Monthly Archives: October 2010

Music snobbery – blog 1 in Random Numbers

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Red_record

 

Some girl thought that some random blog prompts around things around and about the house would be a good idea to get the blog going. Here we go…

 

Blog 1: Music snobs

Look at your music library - records, CDs, iTunes. How many albums do you have on each? How many hours on iTunes? Do you love any albums so much you have purchased them in multiple formats?

 

After a quick count* I seem to have 87 CDs (this does not count the 10 stuck in my broken CD stacker in the car), 99 LPs (including the red one pictured) and 250 albums (or 960 songs) on iTunes. The only albums I have on vinyl, CD and iTunes are Jeff Buckley’s Grace and Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky. These albums are unendingly enjoyable.

 

My recent purchasing habits are a mixture of iTunes store, record or CD and they are almost all spur of the moment purchases. I’ve been stocking up on CDs by The National lately – I’m going to the second of three gigs at The Powerstation in January (hurrah) and the most recent song I purchased on iTunes seems to be Poi E. The latest LP I bought was the one mentioned in yesterday’s blog and I’m still loving the FREE album by Avalanche City that I blogged about a couple of weeks ago. Its amazing when you get blown away by the music of a hardworking and talented unknown artist.

 

I like music. It is a very powerful medium for communication and a mood altering non-substance. I’m trying to make sure there is plenty of happy music being played to my appreciative ears and impressionable self.

  

*Results not guaranteed 

 

The random numbers blog challenge #randomnumbers

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The-pains-of-being-pure-at-hea

The bloggity blog has stuttered to a halt since I finished the 30 Days of Me challenge. So imma start a new challenge, based on things in my house and numbers. The concept came to me as I considered my small but delightfully formed record collection and the latest addition The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.

 

So dearest bloggersphere – join me and make this challenge your own. There are only 12 topics so the commitment is pretty minor. Use the number questions as a starting point or keep it short and sweet. Make up your own titles. Get out your camera. Hashtag = #randomnumbers.

 

Randomness and humour are encouraged. Oversharing is banned. Photos make you blogs 47% cooler.

 

Blog 1: Music snobs

Look at your music library – records, CDs, iTunes. How many albums do you have on each? How many hours on iTunes? Do you love any albums so much you have purchased them in multiple formats?

 

Blog 2: Shoes

How many pairs do you have? Breakdown into dressy, sporty, casual. Post a photo of your favourite pair and say why.

 

Blog 3: Look at me

 How many photos of you are there on Facebook? (Tagged – it shows when you go to your profile). Post one – not the one that makes you hottest, but one that shows you having the most fun.

 

Blog 4: Drink up

How many bottles are in your liquor cabinet, cupboard, fridge? What’s your fave?

 

Blog 5: Help in the kitchen

How many kitchen appliances do you have? Which one couldn’t you live without?

 

Blog 6: Say cheese

How many types of cheese do you have in your fridge?

 

Blog 7: The city uniform

How many black tops do you own?

 

Blog 8: Magnetism

How many magnets are on your fridge and where did they come from?

 

Blog 9: Tea-totaller

How many types of tea do you have? If the answer is 0 – what’s your alternative?

 

Blog 10: Green thumbs  

How many pot plants (of a legal nature) do you have? What are they? How many are healthy? If yours are thriving – what is your secret?

 

Blog 11: Bookworm

How many books do you own? How many library books do you have out? Any collections of authors (e.g. I own 27 Agatha Christie books). How many are currently living by your bed?

 

Blog 12: Collection

Is there something you are a collector of? What is it? Stamps? My Little Ponies? Tea pots? Power tools? How many do you have? How did you get started?

The Delorean

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Twenty five years since Back to the Future. That terrifies me. Anyone else? Its one of the few movies I can remember from childhood along with Bambi and Charlottes Web (both providing shocking introductions to the concept of a loved one dying) and Crocodile Dundee (the movie that reinforced ridiculous Australian stereotypes and script gems like “that’s not a knife”).

I think I’ll always love the BTTF franchise – I remember how incredible it seemed that they’d been able to put the Michael J Fox on screen in three different characters at the same time in the second installment. Now I think about it, I’m kind of disappointed that I still don’t have a hoverboard.

My unexpected role model Lauren Conrad

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Yes, yes, she stared out in reality television, but now she’s a designer, a humanitarian and a New York Times bestselling author. So don’t judge me, I mean her, until you’re a bestseller.   Great hair… naughty language. But the message is important… especially the bit about skinny jeans on guys. The lie has gone on too long! Nice one LC.

One-man-band Avalanche City debut reaches 1745 downloads in first 48 hours after release

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Avalanche_city

 

As Avalanche City, Avondale musician Dave Baxter has taken the idea of a solo project one step further with the release of Our New Life Above The Ground, an album he recorded at Kourawhero Country Community Hall in one week in April, playing all the instruments and recording the album himself.

Aiming to encourage wide distribution by releasing the album for free, Our New Life Above The Ground was released at 3pm on 11 October. The release was primarily promoted by a Facebook event invitation. By the following morning over a thousand downloads had taken place and the count reached 1745 by 3pm today.

The experimental folk-pop album is a departure for the musician who has previously played in hardcore bands One Must Fall and The Chase and made his living working in a recording studio as well as writing music for television and commercials and recording for bands including Trigger Theory and Arms Reach. He started teaching himself to sing a year before starting to record the album.

Baxter says that when he set out to record the album he tried to approach music from the point of view where anything could happen.

“I tried really hard to just let the songs go where it seemed they wanted to go. Whether it be just a single guitar and keys, or 40 floor tom drums pounding out the rhythm.

“For a lot of the songs I actually tried to stay away from the “band” sound, so although most of the songs have drums, they’re drums that aren’t played as a drum kit. I mic’ed up individual snares and played them as if they were their own instrument, and the same with the kick and the toms.

“One song I’d written on guitar and it just wasn’t working so I played the whole thing on glockenspiel and I think it really worked. It was just really nice to have freedom to try new things.

“For me the album was a real adventure and I was excited about trying new ideas and experimenting. I hope when you listen you can kind of hear that adventure in the songs.” 

There are plans for Avalanche City to tour in January and at the same time release the cardboard cut out animation video for the album’s first track Love Love Love which is currently in production.

Our New Life Above The Ground is available for free download from www.avalanchecity.com and you can talk to him at @hiavalanchecity on twitter or like him on Facebook.

 

30 Days of Me: Day 30 – At long last

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Day 30- Your favorite song

I may have commented that this ‘challenge’ asks some pretty intrusive questions and this final one is no exception. I will be judged by all, and even sundry, about my musical taste and what my choices say about my personality, psyche and indie hipster potential.

So, in view of my deep concern and chronic indecisiveness, I decided to go to the one place that wouldn’t tell a lie, and hope that it wouldn’t say something really embarrassing.

According to iTunes. My most played and therefore ‘favorite’ song is Intro, by the xx. Can a song called Intro be a ‘favorite’ song?

And that my lovelies, is the end of 30 Days of Me, a study in navel-gazing. Next up, 30 Days of Cheese.

 

30 Days of Me: Day 29 – Thing I’ve learned

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Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned?

In the last month I have learned that:
  • People will ‘like’ absolutely anything on Facebook
  • You can drop last minute council votes at the library
  • Sally Hawkins is cool, especially in Made in Dagenham
  • It is possible to survive a blog challenge with ridiculously intrusive questions as long as you take a tongue in cheek attitude
  • People are much happier when its sunny
  • I really like my job – I knew this already, but have had some great moments lately
  • There are washing lines on the other side of my apartment block – thanks google earth!

30 Days of Me: Day 28 – Time to make a change…

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Untitled

 

Day 28 – A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?

This is me at Fashion Week last year. I was pretty excited about spending a day down there, gazing at people in their look at me outfits, drinking bubbly and hanging out with my buddy Te Waka. This year I didn’t get to see anything, except for an epic trip to the designer garage sale which was very rewarding. Te Waka doesn’t live in Auckland any more, which is un-fun.

I think it has been a tough twelve months in different ways for almost everyone who matters to me. My own tough moments and seeing other people’s pain has taken its toll at times and I think in some ways it has made me change into someone who is less bouncy and more reserved and even cynical. Its not a great thing. Perhaps as spring comes its time to come out of hibernation a little bit.

Bring on the sunshine.

 

30 Days of Me: Day 26 – Befriended

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Day 26- What you think about your friends

I don’t want to make you feel bad about your friends, but mine are more talented, caring, inspirational and good looking than most. In addition to this, they’re intelligent (which is why they chose to have me in their lives), amazing cooks and extremely witty.

I especially value friends who enjoy sharing meals, jokes, stories and have the ability to have chats about the important and trivial. A passion for hot chips and good music helps too.

I’m blessed with amazing friends and I’m incredibly grateful for this. I have lots of high-grade acquaintences too, but it takes a bit of time to really become a friend. I’ve lived away from my immediate family for a significant period of time and like many, I have developed a faux family – a title which doesn’t really do justice to the fabulous people who not only get to enjoy my company and the good times, but get the tears and whinges too. Lucky them…