Whoops. I stacked my car last Thursday and it's out of action for a week (over a grand later...).   It really wasn't my fault. A massive, fuck-off truck screeched to a halt in front of me for no reasonable reason (no red light, no pedestrians, no car in front of them) and I went SMASH behind them. There went the bumper bar, flying across the road along with a heap of twisted metal. I started crying and went to work (just around the corner - I was 2 minutes away from parking) pale faced, telling my editor I had to call a tow truck.   But, y'know, it ended up OK. It's costing a lot less for repair than I thought it would PLUS my bumper bar was a little bit dented, scratched and out of whack anyway but this way I'm getting a new (well, refurbished) one. And I get to use my family's spare car this week, so I'm cruising around in a big Mitsubishi the size of my house - a world away from my little girly Pulsar.   As a direct result of being broke from the crash, I spent the entire weekend doing nothing except sitting at my boyfriend's house watching football. And going to Geelong for my team's match, in which we beat top-of-the-ladder West Coast by 76 points. Yes, I AM UNHEALTHILY OBSESSED WITH AFL. Sue me.   Gig ticket wishlist at the moment: Tim Rogers @ the Duke (sold out, I am slack), Dallas Crane @ the Duke (sold out, I am slack), Maximo Park @ the Corner, The Hives @ the Forum, Electric Six @ the Corner.     

I got my Falls Festival ticket yesterday.... going with three of my favourite people in the world (i.e. my b/f and two closest pals) so it should be a blast. If anyone wants to drink UDLs with me on the hills, let me know!   Haven't been to Falls since I was 17 - my best friend and I went when we were both 16 and 17 because there was nothing else in Melbourne to do.   Some memorable moments over those two years:   a) Having a hot dog on New Years Eve 2000 that was SO BAD that I have been vegetarian ever since. b) My first ever Machine Gun Fellatio show in 2000, 11am in the morning or something ridiculous like that. I fell in love with them and saw them 40+ times over the next few years. c) Getting really sick and lying in my tent listening to Regurgitator   PLUS of course the highlight of any camping trip,   d) Our tent getting flooded in 2001 and all my clothes getting soaked, meaning I had to wear the same outfit 3 days straight!   HOORAY! IT'S GOING TO BE A GOOD NEW YEARS EVE.    

Things I love right now:   + Art Brut + The fact it's 2pm on Friday + Having dinner with two of my favourite friends last night + My Grates iPod playlist + Finally finding my Pixies t-shirt (under my bed) after weeks of looking and thinking it was gone forever + Possible Electric Six roadtrip in October + Getting CDs in the mail from lovely people who only live 3 suburbs away + Going to Lano and Woodley tomorrow night   Things I hate right now:   - Being cooped up inside when it's lovely outside - Going to the football tonight when it's blatantly obvious my team will get thrashed - Having no time to see people - Having no money to go out with people - Having extra extra extra work to do because my editor's going overseas for 3 months - Being stuck on the phone when you don't want to be - Having to queue up for Lano and Woodley tickets tomorrow night since I was too lazy to book before it sold out (extra tickets at the door)

Ugh, back to work tomorrow. The weekend goes too quickly. I had an interesting concept pitched to me recently: "how about the working day runs from midday to 4pm, so you'd never be tired or hungover at work, therefore increasing productivity levels." I vote YES to this highly unique and exciting concept. Friday night was my DJ debut. And it went quite well, thanks. I did a few hours, and people danced (although the floor CLEARED out when I played Har Mar Superstar which made me sad) and brought drinks for me (the Rochester's pulpit is about 10ft off the ground therefore there's no chance of drinking unless they're hand-delivered. Which suits fakeplasticlazyme just fine). I ended up getting royally sloshed and I don't know how I survived my second set without any major screw-ups. Thankfully 4 or the 5 other people I was with for the whole night were too so they didn't mind too much when Nath played The Polyphonic Spree and I nearly fell over with sheer excitement. Didn't get home until some ungodly hour and had to go for a hangover-reducing breakfast in Heidelberg when we woke up. I felt like shit all day Saturday which was partly the big night and partly the soul-destroying loss Geelong suffered on Friday night. Was meant to go to a surprise b'day party that night but thankfully my partner in crime bailed which meant I stayed home, and watched TISM's Incontinent in Ten Continents. Today was a typical nothing Sunday of shopping, watching football and eating. I normally trek up to Sydney several times a year, but it's occured to me that the last time I was up was last November, when we flew up for a whirlwind weekend revolving around TISM's Gaelic Club gig (which I remember little of). So I've decided that I might be coming to Sydney soon. I hope everybody plans to drink vodka at the Townie with me.

If I knew what it was about The Grates that makes me turn to mush every time I see them, I'd grab those elements and start a new band, making Melbourne kids turn to mush in the process.   And, I'll tell you what: if the likes of Howl, Slide, 19-20-20, Keep Calling, Feels Like Pain, Nothing Sir and Inside/Out are all on the album, I may pass out.   They totally blew The Go! Team off stage (although GT were fun, the fucking annoying "everyone say Triple J!" refrain notwithstanding) and I fell in love with them all over again.   MELBOURNE: I am DJing tonight at Panic! (Rochester, 202 Johnston St Fitzroy) between 10pm-11.30pm and then again from 1-2am tonight. Come along. I promise I won't slag off Interpol. Too much.

Interpol last night was possibly the most boring 'rock' show I've ever seen.   Start your abuse now.

A quiet weekend leads onto a massive week.   Tonight:   THE FUTUREHEADS! THE FUTUREHEADS! THE FUTUREHEADS! THE FUTUREHEADS! THE FUTUREHEADS!   ... oh, and Queens of the Stone Age. Tomorrow is a long overdue girls catchup dinner with some of my bestest friends - all of whom have been locked away at work for weeks. I have, too, I'm not complaining. It's funny how much a full time job really changes yr life. A year ago I would have thought getting home anytime before 4am was a really early night. These days I'm yawning through headline bands.   Wednesday I'm on the door for Interpol but I want to go to Har Mar instead. WHAT TO DO? Thursday is The Go! Team and Friday I'm making my dj debut at PANIC!   If you see me out this weekend, pat me on the back for making it that far.

Sometimes I can be really stupid. Incredibly stupid. I turned down a high paying and stable job at a suburban Fairfax branch to stay at my job, which I could lose at any moment due to Fairfax budget cuts. There’s a chance I won’t lose it, but there’s a chance that I could. So why did I turn down the money? I told myself that I had too much ‘integrity’ (pfft)and that I loved my job far too much to give it up. So I could end up staying here with a fantastic job, or I could be unemployed. Who knows? Not me.   Apart from that, not much has been happening. A few gigs, work, catching up with people who I should have caught up with earlier.   This weekend will be massive. Hot Snakes followed by the opening night of my friend’s new indie night PANIC! at the Rochester (go there!). I’m planning to be out all night, but considering I’m going to my boyfriend’s house straight from work to get changed and then heading out in a cab I’ll probably be asleep by midnight . I’m so old these days and don’t know how to party. Quite a sad state of affairs when I’m 21. Is this what full time work does to the mind and body? If so, I want to re-enrol back in Uni.

It looks like I'm camping out for GA Oasis tickets next Sunday night. Loser central!   I've never done the camp out before - last time I got up really early for tickets was for Radiohead. I got to Ticketek at 5am or so, was 13th in line and ended up missing out on GA and getting a (albeit decent) seat. Of course, I had a GA ticket for the second Melbourne show - but we don't talk about that.

I have decided that I need go to to QOTSA. I can't stand to think that The Futureheads - who have released the album of the year so far, hands down (erm.. according to me) - are playing in my rainy city and I WON'T BE THERE TO SEE THEM. If I'm not there, I'll cry.   I'm interested to see QOTSA, of course, but I don't feel the same way about them as I used to. My lasting memory of QOTSA is from Big Day Out 2001. Queens played on the main stage in the hot afternoon sun (if my memory serves me correctly, they were in between Coldplay and Killing Heidi - oh, how times have changed). My friend and I were right down the front and there were literally about 40 or 50 people paying attention. Even when they played The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret , nobody really cared apart from us. Josh winked at us because we were taking photos of Nick. And I swooned. I didn't see Queens again until the following BDO they did - 2003 (?) and it was totally different - the arena was so packed I could barely move, let alone see the band - so I gave up and went to see Gonzales for the second time in two days.   SO I NEED A QOTSA TICKET. Does anybody know how I can possibly get one - eBay aside? Somebody's got to have a friend in Melbourne who has to work that night...   Tomorrow's my final retail shift ever - it's a kind of weird feeling. I've been in my crap retail job for 2 and a half years, so I've been working Monday-Friday for three months, as well as Saturday morning/arvos at retail. It's too tough for my fragile little mind and body to handle - only being able to sleep in one day a week. So the retail's gone, and I can regain some normality and something similar to a social life. To celebrate, I'm off to see Neon tonight (at the Absolut Cut Bar, which shall be interesting to say the least... blue flood lights a-go-go!) and tomorrow night will be a fabulous drink-up with some of my favourite people in Brunswick.   A round of applause for long weekends, please.

... will you marry me? Please? I've been listening to Tripping Daisy's I Am An Elastic Firecracker all day. Forget the fact that it's slightly cheesy early 90's alterna-rock designed for MTV - just try to tell me that RocketPOP wasn't one of the best songs of the 90s. Take that, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam! And of course, then there's the fact that he fronts The Polyphonic Spree - who on paper also look cheesy (20+ attractive people in robes singing about the sun?) but who put on the best show I have ever seen - which I was lucky enough to witness 2 times in 3 days, bawling my eyes out at both. I was suitably moved enough to spend $140 from their internet store. Oh, Tim, I love you. You wrote I Got A Girl, and Two Thousand Places , and My Umbrella and Soldier Girl and Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (hang on.. what? That was a cover?) And my hair even slightly resembles yours in pictures like this one: But not this one: *sigh*

Jack White is married.   http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1503363/20050602/white_stripes.jhtml?headlines=true   Damn.

Last night I had a dream that Weezer came to Australia and played nothing but the new album, including the god-awful Pardon Me. I was so disappointed. I woke up in a cold sweat thinking that it had actually happened. Is my subconscious trying to tell me that if they tour here I shouldn’t follow them around the country like a gypsy like I’ve been planning to do for 5-odd years?   Public service announcement: iPods suck. My 20gb iPod – my life, my joy – which has been lovingly cared for and covered in a $70 rubber case since the very day I got it 6 months ago, is officially fucked. It was in my pocket the other night as I was walking down Brunswick Street, killing time at Polyester before I met friends for dinner, and it was fine. I was just as in love with it as I was the day I got it. I took it out of my pocket to change the tracks, and half the screen was black, as if liquid had spilt inside it. There was a rolling white line across the centre of the screen. It still worked fine, but I couldn’t read the tracks properly, couldn’t see the battery life display and couldn’t see track lengths or volume control. "What a hassle," I thought. "I’ll have to take it into Apple and get it repaired/replaced." So what does Apple think? Apparently it broke due to ‘misuse’ and therefore the warranty is void and it will cost $400 AUS to repair.   This is the second iPod I’ve had. The first one’s – which lasted from September to November 2004 – click wheel decided to completely fuck itself up, unfortunately timed as I was in Sydney at the time. Took it to Apple and they gave me a brand new replacement. And now the second one’s gone kaput after a slightly longer lifespan. I was considering flogging this one and upgrading to a 40gb anyway, but now I’m taking a moral stance. No Apple for me, sir – until you can hire some decent engineers/sales consultants.   To cheer myself up, I went and spent $220 on LPs from the US. I’m waiting for a massive parcel full of Sleater-Kinney, Stephen Malkmus, Drive Like Jehu, Interpol, DFA 1979 and loads more. Yay! Retail therapy works a wonder.   I'm interviewing the director of the Flower Cut Film Festival this arvo for work. Hoping to scam some free tickets! Haha!

I had a glorious weekend full of lounging around watching TV, a 21st on Saturday night followed by a queue to get into Weekender at 2am (what the?), wherein we drank beer and listened to The Futureheads, a Sunday morning venture to Camberwell Market - got a pair of vintage boots for $30, a couple of cheap CDs but most importantly a 7" of Bert Newton singing The Spirit Of Christmas for $1. Rock And Fucking Roll.   Now I'm at work procrastinating and thinking about shopping in my lunch break yet again. I'm also thinking about my new digital camera and how I'm going to take good photos at gigs, zooming right in on people's bad skin and then broadcasting my photos on the internerd.   The flat hunting is going well - I've found some seemingly decent 2-bedroom apartments in Northcote/North Fitzroy for $200 and less p.w, which fits our price range nicely. It appears that my 'casual' job status (casual meaning that I've been here 9am-6pm five days a week since I started) may soon become 'full-time,' meaning MORE MONEY. As such, I quit my long-standing retail job last week via phone to my (now former) manager. Two more shifts left and then I'm gone from the bakery for good. My final shift coincides with a friend's housewarming in Brunswick so I shall be gloriously drunk, standing on the couch playing air guitar to Electric Six.   I am waiting for more confirmation about this supposed F-Heads tour. I need to start planning my stalking expidit - oops, interstate holiday - soon.

I'm getting paid right now. This is what I am doing:   a) Spinning around in my chair laughing at the stupid Killers interview in the new NME. b) Getting up every ten minutes to check the mail downstairs because I'm waiting for something to be couriered to me (never mind the fact it's not meant to be here for another 3 hours) c) Trying to beat my high score in mini golf on my mobile phone. d) Wondering if 11.26am is too early to take my lunch break, and thinking about how I'm going to go and look at Cashies' CD section in my break.   So the brain's obviously working overtime right now.   It's been a semi-productive week. Last week I didn't leave the house apart to go to work, and I missed everyone. So this week I've been into the city (vinyl shopping, mmmmm....), hung out at the Albion Street flat where we ate pizza and discussed housewarmings, possible Electric Six tours and boys (the 3 most important topics in life) and last night I went out to dinner with 2 of my favourite people.   Tonight I get to catch up with some good pals I haven't seen in a few weeks - we're going to dinner on Brunswick St and then heading onto the Rob Roy. Party central!