Springsteen and I

Time for a confession. Before I saw Bruce Springsteen live for the first time I knew barely any of his songs. I'd heard a few off Wrecking Ball. I knew Born in the USA. I'd heard OF Born to Run but don't think I'd heard it. That was it. Had no idea about any others. 

Also I had a seat in the lower tier but the day of the gig checked and somehow there were floor tickets available. Someone I knew went to an earlier gig and raved so for reasons I'm still not entirely sure of, spent $200 to buy a floor ticket. Also this was the first gig I'd ever stood for. So I had absolutely no idea what to expect.

Got there later than I wanted to, about 20 minutes before scheduled start time (yeah right) but was still amazingly close. I looked at the mic and it hit me "He's gonna be right there. This close".

Out he came. Badlands. I didn't know any of the words but holy shit. It was unlike anything. I've seen Prince, Muse and BB King but this was something else. Then, just when I thought that was it, as he was changing guitars for the next song the crowd kept singing Badlands. So be just shrugged, swapped guitars back and kept playing it a bit longer. If I wasn't already then that was it. I was in.

Things that I know now happen most gigs were amazing to me that night. The signs. The lack of a setlist. The kid on stage during Waitin On A Sunny Day. All of it. Around the 45 minute mark most acts do some slower songs. Bruce? He threw himself into the crowd during Hungry Heart. Yep.

At one point he pulled out a sign for Red Headed Woman. He admitted he couldn't remember what key it was in, the band barely remembered it and Tom Morello had never played it. Did that stop him? Nope. WHO DOES THAT? The Boss. That's who.

When I left that night I sent a message that remains one of my favourites I've ever sent. It reads: I FEEL LIKE I JUST FOUND GOD EXCEPT HE'S REAL AND IT'S BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN. That's what it was like. I'm a staunch atheist/agnostic, but if religion is as powerful to you as Bruce was to me that night, then I get it.

Leaving that night, leaving the next night, when I finished watching London Calling at Hyde Park, and tonight after seeing Springsteen and I, I've been left with the same feeling. It doesn't matter. Those things we think are really important; that report at work, being popular, buying that thing, none of it matters. Just be you. Be who you want to be, not who you're told or who you think you should be. Don't worry about being a "success" and don't worry about "failure". Just be you. That's what Bruce means to me.

Thank you Bruce.

Why I Love What I Love - Back to the Future

Marty: Wait a minute, Doc. Ah... Are you telling me that you built a time machine... out of a DeLorean? 

Doc Brown: The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style? 

My longest lasting relationship has been with this movie. It's something I've watched at least 3 or 4 times a year every year since I was about 6 and it never fails to be the most incredible fun. No matter how I'm feeling when I watch this it never disappoints. I know every line, every scene, every joke. All of it. I can sing along to every word of Power Of Love and Johnny B Goode. But it's still as fun, exciting, tense and enjoyable as it was the first time I saw it.

It's been one of the few constants. Superman movies have gone up and down in quality. The Simpsons has faded. Star Wars gets constantly changed. The Doctor regenerates. But this has always been there. I can always put it on and howl with laughter at Doc screaming "1.21 GIGAWATTS?" and wonder why Biff is washing the McFly's car at the end of the movie even though he tried to rape Lorraine. The characters are so simple but so easy to relate to. Marty's just a kid wanting to be better. Lorraine's a girl head over heels for the exciting new guy. George is the "nice guy" who wants Lorraine but doesn't know how to get her. Biff's a bad dude, he doesn't need any motivation, he's just a bad dude. And the Doc is the Doc. No explanation needed.

I'll always love this movie because it's something that will never let you down. Whenever I get asked what my favourite movie is there's never any hesitation. Is it the best movie I've seen? No. But it'll always be my favourite. Something that if you had to watch once a day for the rest of you life, you'd be pretty okay with that. Its message is simple: The future isn't written. It's whatever you make it. Marty sees that and does whatever he can to make his better. He helps George change his future too. It's a story we can all relate to, and one I'll love watching for as long as I live.

Mr. Strickland: I noticed your band is on the roster for the dance auditions after school today. Why even bother, McFly? You don't have a chance. You're too much like your old man. No McFly ever amounted to anything in the history of Hill Valley! 

Marty: Yeah, well, history is gonna change. 

2013 - The year of music and art

So in 2012 I dedicated a lot of the year to sport. Went to an insane amount of AFL games, Essendon, Gold Coast, Greater Western Sydney and neutral games too. I flew to Brisbane, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide to see games. It was a bit nuts, but ultimately incredibly enjoyable. Also went to Cricket games, road tripped to NSW for the NRL Grand Final, got heavily immersed in every Grand Prix and countless other sports too.

So I guess you could say that for me 2012 was a year of Sport. Towards the end of 2012 I decided to take a different approach with 2013 and make it a year of music and art. Something very different. By this I mean all sorts of things. Live music, movies, plays, stand up comedy etc. Any kind of performances. And the year has certainly started off in that vein.

To kick the year off was Tripod + Eddie Perfect in "Perfect Tripod". Following their well received A capella rendition of Meet Me In The Middle Of The Air they decided to put together a whole show of A capella versions of Australian songs. From Kylie Minogue to John Farnham to the Bee Gees to Archie Roach it was a stunning performance. Not what you'd expect from a normal Tripod song, if you went along expecting solely comedy then you may have been disappointed. But it was a tour de force by all 4 guys, particularly Eddie Perfect. One of the most supremely talented people you'll see.

The following Wednesday I headed along to the Palais Theatre to see Band of Horses. A band I've liked for several years now, I jumped at the chance to see them without having to put up with the idiots at the Big Day Out. They put on a great show. They opened with just Ben on an acoustic guitar doing St Augustine, who answered the inevitable question of "Where's the horse?" with "I dunno man". Great bunch of guys who had a whole lot of fun on stage for the whole 90 minutes. Couple of pictures are below with a link to the gallery of all the photos I took.



Band of Horses Photos

The following night I spent at the State Theatre watching the London production of War Horse. Absolutely stunning production. Gone are the days of the old pantomime horses. These were full size puppets, two guys inside the horse and one outside operating the head. Slightly distracting for maybe the first minute but you immediately forget about it and get completely immersed in the story. If you get the chance to go then I can't recommend it highly enough. Even for people who normally don't like going to the theatre it'd make for a fantastic night out. Sadly no photos due to the Arts Centre's nazi like view on cameras.

Friday night was back at the Palais, this time for Elvis Costello. Now, not to cast any slights on Band of Horses, but from the moment he stepped on stage Elvis made them look like amateurs. Ripping into 5 songs straight off the bat. No stopping. No guitar changes or anything. Just 5 songs straight. All hard, loud rocker's too. Set the tone for the evening. Then the show proper started: The Return of the Spectacular Spinning Songbook. A giant wheel was on stage with the names of all different songs. Elvis and his assistants would pluck people out of the crowd who would then get to spin the wheel to choose what songs the band would play that night. Took audience interaction to a new level and made it a thoroughly fun night for everyone there. There was a couple of surprises throughout the night too. An improptru cover of Purple Rain was without question the highlight. Closely followed by Elvis playing Pump It Up right at the end of the night despite it not coming up on the wheel. A master show man showing he's still got it.



Elvis Costello and the Imposters - Photos

Interspersed with all this has been movie galore. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Hitchcock, Gangster Squad. And screener versions of Lincoln and Zero Dark Thirty. Some fantastic films and one awful one (Gangster Squad). So far my current tip for Best Picture is Lincoln, but I say that without having seen Django Unchained or Silver Linings Playbook. They're both being seen this week. So it's been quite the big start to the year. But it's only just begun...

TDKR - Spoilers

Few things I didn't like: How it was never established how Bruce got his injuries. I wanted to know. And how he has no cartlidge in either knee and his shoulders are stuffed, but he puts that little thing on one leg and he's fine? What? How Bane was ultimately nothing more than a pawn. First that business bloke bossing him around, then Talia. Wanted to see Bane in charge and causing pain. Who the hell doesn't know that Bruce is Batman? Didn't like how JGL just turned up in the series and was instantly "so I know you're Batman" Film would've been better served with more Bruce/Alfred scenes. Particularly after escaping the prison/returning to Gotham. Things I did like: SOUNDTRACK Collitard. JGL. The strong "No Man's Land" feel. The first Bats v Bane fight.

Top 25 movies of all time

I will have forgotten something. I always do.

1. The Godfather Part II
2. The Godfather
3. Der Untergang
4. Goodfellas
5. Star Wars
6. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
7. Once Upon a Time in the West
8. Rear Window
9. Fight Club
10. Back to the Future
11. Dr Strangelove
12. The Empire Strikes Back
13. The Blues Brothers
14. The Lord of the Rings
15. Superman
16. The Big Lebowski
17. The Artist
18. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
19. Inception
20. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
21. The Dark Knight
22. Fail-Safe
23. Batman Begins
24. Midnight Run
25. Dog Day Afternoon

Honourable Mention: No Country For Old Men

My Monday night

I'm currently watching an old British sitcom, having:

Downloaded a rented movie off iTunes for my iPad
Watched highlights of an EPL game
Looked at movies to go see next week during my week off work
Scoured the internet for a place to live when I move out (hopefully soon though I've been saying that for years)
Tried to think of something to blog about
Failed
Worried about things out of my control,
Read Batman

I can't help but feel I'm wasting my life....

Boobs

Why are we (guys) so fascinated? We don't know. And nor do we particularly care either. All we know is that they're there and we like them. We look at them when we know we shouldn't. Not because it's impolite, just because it's dangerous. The consequences of getting caught can be violent. One only need point to the great George Costanza to see what can happen. Admittedly it was Denise Richards he was looking at so he can't be blamed. Everyone would look, even you. Yes you.

But despite the danger, we'll continue to look. You may think you're good at catching us, but our skill at looking has been perfected through generations. We're the modern day ninja's. Albeit ninja's without a clear goal in mind. Only an ideal. And that ideal is: We like.