Crikey...

blue me
Originally uploaded by jaanus83.

It’s been so long since I've posted. I'm sorry for all those who have been losing sleep wondering what I've been up to, but for a change I've actually been really busy. But I’ll start from the start (isn’t that where you usually do so?)so that you can all get up to speed with the saga of what is known as Jaan's life.

The first thing worthy of note is that Alice and I went to see Dylan Moran on Friday the 30th of March. I had bought tickets as a surprise to Al, but due to my slackness in forgetting to hide them (and to her annoying habit of ALWAYS having to look at everything she finds) she found the envelope that housed them and ruined the surprise. Ah well. At least now I could get excited about it with her. Anyhoo, so we went along and it was hilarious!! I hadn’t actually seen any of his stand up stuff before, only his work on Black Books, which I LOVE, so I assumed it would be good anyway. I won’t go on trying to quote all his jokes, as no doubtly they’ll come across lame and completely un-funny. But needless to say that I haven’t laughed so long out loud in quite a while.

The next night was the final night of the Adelaide Fringe, so a whole bunch of us went to the Garden (of Unearthly Delights) to celebrate the first annual Fringe (normally it’s run every two years). Just as I had expected, there were lots of familiar faces, and it was great to catch up with everyone again. Alice had a wedding but came afterwards, all dolled up, and looking quite luffly! Didn’t have a too late night as I had to open up the shop the next day, but I made sure to enjoy it so that I had no regrets.

The Sunday afterwards I had a friend arriving from London who has been travelling around NZ and now Australia. She’s an awesome photographer who goes by the name Alexandra Bone and there’s a link to her photos on my page. Go check her out! So anyhoo, I picked her up and came back to our place for a bit of a bbq to get her settled in. bbq’s are always good… it was great having her here as I could show her around Adelaide, and learn to appreciate the city for what it really is. We made it to a few pubs, the beach, walked around the city, and on her last day we made sure to make it up to Coriole Winery for a bit of brunch. I then took her to the airport where she’s started making her way up the west coast of Oz for another couple of months. Lucky duck…

That night I went to Alex and Monica’s wedding reception (they’re the couple that got married at the end of last year in a surprise ceremony at their house). It was a really fun night, with a few close friends, lots of great food, and of course some good alkeehole. I don’t see them a helluva lot, so it was good to have a few hours to spend with them.

Then I think Easter came… this year was quite bland for me. I didn’t really get up to much in the way of celebrating Easter, and I worked quite a bit as well. I still took time to remember what it meant to me however, so it wasn’t a total waste. ☺

I’ve still been doing quite a lot of music stuffs with Holly, and last weekend a few of us packed a couple of cars and went over to Yorke Peninsula to do a gig as part of a drought relief thing that was going on. How’s this for a country gig – it was on the Warooka footy oval, on the back of a semi trailer! Can’t get much more outbacky than that. Was soo much fun! There were a few other bands playing – mostly pub rock cover bands – but I think everyone who went had a really good time.

Things had been going so great until the ride home… we just passed Port Wakefield (about an hour and half out of Adelaide) when I noticed that the engine had started making a clicking noise. I pulled over to have a look, and then realised that the car had decided to start running on 3 cylinders instead of 4. Great. We called the RAA and a guy came out and had a look, but didn’t really offer much help and said that we could try and make it (slowly) back to Adelaide. We decided to do that, and made the journey at 50kmh. It took a couple of hours to make it back home, but we were just so relieved that we actually got the car back in one piece. I've taken it to the mechanic, but we are still waiting to hear what the diagnosis is…

All last week Alice and I have been doing another job that involves us going out to schools to play some games with the kids that are there being looked after (it’s holidays at the moment). The game we took to them this week was called Belly Bumpers. Basically it’s a huge blow up tire thing that goes around their waist and they try to bump each other out of a designated area. Pretty fun! Although I forgot just how much energy kids have, and by Friday I was completely exhausted. We have it for one more week next week, and then it’s back to normal work for us.

Holly and I also went to 3D Radio on Thursday to do a bit of a sing-song and chit-chat. I have only been on radio once, so it was quite exciting to go back and do some stuff for them. We did a couple of songs and a bit of an interview (well, Holly did most of the talking). I’ll try and get a copy of it up on here soon…

And finally, what better way to spend a lovely autumn Saturday than to attend a wedding? Well, what about playing a few songs at a wedding?? That’s right – Holly and I were asked to play a few tunes at the wedding of Dana and Christian (not my sister) and it was absolutely lovely. We did a few covers during the actual ceremony, and then afterwards we made it outside to play a proper acoustic set under the veranda, with no amplification whatsoever. And as a little surprise, guess who we saw at the wedding?? All you Aussie BB fans, you might remember a little Adelaidian named Jo Ashton. Yeah, she was there. I love how small Adelaide is. We didn't get to say hi to her, but then again maybe she didn't want to say hi to us. Either way, it was loads of fun, and not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

As far as my health goes, I have been feeling a little under the weather, so last week I went to the hospital to get some Cipro (oral antibiotics). Since taking them, I've noticed a little bit of a change, but not a whole lot. I’m guessing that’s also due to me doing so much running around last week, when I really should be taking it a bit easy to get as healthy as possible. But we’ll see how this week goes. Maybe they’ll really kick in then.

Phew! I think that’s about all… I’ll try not to leave it quite so long next time. Holly and I are playing this Tuesday night at the Grace Emily, so if you are looking for something to do Anzac Day Eve, then do come along. It’s sure to be a great night! We’re also using it as a bit of a going away drinks for Janka, my German friend who has been here the last few months. She’s going back to the UK next week, so we’ll all miss her a bit. ☺

And just before I leave, I thought I would end with some awesome news I woke to this morning – a great cf friend of mine, Ben Sloan (some of you may know him) was on his way to Melbourne this morning to get his lung transplant. We’re all hoping for a speedy recovery!

Rating: 6.2

What I’ve been listening to: Sia – Lady Croissant

Thursday night and the weekend

Those of you who missed coming out to the Exeter on Thursday night sure missed out on a great night. Not trying to blow my own trumpet, but it really was a fun time. The crowd was a perfect mix of friends and drunk randoms. But not too drunk that they were heckling or too obnoxious. It was just aweosme.

And the inclusion of ol Mr. Les Paul went down quite well too... I wasn't too sure before playing whether it was a good choice or not to have him there, but it worked out nicely. I now have to save up to buy an amp... Anyone selling anything cheap?

After the gig we went to the Garden for a bit of a wind down drink and hot chips. But we all hit a wall and went home not long after that. However, that was around 3 in the AM.

Not been doing a whole lot else since... worked Saturday night, which was the first time in quite a while (I've switched to opens). It was nice to work with Dana again though (my sis). It makes the evening a bit more bareable serving mingers all night. We watched O Brother... Good times.

Today I opened and then scooted around to a few different places that sell car stereos to try and find a replacement for the one that got stolen out of our car the other week. But no luck... the cheapest one at Strathfield was around $120. As if. We want cheapey's... I guess I'll have to keep searching. Also, at work this morning I had the lovely sounds of KCUR (a Kansas community radio station) coming out of my lappy at work, along with a webcam. The reason for this is I have a friend over there who hosts a radio show, and being the great friend he is, he's always able to give a shout out to Alice and myself, so that all the world can hear. It always leaves a smile on my face... What can I say - I'm a media whore!

Chest is feeling alright... still a bit tight. Haven't improved a whole lot since I last wrote. A bit annoying, but I'm still hoping that the drugs will kick in more and I'll start to feel better for it. I've also changed the order of my inhaled meds, so maybe that's why it's taking a bit longer than normal to get things feeling good again. We'll see...

Not much planned for this week. Have to get working on a few covers Holly and I are doing for a wedding in April. Hopefully we don't butcher them too badly...

Rating: 6.3

What I'm listening to: Cookie Baker - Live @ Radio Adelaide

Clinic

So I had clinic on Tuesday... and just like I predicted in my last blog, my pft's (lung function) was down a bit... 55% to be exact. It was 63% last time, about 2 months ago. But it's all good... I had prepared for this. If it had been under 55%, I would have started to worry a lil. But I managed to get some more meds (the ones I had been out of since last week) and I can already feel them starting to do their magic. I have another clinic in a month, so we'll see how things are then.

I have another gig tonight with Holly at the Exeter, so that should be fun. I'm guessing there's gonna be a whole heap of drunk Fringe-ites there, so any friends are more than welcome to come along so I can see a familiar face. If not, nuts to you. :)

And what's with this weather? it's hot again! I had to crank the AC today...

I have a new headband.

Rating: 6.5

What I'm listening to: Skip James

CD launches, the Garden and Womad

crowd
Originally uploaded by jaanus83.

Cripes, it's been a while. And heaps has been happening. I hate it when this happens... I don't write as often as I should, as I get slack and can't be bothered going it, but the longer I leave it, the more I have to write, so it really doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Ah well. :) Here we go.

So 2 Saturday's ago I went to a friends cd launch, LeighStarDust, at the Jade Monkey (she is a totally awesome musician and is in my top friends so you should check her out). She had a band with her on the night (she usually plays solo) and it totally rocked the place down. It was awesome!! The cd we all went to buy had unfortunately been delayed, so we all had to write down our addresses and I was assured the other night that they will be on their way soon.

Last week the Fringe Festival opened. I had to work that night, but was able to leave a tad early to get to the festivities and have a big ol party with Alice and co. The Garden was absolutely packed, but there were so many people that we knew it didn't matter too much. I got to see some friends from school I hadn't seen in years, so that was good. Although knowing so many people there did have a drawback - it took around an hour to actually get out of there to get home, as we kept seeing friends we had to say 'Hi' to. Ah well, if that's the only thing to complain about, things are pretty good.

The on the weekend Womadelaide was on, which for those who don't know, is a world wide music organisation that puts on concerts all around the world, including here for a weekend in Adelaide. It's amazing, and it's the only one in Australia, and the biggest one in the southern hemisphere. There were bands from remote tribes in Africa, from Spain, from Ireland, but the standout for me would have to be Huun-Huur Tu from Tuva/Russia. They do what is called throat singing, and it really is something you have to see to believe. They are able to sing in up to 3 different voices at the same time, doing different melodies and harmonies. It's incredible. And to see them at 11pm on the final night in the Botanic Gardens with eerie shadows being cast by the trees, well, yeah, I can't accurately how spiritual it felt. Just awesome.

Last night we had Alice's brothers and sister over for a lovely bbq dinner cooked by yours truly, and it went down quite well, even if I do say so myself. We went to the Garden afterwards, but we were quite tired so we didn't stay too long.

Now onto my health... Things aren't bad by any means, but they aren't going tip top just at the moment. I ran out of Ventolin a few days ago, so the other inhaled meds I'm taking aren't working as well as they should be, hence my lungs are a bit clogged up. Also, since I'm not doing much exercise, that certainly isn't helping. I think I have clinic next week, so let's hope that goes well enough to keep me out for another 2 months.

I think that's it... I have quite a few more pics on my flickr site, so have a looksee.

Rating: 6.2

What I'm listening to: Robert Johnson