Countries I've Visited

Well, only been to 28 countries - 12% of the countries available for my perusal. Gonna have to do something about it!!! (In the future - after I get a job, and pay back all the money I owe...)

Granny's 80th Birthday!

Last night we celebrated my grandmother's upcoming 80th birthday with a dinner at the New Brighton Working Men's Club - upstairs at the Pierview Restaurant.

All the family were there and lots of Granny's friends. It was a really nice night!! :)

Happy St Patrick's Day!!! :)

A bit of nostalgia

CAFFIENDS!!! I found this last remnant of the former coffee establishment - an old ad painted on the wall beside where it used to be.

We used to go there all the time when we were teenagers. Good times, good times...

And I caught up with Ras and Fi

which was AWESOME! So good to see those girls again :)

The weather has improved lately though

Which has meant that I've been able to go to the beach, and even swim! It's been great :)

This is a pic of my sister and the dog at the beach one evening. More pics are on my web album.

It's fun to catch up after years and years!

First I saw Daniel Harding (who I hadn't seen for years) at a fundraising thing at the Grumpy Mole (shame). Melissa Foster invited me, and choice of venue had NOTHING to do with me!

Then I saw an old friend from high school, Billy Smart!! I'd just said to my cousin Demelza how I would love to catch up with him again, then we went to the Arts Centre, and there he was!!! Just as lovely as ever too :)

I haven't seen him years! Maybe 7 years, even!!

(This photo of me is HORRIBLE)

I didn't get the job in Wellington

Sadly, I didn't get the job I had the interview for in Wellington. Though I got feedback from one of the guys who interviewed me and he was very positive (and talking off record).

I almost got the job, and was a very close second. He even argued for me, but the HR person wasn't having it. Maybe next time :(

My Cousin Brendan + family

My cousin Brendan came back from Australia this month for a visit. He moved there about 4 years ago and plays Rugby League there for a team. He's in the reserve grade at the moment.

Anyway, that's his little girl, Prezlee, and his partner Talila. It was Prezlee's 1st birthday. She's a real daddy's girl.

While Brendan was in NZ, he went to Auckland and got a tattoo. It's a lot like our uncle Sam's tattoo and the guy who did it is our dads' cousin.

By the way, my cousin Demelza (and Brendan's sister) is on the left of Brendan with her little 6-and-three-quarters year old boy, Nehemiah (Miah for short).

This is his tattoo:

Giles has gone to China!

Yup, Giles has gone and left Christchurch for 6 months of perpetual Asian Thursday* in China. He's teaching English at a University there.

Giles has always been such a stalwart of Christchurch that it's definitely weird here without him!

* Every Thursday a group of us have Asian food for dinner at a different Asian restaurant, thus Asian Thursday. Lloyd has been organising it for over 2 years now! With no double ups! Amazing!!

Wow! It's been a month already!

Man, I'm terrible. I haven't updated my blog for a month!!!

So, guess I will now. What's been happening...... (not much really)

Happy Valentines Day!!! :)

(It's the 14th of Feb here, and Wednesday!)

Birthday Alarm - When's Your Birthday Please?

Hi
I am building a birthday book for myself and would appreciate some quick help from you. Just click on the link below and enter your birthday details. It's easy and you can keep your age secret!...

http://www.birthdayalarm.com/dob/62807115a215108587b363

Thanks Emi

The Bad Things About Big Day Out

I reckon they put lots of things on the wrong stage at Big Day Out. Firstly, My Chemical Romance were on really early in the day before Evermore, Jet or Muse, and yet they are much more popular.

Kasabian were not on the main stage, which is ridiculous for what have been called ‘the best band in britain’. The crowd when they were playing were HUGE!!! You could barely walk around and there was no chance of seeing the stage. We got really near the front and couldn’t see a thing. (Dan wanted to see them, not me.) And Evermore were on the main stage at the time Kasabian were on the small stage. Stupid. Who are Evermore?

Another thing, is that there’s only one big screen and it’s not very high up, so it can be hard to see. Like for me at the Killers. There should be two or three screens – definitely one on each side of the stage. And high up, so you can see it from a distance – especially as, unlike V or Glastonbury, BDO is not on a hill. Shame they don’t have a fake incline or something they could use next year.

Finally there just seemed to be too many people! It was so hard to get anywhere!! There were massive queues for food, and for the free water. And BIG queues for the women’s toilets, as usual. I did a lot of holding on.

Actually, not finally, as I haven’t mentioned The Drinking Cage yet.

If you wanted to drink alcohol, you had to go to the drinking cage. It was so bad!! You had to get a wrist band to prove you were over 18 – after showing ID – and then you entered a special area where you could buy a drink. But you couldn’t take it out of the area, so had to sit in a caged off area! Like at a zoo!! And they didn’t have any vodka drinks. Just beer, wine and JD & coke cans. I had to drink bourbon :( Then they searched my bag when you went out to check you weren’t smuggling drinks. There was a rather over-zealous bag checker woman, so it took me ages to get out of the area, and you know how impatient Kent is! And later in the day, the queues to get into the area, then to actually buy a drink were so big, that me and Dan didn’t even bother!!!

Big Day Out - mostly the good things

It was a good day!

But the sound was awful for the Killers. I think it was a problem with the sound for the left-hand side stage (when looking at the stages). Apparently the sound wasn’t very good for My Chemical Romance – though it sounded fine from where me and Dan were - right in front!!! I was like, a metre away or something. So cool. (I am SO SAD!!!)

Anyways, me and Dan moved over to in front of the other stage for the Killers, cos I couldn’t see the stage OR the big screen. That side had MUCH better sound, and I could see the screen and even sometimes the stage!!!

Then we stayed there for Muse and they were awesome. But they’re always good live.

Earlier in the day I’d seen the NZ band ‘Die! Die! Die!’ They were great!! I’m gonna have to get the album now. I also saw The Tutts (another NZ band), but wasn’t that impressed. Nor with Elemeno P (NZ too). I really wanted to see The Veils, but they clashed with The Killers and it was IMPOSSIBLE to get around easily as there were so many people there!! They’re from Devenport in Auckland originally, and I’ve heard some of their stuff. Sounds good.

Throughout the day we saw some good acts, like Peaches. She was very entertaining! And we also saw/heard Kasabian. They played the one song I like first (Shoot The Runner), but Dan wanted to see them. So I stayed. We sat on the grass, in front of the drinking cage (more of that later).

The last act of the night was The Violent Femmes. It was awesome!!! They played all the old stuff and it was just cool :) A great way to end the evening, and we’d got to the early, so were pretty much up front. There were loads of people stretching far back, trying to watch. We did have to listen through ‘Dimmer’ though, and they sucked. So boring!! I played Tetris on my mobile phone!! Got a new record ;)

It was a mega long day, as we’d gotten there about 11am and left at 11.45pm ish. So tired at the end of it!! And mildly sunburnt, which sucked. I haven’t been burnt in years and I’d forgotten how unpleasant it is. Fortunately for me, it had gone down after a day or so. I feel so sorry for Russ, and also Selena – who seems to burn as soon as she steps outside – sometimes it’s good to be brown. Of course it is bad to be brown when people are having a rant about immigrants, or just being plain, old racist.

Queue for last Big Day Out Tickets

As you may know, Big Day Out Tickets sold out on approx 28th Dec. Then another 2000 were released to be sold on the 15th Jan.

In the words of my brother, ‘If you knew you wanted to go to the Big Day Out, who would wait that long to buy their ticket?’ The answer to that question is: DANIEL STEVENSON.

So, as an unemployed loafer, I was pressed into standing in line to buy a ticket for him at 9am, Monday morning. Me and loads of other people. For an hour and a half. It sucked SO BAD!!! (I did get the ticket though)

I sorted out my ticket while I was in the danged Middle East, but Dan can’t sort his out from AUCKLAND, where he lives, where the festival is!!! Tsk tsk tsk. Some people. He so owes me!

Masters of Metal!!!!

The first weekend in Auckland, I spent it with Daniel Stevenson and his girlfriend, Adrienne.

On the Saturday night (13/01/07), me and Dan went to Karangahapi Road (aka K Rd) and to what is apparently Auckland’s only Rock and Metal Club – Hysteria. It was so cool!

They had a metal tribute band, called ‘Masters of Metal’ playing all the hits from the 80s and 90s. When we arrived they were playing Living on a Prayer and then did the Havoc song (NZ) that goes ‘I Was Tripping Out On You’. Haven’t heard that in AGES!!! They also played Ace of Spaces, Welcome to the Jungle etc. It was really good. We had a great time. And the drinks were pretty cheap. I’d also been drinking, so I was enjoying the whole thing a lot more than I would’ve been if I hadn’t!

The best think about the Masters of Metal though, were that they were all dressed up in lycra jumpsuits, big hair wigs, with makeup and padded crotches. Some of them also had those codpiece things. So funny! The leadsinger also had a heart shape cut out in front of his jumpsuit, and it showed his hairy chest. LOL!!!

But they were also really good musicians. So they took the piss and could really play. Which considering the crowd, was a good thing ;)

I've got some photos of the band on my phone, but can't find my software disc to put it on the computer. I'll put some photos on my web albums as soon as I can!!!

I'm in Auckland!

Flying in NZ is so easy! - unless, of course, you make jokes about security.

You only have to get to the airport half an hour before your flight and check-in closes a quarter of an hour before. So sweet!!! Especially if you're packing and getting ready last minute, as I tend to do...

Just signed up with Bebo

Was before, but now using my gmail account, so:

"Please connect with me on Bebo, just click below:
http://www.bebo.com/invite/3072158077a971393643b229

Cheers
Emi"

I've brought prohibited items into NZ!

Sheesha pipes are not allowed to be brought into NZ! Who knew!! Apparently it's because they can be used for smoking cannabis.

http://www.customs.govt.nz/importers/Prohibited+Imports/default.htm

I've had it in my handluggage all the way since Istanbul! Istanbul to London, to LA, to Auckland, to Christchurch!!