am the strongest man alive."

"Great city planning you stupid 19th century Dutch pricks."

"I wish Shane Collins was here. I'd be drinking peach iced tea and the machine would already be in the rinse cycle."

Pulling a washing machine over a railing

Shit I've been getting down with lately:

The Gifthorse - From The Floor Up

Shane sent me the new Gifthorse ep the other day and I can't stop listening to it. It makes me wish I was at home to break my knee for real when they have their launch show. I have been playing it quite a bit in the office and everyone seems to like it. One of the girls said Shane's voice on the Spy vs. Spy cover reminds her of Gavin Rossdale from Bush... Haha. How's your Glycerine, Shane?

Young Governor - Virginia Creeper 7"

Dude from Fucked Up/No Warning's solo band. Super good. Maybe a little Dan Sartain-ish. Listen to it. Have a house party. Play it at that house party. Mack a babe. Woo her with your great taste in music. Tell her an impressive story about your friend Nick who is living in Amsterdam. Kiss her face.

A Guide To Recognising Your Saints

This movie has Robert Downey Jr., (B)Rosario Dawson, Chazz Palminteri and Dianne West in it as well as a bunch of young actors. It is one of the saddest stories/movies I have seen in a while. Kind of like a Wes Anderson movie but not funny, just depressing. It is set in Brooklyn in the 80s and is a true story, based on a book of the same name which I am going to to try and find this week. If you see it at a shop, buy it. If you can download it, do it. The scene with Dianne West and Robert Downey Jr. on the stairs when he goes back to see his parents after 15 years... Holy sad shit. Saddest.

William Elliott Whitmore - Animals In The Dark

We have been listening to this new album a lot at work because ANTI put it out. Really nice album. (Nice). Dude is touring here soon and I will get to see him play a few times. Stoked.

Hertog Jan

I guess this is maybe the Dutch answer to Coopers Pale Ale... In so much as it is brewed with fancy water under strict regulations regarding preservatives and all that shit. Hertog Jan literally translates to Duke John. Top bloke ol' Johnny! I'm thinking to get a Hertog Jan tattoo on my leg at some point before I leave...

Moha!

Gijs and I went to the Ocii (Cool little venue that used to be a squat about 20 years ago and now does proper shows) the other night while Santina stayed home and drank my Jack Daniels. We saw a collaboration between this Norwegian band Moha! and a couple of other people... They had a huge light setup across the front of the stage, like flood lights and strobes and all sorts of gnarly shit. They were kind of like early Fantomas, and were loud as fuck. Couple the sheer volume of their drums and their drum machine and other programming bits, and the blinding lights and it was a pretty awesome show. Gijs didn't like it, I bought a 12".

Shit I've not been getting down with lately:

Ben Lee

We listened to his new album at work a couple of times yesterday. The dude needs to shut his stupid koala looking face. A lot of people hated his older stuff, but I didn't mind some of it. After listening to this contrived horse shit, I can honestly say that if I were to ever be unlucky enough to meet him, I would tell Ben Lee his music really blows. You're not John Lennon, dude. You're not remotely close. You aren't allowed to have a song about Yoko Ono. Fuck. Ergh.

Vegemite

So the one small jar of Vegemite I bought at Brisbane Airport the day I left is well and truly finished. I went for a walk to the US/UK food store the other day which is on one of the busy touristy streets in Central Amsterdam. Luckily they sell antipodean novelties as well! I paid €6 for a 150g jar of Vegemite. I'm a stupid asshole. That is roughly $13 Australian. Old dude running the store must be glad there are douchers like me around who want to make delicious treats for themselves. I have been disfiguring at least four croissants a day in the microwave with Vegemite and cheese. If I keep it up I might become known as Fat Tits Lucas.

Dog shit

The savages living in this city. For the most part, I'm not a huge fan of dogs. Amsterdamians (Amsterdamites? Amsterdamese?) aren't helping me out so much. On every foot path, on every street, everywhere in this city; Dog shit. I haven't tread the stinky line yet, but the day it happens I'm going to fucking flip. I'll take a shit on a dog's foot and then we'll see what's up. Street by street, block by block... A Brownstorm.

Master Crumble for dinner

Learning Dutch

2009-03-09T10:35:00.001-07:00

The Mike Giant way.

Holy shit!

2009-03-09T09:24:00.000-07:00

Dude can climb!
He got to the top on his own but had to use a fire-truck ladder to get down...

Dude decided to climb to the top of a cross, strip, shit in his hand and wipe it on the cross...

Maybe he is the second coming of Christ?
He kind of looks like Jesus but with shorter hair and smellier hands...

From 8 a.m. to around 3:15 p.m. yesterday, an unidentified nude twentysomething man, reported to be suicidal, sat 50 feet in the air atop the cross at West Bethel Presbyterian Church on La Brea Ave. between Wilshire and Olympic. He finally came down after a seven hour confrontation with the fire and police departments (including SWAT), who had placed an air cushion on the ground in case he fell and a ladder for him to climb down on, which he used.

A witness told KTLA that the man told her he was "protesting against Christianity." He apparently climbed up clothed, but stripped and threw is clothes down. His only request during the standoff was a towel to wipe his hands clean after wiping his waste on the cross. An officer told the TV station that one of the crimes he would be arrested for was defacing a church, which is a felony.

(story from: http://laist.com)

"We don't like Jesus either, children."

Party party party

2009-03-08T08:18:00.000-07:00

Santina turned 24 yesterday so she had a little hoo haa. I got pretty leathered, took over the ipod and taught the Dutch all about Australian musicians like Daryl Braithewaite, John Farnham, INXS, Frenzal Rhomb, Toe To Toe, The Gifthorse and Amity. They liked all.

I didn't take many photos, in fact I only got a couple when everyone was here and then when there were only five of us left sat around at 3am... Too much drank.

I learned today that the Dutch say "Ik heb een kater geadopteerd" when they have a hang over. It literally translates to "I adopted a cat". I must be a fucking animal shelter or a demented old cat lady if that is the case.

Santina's mum gave her a Bon Jovi picture book.

Apple cake!

High five!

Sander and his lady were the last to leave. Pretty sure he would have fallen off his bike on the way home. Dude was shit faced.

Gijs!

I like food, food tastes good

2009-03-06T05:35:00.000-08:00

I've travelled as far from Australia as you can go before you start coming back. I'm immersed in a foreign culture and an unfamiliar climate. I "sit on a park bench thats older than my country". All around me fine art adorns the walls of historic buildings. The buildings themselves venerable architectural masterpieces. For centuries Amsterdam has beget poets, artists, musicians, philosophers and other brilliant minds.

It is only fitting then that I pen a blog concerning the preferred food stuffs I've acquired a taste for over the past few weeks. Low brow. Still, who would want to read my opinion on Rembrandt or Caravaggio?

2, 4, 6, 8, blog in, don't wait.

#1 - Party Sticks.
These delicious little guys are simply gerkhins sliced length wise into quarters. I think the appeal lies in the name, because we all know you can get pickles in a jar anywhere in the world, but where the fuck else can you chow down on a party stick?

#2 - Choco Muesli (Master Crumble!)
I stumbled across the poor mans muesli in LIDL the week I arrived. Another brilliant product name - Master Crumble! (I'm quite sure the name is followed by an exclamation point, which makes this cereal especially toothsome). Since then I have stepped it up to other more expensive brands of chocolate infused muesli such as Quaker, Albert Heijn and o'Lacy. However this has not been a gracious choice on my part. LIDL; the poor mans supermache, carries what ever they can get their greasy merchant hands on. They have to ply the bottom feeders with the cheapest products and often times do not replenish stock once it has sold. I speak for Gijs, Santina and myself in saying that we long for the day the Master returns to the shelves and our breakfast (and sometimes mid afternoon) table.

#3 - Strawberry + Orange Juice
My favourite in a series of Albert Heijn exclusive "split" juices. Strawberry and Orange. So simple, yet such a treat for my tastebuds. These fancy fucks are found in the refrigerated section of Albert Heijn which means they are a little more expensive than the other cartons out on the shelves, but goddammit I can taste my extra 25 cents in every drop.

#4 - Stroopwafels
An old favourite of mine. I first encountered the Stroopwafel (English translation is Syrup Waffle) back in 2006. I think they are one of the most famous Dutch treats as most of my friends in the UK used to ask me to bring them back when I would come to Amsterdam. A nice trick with Stroopwafels is to place them on the top of your hot mug of coffee or tea. The heat from your beverage melts the syrup and the snack becomes ten times more delicious.

#5 - Curry Ketchup
You can put this shit on anything. Gijs actually puts it on pretty much anything. The Dutch love to eat fries, and they soak them in either mayonaise, peanut sauce or this spicy liquid. They don't fuck around with the size of the bottle either. I haven't seen one smaller than this juice cannon.

#6 - Pear Icy Poles
Holy Santa shit! Why hasn't someone from Home Ice Cream or Streets or another icecream company in Australia done these? They are without doubt one of the best tasting ice blocks I have ever had. They taste like a really cold pear, on the end of a little wooden stick. Can you taste it right now? Have I whet your appetite? Also - they're like €1.29 for a box of 12. Shit off!

#7 - Capsicum Chips
Santina thought I invented the word Capsicum to try and fool her. I didn't. This is another flavour that the Dutch seem to have conjured while the rest of the world sits eating salt'n'vinegar. Another personal favourite is bolognese chips.

Boring pointless blog. I have one. You read it.

Good work son!

2009-03-04T08:25:00.000-08:00

So you might have read that while I was waiting for Matt and Pat a few weeks ago at the airport I saw a newspaper cover that made me laugh. After having a read of Gareth's blog I found the link to the story. Wow. Look at this fucking kid...He looks like an eight year old. The father that is. He is thirteen now which means he was just twelve years old when he stuck it in. Brilliant. I don't think my dick even worked when I was twelve.

Fatty and skinny went to bed, fatty shat out a kid nine months later.

Byron Baywatch

2009-03-03T10:13:00.000-08:00

The week before I left Austraaaaalia I went to Byron Bay with TVs Ryan Sim for a hang with Kevin and Rosie. Comeback Kid had just toured Aus as well and Casey had stuck around for a bit as well.

I was getting all nostalgic and shit today and found some photos that I took that day. It was an awesome day. We had ribs and chicken for lunch. We also accidently burned the BBQ cover.

Ryan Sim and Kevin Call - completely rad dudes.

Kevin Call cutting chicken behind a photo of himself in New Zealand.

Casey. Normally has better hair than this. Watch his videos - over there on the Bros link.

Junior Master Chef.

I kissed Katy Perry...And I liked it

2009-03-02T07:10:00.000-08:00

Well I didn't really kiss her, but it would have been nice. I would have liked it...
Here is what happened...

Last night Gaslight Anthem and Polar Bear Club were playing at Melkweg in the smaller room, and Katy Perry was playing in the larger room. Gaslight and PBC were great, and I snuck in to watch a few Katy Perry songs as well. Over all, I had a great time - caught up with lots of people who I hadn't seen since I arrived - might have sorted out some possible tour work and maybe some work in Amsterdam as well...

The bands finish and my friend Ernesto and I were having a beer in the lobby bit of the venue where the coat check and the merch tables were...Out of an elevator pops Katy Perry and (presumably) her two assistants...walks straight towards Ernesto and I...

So before I left Australia, "One Summer Crew" (fucking YES Daryl Braithwaite) were blasting at Helmets house and we had a look at the gig listings for Amsterdam for when I got over here...and who should be playing, but Helmet's Summer '09 crush; Katy Perry. I made a promise to the grizzly little man that day that I would track Katy Perry down and make her phone him.

For reference, here is a photo of Helmet. I miss him a lot!

As luck would have it, she walked straight into my arms.

The following conversation ensued:

Me: "Hey Katy."
Katy: "Yeh? Hi."
Me: "Hey, I saw your show, it was really cool."
Katy: "Oh thanks, that's sweet."
Me: "I'm a sweet guy."
Katy's assistant: "Yeh, so we have to keep going to the cab out the front now."
Me: "Wait, I have a friend at home in Australia who really wanted me to try and meet you and get you to phone him."
Katy: "You're from Australia? I fucking love Australia!"
Katy's assistant: "Yeh, so the cab is out the front."
Me: "We'll just be a second here."

At this point, I already have my phone to my ear waiting for Helmet to pick up...

Me: "So can you say hey to my friend? It's ringing now."
Katy: "OK...oh it went to a voice mail..."
Me: "Can you leave a message?"
Katy: "Sure - Hi...uhm, what's your friend's name?"
Me: "Helmet."
Katy: "Like on your head? OK...Hi Helmet! I'm here in Amsterdam with your friend...what's your name again?"
Me: "Nick."
Katy: "I'm here in Amsterdam with your friend Nick and he wanted me to leave you a message - so hey what's up! Good morning! I wish I could have spoken to you!"
Me: "Thanks! He's going to do things to himself while listening to that voice mail you realise..."
Katy's assistant: "Wow...thanks...we have to go now."
Katy: "Nice to meet you Nick."
Me: "You too Katy - bye bye."

I would love to have heard what Helmet would have said to her had he answered his phone... He tells me he was only seconds away from picking it up. Time differences are a motherfuck.

So that was that. If only Ernesto had come through and taken a photo. Alas. You'll have to take my word for it and hope that Helmet gets around to somehow uploading the conversation so we can all whack off while listening to it!

The last supper

2009-02-27T08:20:00.000-08:00

I left London on Thursday morning just gone. On Wednesday night I had dinner at Jimmy's place. He cooked up a mad mexi feast which was a good way to end a quick week in London catching up with everyone.

The trip back to Amsterdam sucked. EasyJet... More like Fucking RudeyJet. The staff and the customers. It is basically a discount supermarket in the air. Real assholes. Real Euro swine.

I might go see M Ward play tonight. Gaslight Anthem and Polar Bear Club are playing on Sunday night and then we might go see Titus Andronicus on Monday or Tuesday? (Ryan might be jealous - that is about it though).

De Zotte tonight. I can't wait.

Job prospects looking up... We'll see.

For British Eyes Only....

2009-02-23T08:04:00.000-08:00

Have been hanging in London for a few days - haven't really been using the camera much.
Hasn't been as cold here as it has in Amsterdam. Have caught up with a lot of people that used to love me. Stayed at my sister and her dude's place a couple of nights, stayed at Gareth and Nina's place on Saturday night, now I'm going to stay with Jaimie and Tim and their unborn son Vince for a couple of nights.

Still sniffing around for some work. Havn't had much luck thus far, but I was expecting that... So I'm just kind of hanging out and enjoying seeing old friends.

Currently sitting in the pub that Jaimie works in Camden. She is pregnant and due on the 3rd of June. I hadn't seen her for about a year so we have been hanging out and she has been serving me a lot of beers. There have been two customers in here over the past five hours. Good times.

Jaimie and I.

Chiswick Tube Station. Saturday afternoon.

Saturday night - Matt, Gareth and Lucy's birthday party. We ended up at The Nordic Bar which is just near Oxford Street and has a shit tonne of beers and drinks that are Scandinavian. Matt was my old boss at Atticus/Macbeth, Gareth is my homeboy who lived in Australia with Nina and I for a year, and Lucy is a good friend who used to work at Atticus/Macbeth as well and lived with Gareth and Jimmy whose couch I crashed for a couple of months. Three of the best Londoners you will ever meet.

Matt and Sabira.

Lucy made Gareth a cooking apron for his birthday.

Gareth and his cousin Nick. Nick was one of the first people I met when I came to London in 2005. Good dude. Loves cats.

Nina, Sari and Lucy.

Jaimie and Tim's cat - Dizzle. Used to be called Pandora until they found out if was a boy.

ps. If you didn't know - you can click on the photos to see the big versions of them.

Back in the state

2009-02-21T02:14:00.000-08:00

I fell asleep on the tube last night and woke up in Ealing Broadway. I now remember the dangers of getting drank in London...

Mum said I swear too much on here, so I am going to curb my enthusiasm from here on and fucking edit my shit before I post it...

Love you mum xo

Scream, shout, rip that mother out

2009-02-17T05:27:00.000-08:00

Santina said one of the funniest things she has ever said to me just before. She asked, "Nick, do you think there are any cultures that lay down to take a shit?"

On Friday morning I woke up at about 9am and got the tram to Central Station, then I got the train to Schiphol Airport. I arrived at 10am. I was of the understanding that Pat and Matt were flying in from London on a British Airways flight that was to arrive at 10am. Unfortunately I'm an ignorant asshole who doesn't read emails properly. The shitty thing is, I wish I could be mad at them, but they gave me the correct flight number and time, I just had my head in my ass and didn't read the message from them... Ugh. I hate myself.

Turns out the guys were arriving on a British Airways flight at 11.25am. In the time I had to kill waiting for a flight that I wasn't sure was ever going to arrive I saw a trashy newspaper with the headline "A DAD AT 13" with a cover shot of a kid who looked no older than 11 cradling his new born son. I wish I'd have taken a photo of that shit, it was hilarious. I watched hundreds of people unload through the arrival gate from four different British Airways flights over the space of an hour and a half. By the time the guys got out I was ready to storm through the customs hall and grab the first two Australians I could find and get the fuck out of there.

Matt, Pat and obnoxious French child

Matt & Pat on the train

We get the train back to Gijs' and Santina's place and on the way, we talk a heap of shit and the guys fill me in about their holidays so far in Barcelona and London. Highlights included something about a dude named "K-hole Matty" who organised for the boys to each pay forty pounds to go to a rave and score a shit tonne of MDMA... Understandably they declined. Matt has a great photo of that guy resting his sandwich on his head while he rolls a cigarette. Genius. Also, both Matt and Pat were pretty haggard because they'd been up all night at a pub where Matt's ex-girlfriend works. Turns out Mastodon were staying in a hotel across the road, and dudes were getting wild until stupid o'clock. I guess dudes with face tattoos know how to party!

To deviate from the story briefly, early that morning I watched the garbage truck drive around the residential streets near Gijs and Santina's place, collecting the trash... Sounds boring huh? Sounds like another Nick Lucas story... WRONG MOTHERFUCKER! Look at these photos. There is a city of fucking trash under this city! The Lost City of Trashlantis! What looks like a simple bin on the side of the road in fact has a container underneath it big enough to drop a car into. Not even a Ford Laser. More like a fucking Jeep Grand Cherokee or something. Amazing. There is a giant magnet hanging from a crane which pulls the whole box out of the trash cave, and dumps it into the back of the truck! Small things I guess... That I was excited by this feat of civil engineering is a window into my mind. I'll endeavour to take some better photos on next week's rubbish day.

Amazing

So Matt and Pat, in Amsterdam.

Day one! We hang out for a bit, go and get some free coffee from Santina. She works in a coffee shop called The Coffee Company which is kind of like Starbucks but with good coffee and less assholes. It snows briefly. We buy some cheap German beers from the poor man's supermarket LIDL, where Matt gets hassled by a homeless guy who parrots everything after Matt says it. We come home and cook some pasta, watch a Kevin Smith spoken word DVD and then go to De Zotte.

Koala sausages

Pepsi bullet

De Zotte is a Belgian beer bar where one of Gijs' friends named Joep works. You might have heard me tell a story about a Belgian beer called Brigand which is 10%, and how I drank six of them when you really should stop after two, and I couldn't talk and almost shit my pants... If not, then you've missed out on a great story about a night which lead to one of my top three hangovers. Anyway, De Zotte is a cosy little non-tourist bar where a group of Gijs' mates go each Friday night to drink beers and be all Dutch and shit. We hang for a few hours and switch beers after a couple of Brigands.

De Zotte Bar

Neils!

A few of us go to the Paradiso to watch a band from Brooklyn called Gang Gang Dance. My friend Neils here vouches for them and so we each pay our €11. If only you could test drive a live show of a band you've never heard. Like you get to watch the first song from the stairs and if you don't like it, you can fuck off and get your €11 back. Alas, not the case. The band is complete horse shit. Just because you've got a girl singer and a dude with more keyboards than the bald asshole from the Letterman Show doesn't mean you are as good as The Knife or Portishead. The band had potential, and Neils assures us that the first album was great but the new stuff they're playing live is lacking. Pity.

Condom vending machine..."Don't open this vending machine by force. It's pointless." Smug fucking Dutch

Day two! Late wake up, subtle hangovers, free coffee and Internet from Santina, I book flights to and from London to stay for a week, we walk to the Anne Frank House and the queue is really big. (I could be uncouth here and say that the line of people looked as long as people waiting to get on a train for a ride to a special camp in Germany...uncouth though, so I won't). We decide to postpone the Anne Frank experience until Monday and instead walk to the Museum Square. We hit up the Rijksmuseum which although is partly out of order due to refurbishments, is still a pretty interesting few rooms. The Van Gough Museum has another one of those 1940s style line ups, so we skip that and Matt goes ice skating while Pat and I take photos of him, laugh as a child kicks his mother with his skate blade after she has fallen onto the ice, and wonder who the guy taking photos of kids next to us is actually related to... Hhmmmm.....

Matt on ice

Matt had a blast

It means "You Can..."

This guy thought it would be a good idea to stand in our photo, and smile at my camera. Asshole.

Home time for a brief sit down and some quick duty free Jack Daniels, then it is off to Maoz (felafel joint) for dinner, and onto the Melkweg (Pointless fact #217: Melkweg is Dutch for Milky Way) to watch Rise Against and Strike Anywhere play. Matt, Pat, Santina and I get pretty drank. Mum and a few of my aunties read this blog, so this is edited version of our night.

Dat three! It is Sunday and I have a pretty gnarly hangover. We get bagels and coffee for breakfast/lunch, Gijs bought another Kevin Smith DVD so we stay in and watch that tonight. We get fast food Mexican for dinner from a place called Taco Mundo up the road. Complete horse shit. Never again. We were going to do one of the touristy things tonight and go watch a live sex show, but everyone is too tired so we might hit that up tomorrow night.

Bagels and Beans - Every Sunday

Day four! Monday...Anne Frank House. I've visited it before but it is still really interesting. Pat and Matt thought the Frank family and co. were hiding in a box under the floor boards and not in an actual house...
We went for a walk through the red light district. Always amusing. There is a kindergarden next to some ladies in some windows... oh you crazy Dutch.

Matt, Pat & Gijs on a canal

Niiiiiiiiiice

Pigeons in this country are fucking huge

Peacing out

2009-02-09T07:41:00.000-08:00

It is 7am on Monday morning here in Amsterdam. I can't sleep and Gijs and Santina don't have an Internet connection in their new flat yet, so I am typing this out in TextEdit, and will hopefully upload it today at some point.

Jetlag wins.

Gijs & Santina's new flat - living room/my temporary bedroom.

Here is a catch up of the past week of my life.

Last Tuesday I went to the doctor on the Gold Coast and got some more asthma medicine. Turns out I have a bronchial problem as well as a sinus problem, so I got some more puffers and nasal sprays. Enough to last me for several months. If the cough hasn't gone by then, then mum has to buy some more shit for me and send it over.

Wednesday I went to the dentist and was lucky enough to score four fillings on the left side of my mouth - two on top, two on the bottom. Needles don't feel great when they are being inserted into your mouth. Obviously needles suck, but I think one of the worst I have ever had was in my gum. With your tongue, feel the hard fleshy part of your mouth at the back above the bottom row of your teeth (your gum)...She put a needle straight into that part. It felt like she pushed it about three inches deep. Anyway - I had a numb mouth all day. I drove to Brisbane and met up with Stevie and Scarlet and Stevie's sisters Rachel and Louise who are visiting from Scotland at the moment. We went for lunch at the place down on the river in the city next to the City Cat stop (I think it is called Groove). It was pretty rad. I'd got the feeling back in my face by that time, so I could chew my food... After that, we went for a drive up to Redcliffe and got some ice-cream and went for a walk out on the pier. Stevie was pretty stoked on the ginger bread flavour he got. Then I drove them all back up to Stevie and Scarlet's place in Scarborough, we hung out for a bit and then I drove back to Brisbane. I went and picked up Ryan and we drove to the UQ to watch Misery Signals and The Amity Affliction play the first show of their tour. The sound was fucking horrible from the back of the room, and I was fucked if I was going up the front with 600 sweaty and disgusting children. Apparently the sound at the front was amazing...too bad. Hung out and said goodbye to a heap of people which was kind of sad, but still kind of unreal - didn't really register that I was leaving in a day.

Thursday morning I woke up in a spare room at Ryan's house and remembered some gnarly dream that I had that night in which I think my mum punched in me in the face...hhmmm... Ryan and I drove into the city to go see Wade and Stevie at Wild At Heart for a couple of farewell tattoos. Wade had an awesome flash book from a heap of different artists and we decided to do a Tupac tattoo on my leg. We had planned to do Jesus and Tupac staring at each other, but I guess we ran out of time. Pretty happy with my latest edition to the leg of lines.

Sorry mum.

Stevie was meant to do a rose on the back of my forearm, but I guess my indecisiveness and a few other factors put me off (mainly I'm a pussy and didn't want to leave mum and dad being pissed off about me having another tattoo, and I realised that for 30 hours of transit, the fresh tattoo would be on an arm rest shared with some asshole who would undoubtedly knock it every few minutes). No tattoo for me. Sorry Stevie. I'll get something that day I come home. Ryan, Anna and I then went to see Joel and Louisa for me to say a quick final goodbye. I'll miss both of those shit heads a lot. So by this time, I was feeling pretty weird because I had finally come to the realisation that this time tomorrow I wouldn't be in the country. Ryan, Anna and I went to the Alibi Room and had some lunch and then I dropped both of them home, and drove back to the Gold Coast being a sad guy listening to Jawbreaker. I saw both my pairs of grandparents and said goodbye to them. That's some sad shit right there. Went and changed some cash into Euros and got completely raped by the exchange rate. $1 AUS buys 50 cents EURO. Goodbye half my savings. I then went home and hung out with the cat for a while, mum came home and we went and picked dad up from the airport and had some dinner. Then mum and I packed up all my shit. I think I packed pretty lightly this time. Everything fit in two bags and then I had a backpack as carry on. What did I take with me to last a year overseas? A sleeping bag (in case I end up doing tours again), one pair of jeans, one pair of shoes, two thermal tshirts, boxer briefs, an assortment of socks (regular black business socks, sports style ankle socks and thick, warm winter socks), a shit tonne of tshirts, two hoodies, a few long sleeve button up shirts, a few short sleeve button up shirts, my Kill The Music baseball tee which I intend to wear in front of touristy landmarks and send photos of back to Paul and Dan so I can feature in all their advertisements, laptop, ipod, ipod speaker dock, camera, two books (The Incredible Lightness of Being and The Picture of Dorian Grey), a bag of toiletries and a bag of adaptors and cables. Went to bed at around 1 or 2am.

Friday morning, mum, dad and I woke up at 5am and left for the airport. My body clock was already fucked from having such a hectic day on Thursday and then only getting three hours sleep that night... So began the hours of transit... I checked in for my flight and managed to score an emergency exit seat so I would have a bit more leg room. Sat with mum and dad for a bit and then said goodbye. Saying goodbye to people you love is fucked. That's life though I guess.

Gate 84 - Brisbane International.

I sat around in the familiar departure lounge of Brisbane International for the next few hours. I bought Gijs and Santina a kangaroo oven mit for their new flat, and I bought myself a jar of vegemite. I now realise I should have bought three of them. My flight left at 9.30am Eastern Standard Time. I had been awake for 4.5 hours. I then had a ten(?) hour flight to Singapore which was surprisingly boring. Normally I like flying, but this was kind of shitty. There was a dude sat next to me at the emergency exit who had found his seat before me and had claimed the arm rest that we were supposed to share (automatically glad I didn't get tattooed). After take off I tried to pull my TV up out of the seat, but it was stuck. The flight was pretty empty so the stewardess (who wasn't very nice) moved me over to the next row and pulled the TV out there as if I was a retard. My luck...of course the piece of shit doesn't show the image properly. She pretty much says that it's too bad and I have to put up with it. So I watch Burn After Reading with the screen flashing and static lines running through the feed. After a while I ditch it in favour of my laptop and watch the first three episodes of LOST Season 5. This makes me feel a lot better about my unsavoury surroundings. Hey friends reading this who don't like LOST; you're idiots. Shit has gotten so real. So, so real. So after some average airline food, we arrive into Singapore Changi International Airport Terminal 2 at around 2pm local time (by this time I have been awake for around 15 hours).

This is where time starts to blur for me.

I didn't sleep at all on the flight to Singapore, and I now have a ten hour stop over. I get the monorail from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3 and soon realise exactly how huge this airport is. I spend the next ten hours doing the following: Free Internet, walk though the terminal to the restaurants, eat a curry and drink a beer, go to the free cinema and watch Oceans 13, go and pay $8 for a shower, shower, change clothes, go to the butterfly enclosure, go and watch Willy Wonka at the free cinema, go and get a burger and chips from an "American Diner", walk around the terminal, free Internet, talk shit to the girl in the Apple shop and pretend like I am going to buy a heap of accessories for my MacBook but then don't, go and watch Music & Lyrics (Hugh Grant, if you're reading this you're a complete prick), buy a giant bottle of Jack Daniels, go to a little restaurant called Toast Box(?) and get a big slice of peanut butter toast and lime juice, walk from one end of the terminal to the other which takes around 40 minutes and then sit at my departure gate for an hour and get some more free internet in. (I've now been awake for around 25 hours).

Butterfly enclosure...why bother?

Singapore Changi International - Huge.

A garden inside an airport.

The flight from Singapore to Amsterdam is 13 of the most mundane hours of my life. The flight is completely booked out and I am given a window seat which is complete horse shit on a night time flight. Oh look! The sky is black above Asia just like it is black above Africa just like it is black above Europe. I managed to sleep during take off, but that was it for the whole flight. I was agitated and restless, so the sleeping couple next to me copped a wake up every couple of hours when I squeezed past them to go to the toilet and walk around. "Why didn't you sleep?" I hear you ask. Well thanks to huge Dutch guy sat behind me who was smart enough to take some sleeping pills, I didn't sleep a wink for thirteen hours due to his snoring. He snored for around ten hours. What could I have done? Asked for some earplugs. That is what I could have fucking done. I'm an idiot and didn't though. Hoorah! Instead, I watched Burn After Reading again, Kill Bill Vol. 1 (twice), an episode of The Simpsons, Little Britain Down Under, Back To The Future 1, Back To The Future 2 and played Super Mario for a while on the built in game console thing. To continue my run of bad luck with the TVs on these flights, only one of the ears on the head phones worked. Brilliant. More shit food and an old lady pushing in line for the toilet, and I am finally in Amsterdam! (I have now been awake for around 38 hours).

Dutch customs guy doesn't ask me any questions or look at the visa in my passport, he just stamps it and sends me on my way. I wait for around half an hour for my bags and the finally come out - my black bag sans one wheel (but still in working order). A lady with a sniffer dog walks past me as I queue up in the Nothing To Declare line. I don't know who I was more threatened by... I walk out the doors and Gijs and Santina are waiting for me! Super fucking stoked! Almost cried in relief haha. We jump the train and Gijs went to work once we got back into the city. Santina took me back to their new flat which is super nice, and I had a shower and napped for a couple of hours. Then our friend Patrick came over and we got some lunch and talked shit for a while. We walked into central and I bought a new jacket from H&M as well as a Dutch SIM card. It is around 0 degrees and I am so happy to not be sweating anymore. Of all the things I know I will miss from home, the heat is not one of them.

What is uglier than Crocs? Winter Crocs.

New jacket.

I jumped the line for a photo in the clog... These three were super pissed off.

I'm in your video game, killing your aliens.

Santina and I go past the Paradiso which is one of the two big venues in Amsterdam where international bands play, and we see hundreds of kids with stupid hair and stupider clothes. This can mean only one thing...There's a good chance I will know whoever is playing there. We go and get a street-press magazine so we don't have to talk to any of the kids, and what do you know...Mindless Self Indulgence are playing. I did a Europe tour with these guys in 2007 and though their music isn't really my cup of Earl Grey, they are some of the friendliest people I have ever met. I get in touch with their tour manager and organise to go to the show and catch up with them. Gijs comes home from work, and we go and get dinner at MAOZ (I'll be making a blog about that place soon), then go to the show and end up drinking a bottle of Jack on the bus and taking Kitty their drummer out afterwards. We get shit faced and go to a metal bar called The Cave then to The Melkweg.

Kitty & I.

Gijs partying with 2 bottles of Coke. That's 2 Utah.

Pretty intense first day in Amsterdam. Sunday's hangover is pretty epic. We go to Bagels and Beans and eat a shit load of bagels and drink a shit load of coffee. It snowed like a motherfucker for about half an hour. I wish it had have snowed for longer, and I forgot to take a photo. John and his girlfriend come along, and so does Caspar. It's rad to see these people who I haven't seen in over a year. We walk around the city, go and get more coffee and then go to Wagamama for dinner. Gijs, John and their friend Jascha go to watch Jedi Mind Tricks play at the Melkweg. I haven't heard them and I am super tired so I go home and fall asleep within 20 minutes. It is now 10am and I just made a delicious sandwich. Today I have to go to the City Hall and get the rest of my visa sorted out, then I have to go and register to live and rent in Amsterdam, maybe go to a bank and sort out an account, and then try to organise to catch up with some people to try and get some work!

Like it warns at the ABOUT ME of this blog, that story seemed pretty long winded and boring. I hope you enjoyed it.

31.01.09

2009-01-31T23:41:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos from my farewell day/night of party.

Contradulations

2009-01-28T06:20:00.000-08:00

Tonight I ate a steak for the first time in a couple of years.

Mum, Dad, Maria, Trad and I went to the Norman Hotel.

I'm not going to lie... It was delicious.

Taco

2009-01-27T01:02:00.000-08:00

More ants

2009-01-26T01:00:00.000-08:00

So I get the train to the Gold Coast today. I'm listening to the new Rollo Tomassi album on my ipod and what do I notice as I am scrolling through the menu?

There are more fucking ants crawling out of the adapter hole on the bottom of the ipod. I spent a hole hour killing ants. One after the other. Crawling out of my ipod and onto my hands. Ant holocaust.

As much as I love living with Trad, Maria and Justin at the moment, I cannot wait to get away from the thousands of bastard ants in that house who are making my life hell.

I am worried that when I go through customs next week and all my shit goes through the X-ray machines, there is going to be an ant colony living in each of my electrical appliances.

Arrested for ant smuggling. I am the Shapelle Corby of insects.

Party til you puke

2009-01-24T20:44:00.000-08:00

Say hello to my little friend

2009-01-22T03:45:00.000-08:00

I just bought this little fella.
Sims got me a sweet hook up as well because he used to work at the shop where I bought it...

Was $380...
JB was selling it for $350
Staff discount price was $310
Dude did us a deal so it was $280
I had a $30 voucher...

Final price = $250.
Fucking stoked.

I would have liked to have taken the digital SLR that mum and dad got for me last Christmas, but it is a big old bastard... Not the best to be carting around if I am not in the one place for too long etc...

Also, I will be making videos with this camera. Documenting my life. Making short movies for you to watch. Educational films of how I am spending my time in The Netherlands.

14 days to go....

Festivus for the rest of us!

2009-01-21T00:56:00.000-08:00

I found some photos I took at Christmas.

Jayne and Gary losing to me at Scrabble

Gary having a tipple

Jayne scoring some presents

Nanna preparing an awesome salad

Poppa, Dad, Nanna, Mum, Poppa, Grandma

Ants

2009-01-20T03:08:00.000-08:00

I fucking hate ants.

Crawling in my bed.
Crawling in my laptop.
Crawling in my shoes.
Crawling in the bag of jelly beans my mum bought me.
Crawling in the couch.
Crawling on the bench.

Little assholes.

Lesson 1

2009-01-18T05:19:00.000-08:00

Today I got the Pimsleur Dutch Lessons audiobook. 30 half hour lessons to teach me conversational Dutch. They recommend half an hour each day, but I do so little work at my job, that I will more than likely be fluent by the end of this week.

18 days to go.... Shit is getting real.

A tattoo isn't just for Christmas

2008-12-22T17:26:00.000-08:00

For the past few months I have been working weekends on the desk at Wild At Heart Tattoo. It has been a fucking blast – hanging and talking shit with two of my good mates Stevie and Wade who tattoo there. Pretty simple job for me – clean up the shop in the morning, keep the guys’ work areas fresh, book people in for tattoos and get quotes off the guys for tattoos that people want done…

This is the most enjoyable part of the job. Seeing what unbelievably shitty tattoos people want to get. The following Top Five encapsulates the boring, the weird, the disgusting and the fucked up things that some strange people want tattooed on their skin.

I only wish I had have taken my camera to work with me every weekend. A picture would probably tell the story better than I can. Alas, enjoy the following and be thankful none of us are as shit as these people.

1. FUCK THE POLIEE

Homeboy walks in with his little trophy girlfriend hanging off his arm. He was about 6"4 with snap pants, oversized white singlet, huge gold chain with a dragon hanging off the end of it. Refelcto sunglasses and the gnarliest skullet I have ever seen. Completely shaved on top, with long black hair from the back past his shoulders. Jesus.

Dude asks me if we do touch-ups and I know straight away that his tattoo is going to be a disgusting prison looking piece of shit. He lifts up his singlet to expose one of the best tattoos I have ever seen. Across his stomach in two lines are the words...

FUCK THE
POLICE

Unfortunately for him, whichever one of his deadshit mates did it put what appeared to be a line coming from the centre of the C which made it look like an E.
Ronnie tattooed him (I think because neither Stevie or Wade wanted anything to do with the fuck-up) and he cringed and squirmed like a child dressed in gangsters clothing.

2. PEACE SIGN WITH SYMBOL FOR WOMAN AND SYMBOL FOR MAN

One quiet afternoon while I was sat at the desk, minding my own business and reading a book, a dude in his mid thirties walks in and saddles straight up to the front of the desk. I look up from my novel and am immediately disgusted. What looks like an upright and fully grown gollum is stood in front of me, clutching a bag from Priceline and grinning like a rapist with yellow teeth.
He leant in and placed his hands (longest fingernails on a dude I have ever seen) on the counter, and the following conversation took place; (Next time you see me get me to do an impression of this guy...he kind of hissed his words like a pedophile snake. Also, he stank like a thousand cigarettes...that is why his name is in this colour!)

Fingernail rapist: "Good afternoon young man, how arrrrre you today?"
Me: "Ummm............fine thanks. Can I help you?"
Fingernail rapist: "Mmmm..... I want to get a tattooooo..... Do you have a piece of paper I can draw what I want on...."
Me: "Ugh, yeh, here."
Fingernail rapist: "Do you have a pencillll......?"
Me: "Ergh, here."
Fingernail rapist: (Starts drawing with shakier hands than my own) "Mmm... Do you know the peace sign? Mmmm.... Of course you do..."
(Draws the peace sign, then looks up at me with a smile and nods)
Me: ".....OK."
Fingernail rapist: "Mmmm... That is the peace sign. Do you like it?"
Me: "Ummmm...." (I look over to Stevie but he is too busy tattooing to notice what is happening)
Fingernail rapist: "Do you know the symbol for woman? Mmmm you know, the circle with the cross coming off ittttt.......?"
Me: "Yeh.... I know it."
Fingernail rapist: "Mmmm well I want the peace sign like this, with the symbol for woman coming off it.... But I also want the symbol for man coming off it as well.... Do you know what I mean?"
Me: *speechless*
Fingernail rapist: "Well this is what I want... What do you think about this? Where should I get it? I was thinking on my stomach, just here..." (Lifts up t-shirt and shows me his stomach)
Me: "The guys are booked out until February. You're going to have to go to another shop."

I was walking to the shop about two weeks later from my flat and I spotted the scumbag up ahead of me on the footpath rolling a cigarette. I had my headphones in and tried to walk looking straight ahead, but he managed to block my path and stood in front of me signalling for me to take out the headphones...
Reluctantly I did, and the following conversation took place;

Fingernail rapist: "Ooohhhh HI! Do you remember me?"
Me: "No."
Fingernail rapist: "Ohhhh but I came into your shop and asked you about a tattoo..."
Me: "Yeh? Well a lot of people come into that shop."
Fingernail rapist: "Oooh well I might come in again to see you..."
Me: *speechless*

I then walked to Coles, did my shopping, walked home and checked over my shoulder every few seconds to make sure my new friend hadn't followed me. He was a truly disgusting dude.

3. SOUTHERN CROSS WITH RAINBOW

Anyone reading this who has a Southern Cross tattoo... Sorry, but it is shit. Other than tribal and lower back tattoos on pub-sluts, Southern Crosses are the pits.

You're from Australia and you're proud? That is awesome! I've got to tell you though, there are better ways to display your nationalism.

You're a young backpacker trekking around Australia? Terrific! Don't get a tattoo of the Southern Cross. Get a tattoo of map of Australia with a little X marked on every spot you got laid. Get a comdey kangaroo stealing a baby. Get a shark eating a dingo. Get someone committing suicide off the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Get anything but a Southern Cross.
The best spin on this shitty tattoo that I experienced while working at the shop was from an American girl who phoned up and asked the following; "Can I get a Southerns Cross (yes, she called it a Southerns Cross) on the bottom of my back, but I want each star to be a different colour of the rainbow!"

I laughed and hung up on her. Idiot.

4. MERMAID IN A WHEELCHAIR

Dude walks into the shop and tells me Stevie is tattooing him tomorrow and that he had to drop in the picture. I unfold the piece of paper, and staring sadly back at me is a young mermaid with exposed flacid breasts, sat in a wheelchair with an IV drip stand next to her and a blanket covering the top of her tail/flipper. I lose my shit.

This is one of the best, yet one of the worst tattoos I have ever seen. The dude tells me he drew it and is super pumped to be getting it tattooed on the top of his forearm. I walk out to the baclony where Stevie is having a cigarette and show him the picture. I can't fully describe the number of emotions he exhibited when he saw the picture.
Stevie comes in and asks the guy why he wants such a ridiculous picture tattooed on his forearm. Dude says that he used to think people in wheel chairs were mermaids and that is why they couldn't walk and why they would have blankets over their laps...to hide their flipper/tail. Brilliant.

5. JAH WARRIOR

This is one of my favourites. Simple but hilarious and kind of unbelievable. Regular dude walks in to the shop. Beyond regular, in fact dude has a bit of a geek thing going on. He comes up to the counter really quietly and pulls his mobile out of his pocket... Plays around with it for a second and then looks up at me and says;

"Hi. I'd like someone to tattoo this on my arm please. Just as it is there. Exactly as it is."

He flips his phone around and shows me a picture on the screen. In a font that was somehow more boring than Times New Roman, there are the words; JAH WARRIOR.

The man standing in front of me waiting expectantly for a quote on a tattoo is the furthest removed person from who I would invisage a Jah Warrior to be. I would expect a gruff, heavy-set black man with solid dread locks, wearing some type of typical Rastafarian get up, packing a shiv and a bag of weed.

I generally won't bother showing the guys ridiculous tattoo requests when they are busy, but I can't resist the urge to see Stevie's reaction. Needless to say, he laughed like a drunk cat, and I returned the phone to Jah Warrior.

If only i'd had my camera to take photos of these and the other assholes who kept me entertained for a few months.

Ummm....

2008-12-22T01:55:00.000-08:00

Diplo never sounded so good.

Mug Mug Mug!!!

2008-12-21T02:42:00.000-08:00

I worked what might be my final shift at Wild At Heart today. Working in a tattoo shop has been one of the best ways to spend my weekends for the last few months. So many retarded people out there. I'm going to do a top 5 worst tattoo requests list tomorrow when I'm not so tired. I'm going to miss working in that shop.

Scrad and I got up at stupid o'clock this morning to go and get Descendents tattoos before I started work. I was still drunk/extremely hungover and almost greened out while Wade was blitzing my leg.

Will all my grown up friends say, they've seen it all before.
They say hey act your age, and I'm immature.

I think I'm destined to never see The Big Lebowski in its entirety ever. Blockbuster are dropping the ball on the one service they're supposed to provide. Renting out DVDs for me to watch on my television. I don't want to get part way through a movie and have it stop working. Sort it out Blockbuster. I need to know more about The Dude.

I can't wait for LOST Season 5. Fuck the haters, this show is brilliant. I watched most of Season 4 again this week on the days I had off sick from work. So good. Look at the promo of the main characters for Season 5. Only a month until it starts. YESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!

I'm about to have some night time cold and flu tablets and peace the fuck out. Yahtzee.

I'm cooler than a polar bear's toes

2008-12-18T23:28:00.000-08:00

I received an exciting phone call yesterday afternoon from mum when she got home from work. My passport and Visa package had arrived - I had it sent to mum and dad's place because our letterbox is on the main road and I don't really trust having my passport and birth certificate etc sent hurrr.

So she opens it up while on the phone to me and crushes my high spirits by telling me the Visa is only stamped for three months... I was pretty bummed and worried that I would have to send it back to Canberra or that I had been denied completely. So I phoned the Netherlands Consulate this morning and had a chat to homegirl for a few minutes. She explained that the Visa in my passport is merely an entry Visa and that once I arrive I have to go to town hall or the local council and receive my 12 month Visa.

YAHTZEE!

Safe with the knowledge that everything had been approved and I would be granted entry and allowed to work, I jumped a bus to STA travel to see babe who had been sorting out all my arrangements and itinerary details.

20 minutes and $XXXX later, I jumped a bus home with the following booked in:

Friday 06-Feb-09
Singapore Airlines - Flight: SQ0256
Departs Brisbane International: 09:30
Arrives Singapore Changi: 15:15

Friday 06-Feb-09
Singapore Airlines - Flight: SQ0324
Departs Singapore Changi: 23:50
Arrives Amsterdam: 06:35 (Saturday 07-Feb-09)

I looked up Singapore Changi Airport today and it is pretty much like Disney Land. There are three cinemas, a swimming pool with complimentary towel, shower and non-alcoholic beverage upon arrival. The airport hosts the first butterfly enclosure in an airport anywhere in the world. There are 4 other huge garden areas, a plethora of fine dining choices as well as the usual duty free international airport garb. Super stoked though - I'm going to soak like a fiend in that pool for 7 hours.

So that is that. I'm going to kick Europe in the face from the 7th of February.

Here are a couple of photos of me hitting golf balls at the driving range on Wednesday night. Jackson's dad John was in town for the week so we went to smack the shit out of some balls with Matt, Nathan and Ryan. Nathan has one of the most aggressive and unpredictable back swings I have ever seen. He hit the ball so hard that the end of his driver broke off and went almost as far as the ball.

The strongest man alive.

My dad taught me well.

Whoa...

In other news, I didn't go to work today because I woke up and felt like I had cracked a rib or something. Definitely fucked myself up more than I thought I did last Sunday at the rock pools. My arm is still purple like a grape, but now I have a cold and everytime I cough I double over and it feels like something in my chest is broken.

Also, what the fuck is up with this heat. Disgusting. Uncomfortable. Humid.

Too much whinging. Not enough partying.

Scrad and I are getting DESCENDENTS tattoos on Sunday. Super stoked.

Balloons and Bruises and Beats

2008-12-16T22:52:00.000-08:00

My housemate Jackson graduated a psych degree yesterday so I bought some balloons while I was at the shop buying a family size vege and tofu pie.

I wrote some shit on them and pegged them to our clothes horse.

Jackson is the smartest man alive. Though I did beat him at Scrabble yesterday with my best score ever... 346 to 220. I am the strongest man alive.

Other than that, on Sunday afternoon two car loads of us went up past Samford to some rock pools for a swim and a bit of a rock jump.

After getting blasted by Joel and Helmet for being a pussy, I finally jumped off the biggest motherfucker there... I'm not good at estimating heights etc, but it was gnarly. I got the leg wobbles it was so high.

So I jumped it and jumped it again and then again - shit was awesome.
Unfortunately on my third jump from the motherload, I kept my arms out to the sides making my body into a T shape...

Arms smashed into the water...
My ass smashed into the water...

Here is a photo of my arm. No photo of ass. It feels a lot worse than it looks and the light in this photo isn't the best...but that shit is purple and sore as fuck.
(Tattoo girl looks like she has copped a beating)

One last thing - I found this on a music blog yesterday - it is awesome. Joel thinks the name sounds "really gay", but I can assure you it is awesome. Download it right hurrrr...

Kid Cudi - A Kid Named Cudi

http://10deep.com/KIDCUDIMIXTAPE/

Countdown to oblivion

2008-12-16T01:10:00.000-08:00

In 50 days I will be leaving Brisbane to live in Amsterdam for one year.
I thought I'd start this blog because no one really reads myspace bulletins or blogs, and there are too many assholes from my school that I don't like on facebook.

I will endeavor to keep this page updated with exciting/mundane news of my travels and my everyday life while I am raging through the next year.

So I guess i'll leave it at that for the moment.

50 days until departure. Maximum Brisbane party from now until then.