Long overdue...

Yes, it's been over a month since I last wrote, and because of that, iCal has deleted everything that was written in it before August 30th (which is what I use to tell me what I've been doing to write here), so we'll see how I go...

As I wrote last time, the cf ball was coming up, and I'm glad to say it was bloody amazing. SO much fun! As usual, I drank my year's worth of alcohol in the one night, but happily and strangely enough, didn't get too drunk (as in passing out or throwing up drunk). Got a bit tired towards the end, but that's about it. There were around 500 people that went this year, so it's definitely getting to be quite a big affair. Next year I'm determined to get on top of things early so I can book more than one table and get a whole bunch of us there. We didn't do a whole lot afterwards - hung around the bay for a little bit, and then went back to Joelie's where we all pretty much flaked out and went to bed. Such a good night though, and I'm so happy for all my friends that came along. It means a lot to me.

As planned, after the ball I got myself admitted into hospital for a couple of weeks of iv's. Warning: major bitch sesh coming up. This had to have been one of the worst admissions I've had in a long time. Due to a code white (no free beds in the hospital) my admission day was pushed back from Monday to Thursday. I had my drip put in at 11am, and then had to wait around for my bed to become available. Come 7pm and finally I could move into my room. However, the doctor that was on the ward hadn't written me up for any antibiotics, so they didn't start my treatment until the Friday afternoon. Brilliant... then I had to move rooms. And then after a week they made me do the rest of my treatment at home, which I really don't like doing. But due to the shortage of beds and their new program of sending patients no longer in an 'acute' state, I was made to leave. By the time my iv's had finished, I didn't feel that great still, but I had had enough of the whole thing, so I didn't really care. Luckily though things picked up once I finished my treatment and as of right now things are going really well.

While I was in hospital there were a couple of really awesome gigs on. The TinPan Orange kids from Melbourne popped through Rads for a couple of shows, so Cookie and I supported them at the Grace, which was such a pleasure. Only problem was that I had pretty much had no stamina whatsoever, so after we finished playing, I was sitting on the ground completely ruined and not much company. But TinPan Orange were brilliant, so it was all worth it. :) The next weekend the Grace was having it's 10th birthday, which was an invite only event, and formal dress. Even though I was still in hospital, and didn't want to overdo anything like I had done the week before, I knew I would regret it if I didn't go. We played a small set of around 4 or 5 songs, and I sat down the whole time, just to reserve as much energy as I could. I didn't stay too long this time though, and was back in my dingy hospital room by around half 10.

I have a new job! Believe it or not, Jaan has managed to get another pretty cruisy job that fits in quite well with his continuously-needing-time-off lifestyle. It's at a post office, and quite a lot of fun. Only problem is that it's really not enough hours, so I still have to stay at Alpha, and I'm not sure if I need to still look for something else. But for now, it's a bit of extra cash, so we'll see how I go with that.

Last weekend we also went down to Victor Harbor for a few days to relax. Poor Alice was feeling very poorly for a day, so we didn't really do a whole lot, which still suited me fine. A couple of friends popped down as well for a day, and we went to Port Elliott for some lunch at the bakery there (which is the best!) and did a whole lot of walking around. It's really nice to be in touristy areas on the coast during the cooler months where you get to really enjoy the beauty of a place and see why it became a tourist spot, without stupid people everywhere.

On Saturday night just gone, Alice's brothers held a dinner party at their house. The theme was 'Paris in Spring', and there were around 30 people invited. It was bloody amazing! Everyone dressed up awesomely, and there was tonnes of wine and magnificent food. There were dining tables strewn throughout the kitchen and lounge room, candles, dim lighting, it really was something special. And the food... man o man. Peter is one helluva cook. Starters was bread, olives, pâté, and some veggies. For main course, we had potatoes, chicken in this wine sauce thing, and the meat was falling off the bones and melting in your mouth. And for dessert we had pear and almond pie. To think every single bit of this was home made, just blew me away. I hope they'll be doing another one soon...

Next weekend we're going over to Yorkes to Cookie's parent's farm for her mum's 50th. She booked us to play there with a couple of other people, so we're really looking forward to that. I'm especially excited to go as I've only been there during summer where everything is dead and brown, and I've been promised that all the fields at this time of year are green. It'll be quite lovely me thinks. Just to get away again for a couple of days will be all I need. To play some music while we're there is icing on the cake.

I think that's enough. Oh, one last point - Cookie's cd is finally finished! Mixed, mastered, everything. It sounds pretty good I must say... For those interested, release date is Nov 1st, but I think pre-orders are from Oct 1st if you're super keen. I'll post details when I get them. But yes, good times ahead!

Rating: 8.9

What I'm listening to: Cookie Baker - Gala Day

Winter hibernation

So with the whirlwind of interstate beauties visiting Rads over, life has returned to normal. I'm back to being a housewife while I try to find a job, Alice is working her 4 jobs trying to support me, and I'm spending many more nights at home while it's freezing and wet outside. Brilliant. No, seriously, as bad as our summer was this year, I am absolutely LOVING this winter. It's cold, it's been SO wet, it's just amazing. Our front and back lawn now resembles something like the Amazon forest, but I don't care. Better than the dust bowl we'll have once summer comes around again. But enough on the state of our flora.

As I said, not a whole lot has been going on of late. Been to a few friends' exhibitions, which have all been successful and awesome. Adelaide has some serious talent. We have had quite a few dinners with friends, which have been lovely. It was Alice's birthday, so we made sure we could just hang out together since she's so busy with her work. Unfortunately she woke up feeling quite crook, so the majority of the day was spent with us lying on the couch watching bad/awesome crime shows on Fox. Not a bad way to spend the day really. And then we went up to Coriole for a family dinner.

On the Cookie front mixing for the album is going great. 4 tracks done so far, and they sound AMAZING. This is gonna be one corker of an album. We also had the pleasure of recording a little interview and song on 'The Adelaide Show' on Nova, which was tonnes of fun. I think you can actually find it on itunes as a podcast. And a couple of shows have been booked for WA in November, so it'll be great to get out there. I've never been, so I'm quite excited.

As for health, it's not going that great. As I said last time, clinic went well, but since I wasn't feeling tops I went on some oral antibiotics for a couple of weeks. They seemed to work, but as soon as I finished them, I noticed my health declined a bit straight away, so I'm pretty sure I'll be going into hospital after the cf ball, which is next weekend. That's cool though. Especially with the shows in WA later in the year, I want to make sure things are all under control before I head off.

Rating: 6.7

What I'm listening to: Sam Buckingham - My Own Horse

Sez and The Buck hit Rads!

IMG_2713
Originally uploaded by jaanus83

So this past week was yet ANOTHER one filled with totally awesome people and totally awesome good times. A good friend of mine from Sydney, Sarah Humphreys, along with her good friend Sam Buckingham, have been on a tour the last couple weeks which included a week long stint in Adelaide. I hadn't met Sam before, or even heard her stuff, but I am now a life long fan of both.

The week included quite a few shows, which just seemed to get better and better as they went on, trips to the Pancake Kitchen, Ying Chow and Cibo for gelati, as well as a couple of days of pretty much vegging out, watching bad TV and chatting.











The final show was at the Wheatsheaf Hotel, which pretty much guarantees a brilliant night. On the bill for that show were Sarah, Sam, Xavia (from local outfit BrotherSister) and Cookie Baker. It was such a special night, tinged with a bit of sadness knowing that this was the last time the girls from the east were playing in Rads for who knows how long.









I seriously doubt that I can handle so much awesomeness. The last month has really been a whirlwind of emotions, mostly amazingly good, but it's all a bit too much. I'm hoping that the coming weeks will slow down a bit and I'll be able to find my footing again.





Some other things that have been going on the past week: I had a clinic appointment on Tues, and I really wasn't looking forward to it. I still don't think I've recovered from Sydney, as I'm pretty much tired all day every day, and my chest is quite a bit clogged up. However, as it has happened before, I did my lung function and the results showed something quite a bit different - the best readings for a couple of years. So go figure... I went on some oral antibiotics anyway to see if they help me start to feel a bit better. If not, I may then just admit myself for another 2 week stint, especially since towards the end of the year things are gonna get a bit nuts with Cookie Baker stuff, so I wanna make sure I'm good for that.

I also went up the hill to record my last guitar track for the album, so that went really smoothly and sounding rad. If all goes to plan, the recording should be completed by this week! Then there's the mixing... so it won't be available for a little bit yet, but still, progress is progress.

STILL needing a job, but I'm thinking maybe the reason I haven't got anything yet is because of my health stuff, and once that clears up, some doors may open.

This weekend is the Coopers Alive event, which is a ' new initiative that aims to encourage local artists to actively participate in planning, promoting and evaluating their live performances, as well as providing an entertaining and creative showcase for all music-lovers to enjoy'. Basically it goes over 2 nights and 4 venues, with each venue hosting a different genre. We're playing at the Wheatsheaf as part of the folk 'n' roots showcase, along with The Fiddle Chicks and The Huckleberry Swedes. It's gonna be a fricken awesome night. I'm also going to the Jade Monkey the night before to see Mr Wednesday and BrotherSister. Big weekend me thinks...

Rating: 5.8

What I'm listening to: Sam Buckingham - My Own Horse

Sydney and post

cookie baker @ the excelsior, surry hills
Originally uploaded by jaanus83

What an absolutely insane past couple of weeks.

The Cookie Baker train went to Sydney for a week, where amazing times were had by all. Alice left jewellery shops in a spin with her awesome designs, we saw some incredible bands, made some bloody close friends and to top it all off, played a friggen sweet show. Poor Cookie had a devil of a cold though, so her poor throat suffered greatly from the one show, but being the trooper she is, she passed with flying colours.

The one gig we had was at The Excelsior in Surry Hills, where a good friend of ours Renny Field was doing a residency for the month of June. He kindly invited us to play at the final show, along with the gorgeous Sarah Humphreys and The Falls. It really was an amazing night. It was so good to hear Renny play again, especially with his band. They are the shit. And I hadn't heard Sarah Humphreys with her band before, and it really blew me away. Lucky for us she is coming down to Rads next week for a couple of shows. Yeeha!





We also went to the cd launch of our good friends 'The Mischief'. What an awesome night. They played brilliantly, the sound was great (luckily so since the sound guy was an absolute twunt all night and I was scared the boys would have shit sound for their set), and Joelie (violin player that plays with us) even got up to do a song with them! It really was a special night and I feel quite privileged to have seen it.

The rest of our week in Sydney involved staying out late ever night drinking and hanging out, getting up early every morning to get together with everyone for coffee, a few little touristy walks, a birthday party, and some emotional high's and low's that were worthy of a B grade movie. What more could you ask for in a holiday?

On Thursday we had a gig at The Gov as part of Winter Warmers, a new thing they have going in the front bar during winter. Open fire, great food and wine, and of course great tunes. It was fantastic!! Just what we needed after such an intense week, and it was so good just to play again. Then on the weekend the lovely Joelie had her birthday party, so it was another late night of shenanigans and live karaoke. Brilliant.

We had to get up kinda early the next morning though as we were due at Mixmasters to record hand claps, clicks, random shouts and hitting things. It was also the first time I had heard any of the material since that first weekend away in September last year, and may I say, it is sounding absolutely brilliant. Even though it still has to be mixed and all that, the way it's sounding at the moment, it's only going to get better, so I'm quite pumped for it. And believe it or not, there's not a whole lot to go - mainly the strings, which if I remember correctly, are booked in for Sunday this week. Sa-weeeeet!

I'm still in need of a job, so that's a bit annoying. I've been applying for more and more places though, so I'm hopeful something will turn up. My mind is still in a race from Sydney as well, so prob best that I'm not doing too much at the moment anyway. The Sydney trip did take a bit of a toll on my health, as I had expected, so I have a clinic next week to see how much damage was done. Strangely though, as soon as we got back home, I started feeling good again, and as of right now, I really don't feel too bad at all. But we'll wait till Tuesday to see how everything is.

Rating: 7.3

What I'm listening to: The Mischief - Sixpenny Scrapbook