Easter in Melbourne

Easter weekend..4 days, why not fly to Melbourne and check it out?!

Sydney is to Toronto as Melbourne is to dare I say Montreal? It's got a lot of culture, lots of things going all the time and people are very cool there too!

Luckily an old friend from Brantford(Adam Weir-piano man extraordinaire), lives there now with his bandmates-members of "Jive Crank"(other members Steve and Andrew), and I was glad to stay with him instead of the seedy hostel I had booked. I saw most of the city, and got in some "Jive Crank" shows...altogether it was a great trip. So good in fact that I have been considering moving from Sydney to Melbourne...definately recommend to anyone who's out here, or considering coming out here.

Enjoy the pics! Sorry the band pics weren't the best...

Elbow Live at Home Bar (Sydney, AU)

You can't say anything bad about these guys. First off, the support band couldn't say anything but a million thank yous for allowing them to tour with Elbow and if you've seen them live you know why.
These guys are so laid back and genuinely nice it's refreshing! Before their first song they introduced the audience to Matilda, a young girl from Melbourne who is a big fan but was not of legal age to get into the venue, but they pulled a few strings and made sure she was in the front row with her family.
I met Guy in Manchester in October, and he was just the nicest guy and so appreciative and easy going. It really made the show even more amazing because they were just nice guys...
Anyways, the music was awesome too! HAHA...
If you don't own any of their music you have to pick some up!! NOW!

Not the best pics, sorry it was really smoky in there.

The Dears Live at Home Bar (Sydney, AU)

Once again, The Dears put on an amazing show!! They're new album "Gang of Losers" is deadly, and their live performance is even more so...

This was my 3rd time to catch these guys in the past year, to be honest the Glasgow show was a touch better, but this was a good one none the less...AND I met Patrick after the show and got a picture(which didn't turn out if you've seen my camera you understand why)... The photo with Valerie however did come out..

The opening act was Aussie band "Dappled Cities Fly", who put on quite a show themselves, and I'm picking up their album next time I'm in a shop. If you've never heard of them, give them a listen. If you don't own any of The Dears music, seriously consider picking some up...they're amazing AND Canadian.

KILL ALL INCANDESCENT LIGHTS BY END OF MARCH!!

Hey all if you haven't begun already now's the time to chuck those incandescents out and buy CFLs not only are they better for the environment but they'll save you money on your energy bills!! You can't lose!

On March 31 at 7:30pm there will be an hour of darkness which will mark the last hour of the switch... don't wait start today! Save money, save the world!

for more info go to http://www.cbc.ca/technolo
gy/story/2007/02/20/tech-b
ulb.html and http://www.financialstanda
rd.com.au/index.php?id=932
2

Also if you are interested in hearing more about ways you can do your part, and have it explained in a more interesting way than your average website, search for Brendan Callery on Facebook, and ask questions, he's a wealth of information...be sure to tell your friends about it too!!!

My Flatmates

Here is a pic of my flatmates, Nathan, Kat and Carl (lt to rt)....They're super nice Kiwis, who all work at the same travel agents. Funny thing is most trips they sell are to Canada!

My first(and hopefully last) traffice offence in Australia

So the other night I'm driving around up on the coast, looking for this motel my work was putting me up in and...while looking and really lost, I was searching for street signs to no avail. I decided to pull over to look at my map to see where the hell I was. When I pulled over, I glanced in my rearview, and there's a police car behind me...I'm like ok whatevs.... Then he comes up to my window, and asks me "Did you know that you ran a stop sign back there?" I'm like "No, I did?"(meanwhile to be quite honest I did spot it, pulled a yield and went through, because I was tired and lost and just wanted to friggin get there you know?? Anyways, long story short I got a $231 ticket!!! So pissed you have no idea, but perhaps this hideous pic will demonstrate....oh and that's my car...

AUSTRALIA DAY!!!

Jan. 26th is Australia Day...and what better thing to do on Australia Day than become an Aussie citizen! That's what Cynthia did, and what a ceremony!! Congrats Cynthia!! The rest of the day was the typical "Off your face amazing race" you'd find on Canada Day...here's a few pics, of some new cool peeps I met that day...