Dribbbbbles

So it's Monday afternoon. Yet another week down, and only two and a half till I finish the year and take an enforced three week holiday. Seems work is closing down and no one will be working over that time.

This is new to me, as my previous two jobs allowed me to work through (other than the public holidays). That way I could take holidays further into the new year. This was, I'm going to be short about three and a half days. And I want to take two days off in late February. So it'll be October before I have another three weeks of annual leave up my sleeve. By which time, it'll almost be time to start preparing to take more time off (no doubt) over Christmas! Vicious bloody circle... Oh well, not much I can do about it. I asked about the possibility of coming back a week early, but it seems no one else will be around to let me in.

In other work news, I'm going to Milan next year for the International Furniture Design Fair in April. I can't wait - I've never been overseas. Hell I don't even have a passport yet! But that's in the works. It's already down to five months till we leave - so much to do...

I bought my ticket to Dream Theater's Adelaide concert on Friday - I'll be all dorky and post a photo of the ticket when I receive it. :-)

I had something else that I wanted to type about, but it escapes me right now. No doubt it'll return to me at about 4am tomorrow! Grrr.

---EDIT---

I remember! Time for a little grumble (surprise surprise).

I have a slight issue with Myspace. I pretty much only use it to keep track of what my favourite bands are doing, seeing as every man and his dog is on there. When Dream Theater announced their Australian tour, I was able to control myself just long enough to post a comment on their page, saying how rabidly excited I was. The next day I logged in to find no less than twelve bands had seen my comment and requested to be my friend. Uhhh no thanks. I admit to taking  lot of joy in hitting Deny to each one of them, including the dodgy looking mullet-armed German dude who looked like he was stuck in an endless early-90s Skid Row fantasy. You're no Sebastian Bach, champ.

Seriously, I don't care about your two-bit busted-arse band. If I liked your music, you'd already be a friend. I'm well and truly over Myspace members' fascination with needing to have four hundred and sixty seven thousand friends. Leave me out of it.

Our Little Idiot...

...Enjoying her favourite pastime. Until I decide to annoy her. ;-)

Oh My God...

Oh my god oh my god oh my god.

Dream Theater, the one band I have longed to see live more than any other, but who have never toured here, have announced that in January next year, they're coming. Monday 28th January, An Evening With Dream Theater will hit the Adelaide Showgrounds. Considering I've been waiting sixteen years (since I first heard their music), this will be one of the biggest concerts I'll ever see. Sure, that's my opinion, but I know I'm right. :P

Holy poo.

Bring it on!

A Night with Cog

Kel & I went off to see Cog play last night at HQ. They were supported by Dead Letter Circus, a Brisbane band, who were pretty good but were hampered from sounding better by a pretty shitty mix. The vocals were hard to hear which was a shame as I was looking forward to seeing what they were like. They were also pretty limited in stage movement due to Cog's drum kit being already set up. Nonetheless there was a lot of energy in their set.

Last time Cog came to Adelaide, they played the same venue, just over a year ago. For some unknown reason, we were bypassed on their short "Boomerang" tour earlier this year which pissed me off. But it was well worth the wait. Flynn, Luke & Lucius put on another awesome show. The sound these guys can churn out is impressive in its power and cohesion. And the lighting show put on really built the atmosphere - one thing HQ should be commended for.

If only the same could be said for a) HQ's drinks prices (seriously, $4 for a 300ml bottle of water?) and b) the arrogance of the security staff. One tough guy pushed his way through the crowd at the back bar, glaring at anyone who dared not to see him coming and still be in his way when he barged through. Toolbags like that bug the hell out of me. We're all paying customers who are here to see the bands, not some big knobhead in a dodgy green shirt who thinks he's better than Jesus at parting things.

But all this couldn't dampen my enjoyment of the show (though the drunk dude behind me shouting every five seconds had a good crack at it). I'm unashamedly a big man-fan of Cog, and couldn't fault the gig, other than Luke's bass rig dying for a few minutes. But credit to the other two - rather than leave the crowd to get restless while they sorted it out, Flynn & Lucius put on an impromptu jam which, for all we know, was possibly how they wrote the melodies on the upcoming album. Well done guys, you should add that tune to the album - I liked it a lot!

One downside to the night was the news that we have to wait till March or April for the new CD. I have this slight issue with bands who release singles so far in advance of the long player coming out. It's more of a quirk of my nature really, because at the end of the day, who the fuck cares what I think?! I guess I'd prefer they built the momentum of the pending release closer to release date. I worry that they're building the hype with the new single, What If, nearly six months before the album lands - the hype might've well and truly worn off by the time Sharing Space drops. But we'll see. Who knows, we might get another single off it before launch day. Fingers crossed. Then again, on the up side they'll probably kick off another tour when the CD goes live, which I'll never say no to. ;)

So in summing up my lame-arse review of the show, Cog rock my socks. They are still my current hero-band, and this gig will tide me over till the next time they grace our shores.

Some of my dodgy-arse camera phone photos: