From now on you can probs find me here and here. It's going to be a local travelling blog of sorts. Hooray! n_n

Just quietly...Joga Bonito Australian football ain't.

Paraless

Let me tell you all a story.

There was once a young lad who travelled around the world quite a bit with his family. Whenever he was at an airport, he liked to purchase a magazine to read. One American winter, he bought a copy of Alternative Press. It was a time of musical discovery for this young lad, and little did he know that his life would be changed forever after that purchase.

There was an ad for a band with a cute frontwoman touring the States at the time. This band's name was Paramore and my literal thoughts at the time went something along the lines of 'oh. she's cute'. So i came home to Australia and downloaded the album All We Know Is Falling. At first, it was a little pop punk guilty pleasure, and it felt nice to have listen to a band that not many knew about way back in 2004. My sister's reaction was: 'He sounds like a girl'. How far we've come.

I like to gauge it this way. When i first started listening to Paramore, they had about 4,000,000 scrobbles on last.fm. Now they are fast approaching 100,000,000 and are arguably one of the biggest bands on the planet. I grew to love them like no other band i had listened to before. Radiohead engaged me intellectually, The Mars Volta, spiritually (lol) and Muse made me smile a lot, but I never really loved them like i did Paramore. It was a funny thing, but the kind of devotion Parawhores have for these people borders on idolatry. I hadn't quite gone that far, but I did order the $80 deluxe edition of Brand New Eyes, had it shipped to a friend in NZ and then posted over to me. Make of that what you wish.

As time went on, and as Riot! came out, the guilty pleasure soon blew out into complete and utter fanhood. When i found myself perusing their blogs and reading about the Farros trip to China, which sounded suspiciously like a 'mission trip' i was sold. Excellent music and (what appeared to be) excellent faith? I couldn't love them any more.

I went to their concert at the Roundhouse in 2007 (my sister's first concert ever) and fell in love even more with the undeniable charisma of the one and only Hayley Williams. I declared my undying allegiance to the band of Paramore.

The Final Riot came out, and the jam at the end of Let The Flames Begin further strengthened my love. In what was obviously a prayer of sorts, and their musical passion and dare i say, prowess, went straight to my heart. Further jams on youtube, Miracle outro and Brand New Eyes tour intro made me just amaze.



Ignorance was released as a single and i listened to it on repeat while in vacation in the States in 2009. Then Brand New Eyes dropped and I really lost it. The album was all killer, no filler, in the truest sense of the phrase.

I saw Paramore perform 3 times in 2009. Twice in February as part of Soundwave, and then again on their headlining tour with Relient K at the end of the year. And they did not fail to impress. As my friend Jen said, 'they are pretty much my favourite humans ever'. While Josh did seem a bit despondent in his performance, my sister assured me that's just how he plays. And no one suspected a thing.

And then come December, and the bombshells were dropped.

What I learned from it all, is that bottom line, the music industry simply can't be trusted. We are manipulated and our thoughts are shaped to no end. Essentially, we are directly lied to our faces without apology and without remorse. Fans of Paramore love the band as a whole, and acknowledge that Hayley gets a lot of the attention, but it was definitely something more than 'the coattails of hayley's dream'. However, it would appear that there was no 'whole' to the band to even begin with. A tragic end for many, as people's worlds were essentially shattered (hyperbole alert!) beyond repair. I can't even listen to Paramore in the same way any more.

Boo, you whore.

Anyway, this pretty much sums it up for me.



Time to move on to bigger and better things methinks.


/end story.

Two Thousand Ten- a snippet.

Another year passes. What have I learned?

You can't trust the music industry. Paramore? I can't even listen to them any more. How far and hard the mighty fall. Just scroll down a few posts and you can see that i really, really adored that band. I haven't quite pulled down the posters yet, and I will probably listen to them again eventually, but it will never ever be the same.

Social networking isn't quite the end of humanity as we know it, but i feel so much better now that i have opted out of the whole facebook thing.

Ke$ha and Lady Gaga also don't spell the doom of humanity, but they come dangerously close. Tik Tok is a damn good song, and i can't help but respect the Gaga as a fully committed artist, but i also can't help but worry at least a little bit whenever i see a film clip or flick through a youth grouper's ipod.

Hipster bashing is way way passé. Having said that though, i just can't connect with a lot of the 'hip' pitchfork and laneway bands out there. At least, I can't connect with them in the same way i connect with Underoath or A Day To Remember. Local Natives and Foals though? They are ace. Give me more of that stuff!

Why do they keep making crap movies? The Tourist, Little Fockers, Grown Ups, Marmaduke, The Bounty Hunter, Knight and Day, Killers, Love and Other Drugs........the list is seemingly endless! It's almost enough to negate my faith in humanity that i experienced with Inception and Toy Story 3.

Tumblr is the best thing ever.


Just a few thoughts.
More will follow.

n_n



Currently:

Ennui [änˈwē]-

noun;

a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement.

Relevant.

Citizen of the Sea

The band in which we play music and sometimes go for late night macca's because it is tasty. The demo tracks are rough but will do for now.

Exciting times!

http://www.myspace.com/citizenofthesea


(more demo tracks to come soon!)

Photos by Lisa McG

In Exile

1 Peter 1 says we are the elect exiles according to the foreknowledge of God. This song- amazing. I've posted it before, but today i was reminded of it and loved it even more.

I am in exile, a sojourner
A citizen of some other place
All I've seen is just a glimmer in a shadowy mirror
But I know, one day well see face to face

I am a nomad, a wanderer
I have nowhere to lay my head down
There's no point in putting roots too deep when I'm moving on
Not settling for this unsettling town

My heart is filled with songs of forever
The city that endures when all is made new
I know I don't belong here, I'll never
Call this place my home, I'm just passing through

I am a pilgrim, a voyager
I wont rest until my lips touch the shore
Of the land that I've been longing for as long as I've lived
Where they'll be no pain or tears anymore

My heart is filled with songs of forever
The city that endures when all is made new
I know I don't belong here, I'll never
Call this place my home, I'm just passing through

Paramore- Miracle Outro

Miracle has one of my favourite paramore lyrics in it:
"It's not faith if, if you use your eyes"

This live outro is a prayer if ever i heard one.

I asked for love
I asked for mercy
I asked you for sunshine
but I thank you for the hard rain
oh I thank you for the rain.

I asked for love
oh, you are already all of these things.

If I knew what I needed
If I knew what was good for me
I'd, I'd be down on my knees begging
Please please please
let your light shine bright inside of me
shine inside of me.

As i was reading articles for uni today, i noticed that Alice in Wonderland
was peeking through the windows at me. It was a nice serendipitous moment.

And now i'm going to Chicko's for lunch. Yeew!

so for now, i haven't blogged in a while. I have been too busy looking at pictures of things on tumblr. Can't think of anything to blog about at the moment. But i feel something brewing soon.

Meanwhile, check out what exciting things i have tumbled across these past few weeks at the house of kloo.

SOUNDWAVE in less than 2 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Today i mowed the lawn and it took about 2 hours because the grass was so long and the catcher kept falling off. I also ran out of petrol halfway and had to get some from a friendly neighbour named Tom Riley! :)

first post in a long time.

While listening to Triple J's Hottest 100 yesterday, I realised how out of touch I was with what the hip kids are listening to these days. 2009 was the year I really got into the punk side of life(Soundwave, Warped Tour, Thrice, Paramore...) and as a consequence I felt little to no connection with the music yesterday. I'm no Nick Underhill. lolz.

Thank goodness for Mumford & Sons.

:)

Another restropective- My top 50 artists of 2009 according to last.fm were:

Paramore, Underoath, Thrice, Taking Back Sunday, Coldplay, Radiohead, Muse, Chiodos, Meg & Dia, Noah and the Whale, Eisley, Enter Shikari, Between the Buried and Me, Lisa Mitchell, Billy Talent, A Day to Remember, Brooke Fraser, Brand New, Feist, Elliott, Motion City Soundtrack, Jeff Buckley, Alexisonfire, Minus the Bear, Karnivool, Mogwai, The Devil Wears Prada, Bring Me the Horizon, Anberlin, Mew, Protest the Hero, Fall Out Boy, Jon Foreman, Jimmy Eat World, The Matches, The Beatles, My Chemical Romance, Emery, Rise Against, Gyroscope, Howling Bells, Arcade Fire, Jack's Mannequin, Bon Iver, The Frames, The Butterfly Effect, DJ Shadow, Mumford & Sons, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Girl Talk.

Two Thousand Ten

The end of the decade. When we enter out twenties, we have the benefit of actually being mentally capable of looking back and enjoying our memories- all the joys and regrets and all the ups and downs. It's very different from turning 10, and very different from turning 30. It's kind of the point where we can be thankful for all that's passed, yet entirely excited for the next decade to come, which in reality is very very difficult to predict. Once we turn 30, i assume life is pretty much set by then. Haha.

Anyway, here's a list of every movie I watched this year. Ever. This list covers 12 months, 4 countries, a few plane trips, a few Imax trips, and several anime nights. I started out the list by writing a small blurb about each movie I watched, for personal reasons, but I won't go into detail here. Some quality cinema in 2009, but here's to 2010- the year of the DEATHLY HALLOWS!!!!

Kung Fu Panda
Pursuit of Happiness
CJ7
Ip Man
Death Race
Vicky, Christina, Barcelona,
How To Lose Friends and Alienate People
Wristcutters
W
Brave Story
Valkyrie
Bolt
Bedtime Stories
War, Inc
Dark Knight (IMAX)
Heat
Zak + Miri Make A Porno
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Watchhmen

Princess Mononoke
Yes Man
Snatch
Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
Afro Samurai
A Bug's Life
Changeling
Prince Of Egypt
Dragonball Evolution
Metallica Some Kind Of Monster
Seven
Boy In The Striped Pyjamas
Rain Man
Tokyo Drift
Wolverine
Akira
Howl's Moving Castle
Spirited Away
The Magnificent Seven
Love Actually
The Blues Brothers
Star Trek
Transformers 2
Monsters VS Aliens
Push
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Watchmen
American Teen
RocknRolla
Burn After Reading
Harry Potter 6
Adventureland
Race To Witch Mountain
The Wrestler
Taken
Defiance
Coraline
10 Things I Hate About You
Dave Chapelle's Block Party
Harry Potter 6
Inglourious Basterds
Afro Samurai: Resurrection
Mysterious Skin
A Mighty Heart
500 Days Of Summer
GI Joe
Star Trek
Stop Loss
Up
The Ugly Truth
Terminator Salvation
Red Cliff
The Usual Suspects
Whip It
District 9
The Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Inglourious Basterds
Gran Torino
Stardust
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Slumdog Millionaire
2012
Elizabethtown
My Neighbour Totoro
Paranormal Activity
Clueless
Mean Girls
Ponyo
Jesus Camp
This Is England
Avatar (IMAX)
Avatar (3D)

http://www.houseofkloo.blogspot.com
http://www.houseofkloo.tumblr.com

Merry Christmas 2009

Japan is an amazing country. I was a big fan before even visiting it and I am an even bigger fan after it. It has been just over two weeks since we got back but still the memories of ramen, quiet trains and trendy trendy japanese youngsters remains fresh. However, right now i'm in melbourne and i have no particular desire to write about our Japan travels until a later time...perhaps when i finally upload the rest of those photos. My hesitation in uploading has been due to my thoughts of disconnecting a little, but due to popular demand and my many international connections the online activity continues. For now anyway.

Merry Christmas all. Remember Jesus Christ, the reason for the season.

And happy boxing day. Remember capitalism, the reason for this other season. lol.

I spent the whole day shopping something massive in Melbourne city, but i only spent $2 on a DVD. I just don't need any more clothes or shoes! I do enjoy Melbourne though. From my limited experience of the city, i would say it may even outshine our own premier city Sydney.

Listening to Arcade Fire at 12:56am. I gotta get up in 7 hours for church. Hanging out with great company in Melbourne.

Cheerio!
kevman

http://www.houseofkloo.blogspot.com

Courtesy of timqth, I have made my own little tumblr. Click here for some pretty pictures in aesthetically appealing html presentation for your viewing pleasure!

I owe Tse Lynn a Japan blog perhaps?

Going through 3000 photos takes time unfortunately...bleagh.

http://www.houseofkloo.blogspot.com

Radiohead ftw

So i finished my radiohead binge last week. And it did not leave a bitter taste in my mouth. I learned several things from this little experiment:

1. I did not really tire of it. In fact i was strongly considering continuing on radiohead for the rest OF MY LIFE. but then i realised that i sorely missed my dear hayley. As talented as mr yorke is, sometimes i just a good ol' punk song to kick out the jams. As much as man does not live on bread alone, so too does he not live on one band alone.
   
2. It did not substantially alter my outlook on life. I did feel a little more negative about things, but this can be attributed to the 2 exams i have looking over my head like a cloud of bad dreams. (last exams EVER!). What it did change was my capacity and willingness to think a bit more about the bigger picture of existence and life. It drew out a dormant cynicism i have for much of life in ways i was not expecting, most in particular was the quote from last week i found from Steven Soderbergh about movies and how much i resonated with it. One could say that i was climbing up the walls a bit with it...I've wanted to read more than i ever have before, and i don't know if this is a side effect of radiohead in my head, or just my normal urge being enhanced, but the urge is there!
   
3. If you ever want to engage a bit more with your darker side, listen to radiohead for a week. Not Nine Inch Nails, that's a bit too dark. And not My Chemical Romance, that's a bit too emo. Radiohead is where it's at.
4. Radiohead is a genius name for a band.
   
5. Kid A is excellent and underrated.
   
6. I learned that 2+2=5 and that the ice age is indeed coming sooner than we expected.
7. I learned that 4th year medical and radiation physics is a bit too easy. But actually, I already knew that.
   

In conclusion, the qualitative nature of this experiment meant that any error encountered in data collection is negligible. Radiohead are a band with an extensive and varied back catalogue and can be used as a way to enhance one's mental capacity and ability to engage with intellectual materials (such as the study of physics and/or metaphysics). However, this may be done at the expense of one's ability to engage meaningfully and pleasantly with the outside world. It is recommended based on my findings that while it may be useful to listen to only one artist for a period of time, it is potentially unhealthy to extend this beyond any period outside of a week or a possibly fortnight without lasting side effects.



lol

*******************

This week, i listened to a lot of jeff buckley. Then i watched michael jackson's this is it. Tortured geniuses both too good for this earth. I have this theory (possibly heretical) that maybe every now and then, God sends down a soul too pure just to live out that the old adage the brightest candle burns out the fastest.


it's late and i like blogging when it's late. bahahahahaha.

I don't write songs for Sony.
I write songs for the people screaming
down the road in their car,
crying with the radio on full blast.

Jeff Buckley's diary. During the post-Grace period when he was experiencing pressure from his record company to write a 'couple of hits' for his second album My Sweetheart The Drunk. I watched his Grace Around the World DVD today and was reminded of how amazing and pure the man was as a musician and an artist. It's a real shame, even an injustice that he isn't as big in his own country as he is here in Australia or Europe. The bigger shame is that he died so young and so needlessly.


Do yourself a favour and listen to Jeff Buckley. Like NOW.

We watch all these movies and what do we have to show for it?

I read an interview with director Steven Soderbergh- the director of the Ocean's movies, and sex, lies and videotape (the rare breed to tread safely between commercial success and indie acclaim). And he had something remarkable to say:

...I'm not saying movies aren't influential; I just don't think they're important any more. There was a time when they were important culturally [and] I think they're as influential as ever, if not more, but that's not the same thing.

...It's not specific to films. I feel that way about all art right now. I'm not convinced it does anything any more. I look at what's happening in the world today, and I don't know how many stories about ourselves we need to tell before people stop killing each other. If the works of Shakespeare can't stop the Holocaust, then what is it worth? I'm being serious.

What good has it done us to read all of these great plays about all of these incidents and go, "Oh my God, what a tragedy that this person behaved that way", and there's no translation to what is happening around us. It's just the same thing over and over.

How's that for 21st century cynicism? We pump billions of dollars into the film industry, and spend countless hours being 'entertained'...and what do we really have to show for it? If we don't learn anything from it, whether it be an intellectual lesson, an emotional lesson, a political or social lesson, then there is something seriously wrong with the film culture we live in.

But then again, I LOVE Transformers. So what does that mean?

Just something to think about i guess.


As a post-script....i love Radiohead.

http://www.houseofkloo.blogspot.com

Jigsaw Pieces Falling Into Place

On day 3 of 5 of my Radiohead journey, I have found some interesting results.

The first thing i noticed when limiting myself to one artist for a week is that i listen to a lot of music. Over monday and tuesday alone, I had already listened to Kid A 3 times, The Bends once, OK Computer at least 1.5 times, Hail To The Thief twice and Pablo Honey once. In Rainbows featured twice at least and even now it is pumping through my brain. So I had virtually exhausted my Radiohead collection multiple times over within a period of less than 48 hours. I don't have Amnesiac or other live recordings...but i think I should...

As i looked back on the past two days, i realised the vast amount of time i spend with earbuds playing music directly to my brain. And for that matter, how much time we all spend with our personal music players in some sort of symbiotic relationship that effectively creates the cone of silence between us and the outside world. We sit at our computers and look at windows for hours at a day without so much as a hello or a smile to those sitting less than a metre away.

Never before have we been so connected, and never before have we been so disconnected.

Just an interesting thought i had.


I guess that's what Radiohead does to you. It makes you think a little bit.

Have i noticed any difference in life from listening to nothing but Radiohead? Nothing too noticeably different. Probably just made me think about things i already had going on in my head. The past two days have been wet and dreary, which fit quite nicely actually...but it'll be interesting to see how Radiohead will relate to this incoming hot weather in the next few days.

Fake Plastic Trees

The gimmick of the week is this: I officially declare this week Radiohead Week whereby I will perform a little social experiment and listen to nothing but Radiohead until Friday! The aim is to observe what effect this has on one's outlook on life and whether there is any quantifiable correlation between quality of said life and the amount of Thom Yorke in one's ears/mind/soul. The hypothesis is that it will be something of a challenging emotional journey, with the worst result being that I inexplicably start reading Stephanie Meyer novels.

Stay tuned for the final results, discussion and conclusions! (Scientific credibility of my findings up for debate).


Or maybe it's just because I've finished and handed in my thesis, and i just needed another experiment to fill in the time.