Diaries news

1974. My penniless mother, desperate to leave Kathmandu, was forced to sell hash for the last seat on a tiny propelled plane. “Terrified of flying, I’d smoked a bit of the stuff myself�. She only found it slightly odd then, that the plane was full of armed soldiers. They took off though the Himalayas wondering where the hell she was headed. “Everest�, replied an official. “Ooh, this is a bit good,� slurred mum, as they circled the mountain. She even managed to photograph it. Landing in India, a soldier pushed her back down in the seat. “You wait!� he ordered. She looked out of the window to see a red carpet unravelling. Just then, complete with entourage, the King of Nepal walked past her and disembarked. Why they allowed her on the plane is a mystery, but they probably just needed to ‘fill up the seats’.

                                       
Is it just me, or is anyone else feeling severely over-analysed?

Yes, I was born in the eighties and according to an endless number of reports that makes me a member of generation Y. This means my peers and I allegedly fit into a category of people that tend to be selfish, reckless with money, impatient and generally difficult to manage. 

Occasionally, there will be a report that mentions how passionate and tech-savvy Gen Y are but that's after employers or society are given tips on how to handle us.

Sure there are major differences between how my friends and I live our lives and how our parents did but if I wanted to be processed and put into a pretty package with my ingredients listed on the side I would have come into life as a pack of Cornflakes!

I recently read somewhere that Sydney has more Thai restaurants per-capita than Thailand itself. For those of you who prefer your food trivia a bit more high end though, you can delight in the knowledge that the waiting list for a meal at (famed Sydney eatery) Tetsuya’s quite regularly backs up into the months. Yes, whether it’s an $8 pad Thai from your local or $500 on a thirteen-course degustation menu, Sydneysiders love their food. No wonder then, that the Sydney Food & Wine Fair has over the past 17 years become one of the most important dates on the city’s calendar. Held annually in conjunction with the Sydney morning herald good food month, this year’s fair boasts it’s best ever line-up of restaurants, wineries and entertainment. Food plates will be going for as little as $5 and wine for $2.50, I also guarantee that this is the only chance you will get to dine on fare from restaurants like Buon Ricardo and Quay whilst wearing jandals. Proceeds go towards the AIDS Trust of Australia- which should make you feel a little less guilty about loosening up the old belt a notch or so.

Sydney:
Sydney was quite a marathon. Our Spectrum show was sold out and such a good night! Our friends from NZ, Surf City opened and then Alex from Red Riders' side project, Straight Arrows played - they were all awesome! After the show we ended up next door at Vegas drinking sambuka and tequilla shots all night. Finally found a bed to sleep in at 11am on Sunday morning and managed to get 3 hours sleep before rushing over to the Annandale to play at 2.30 pm.
The Annandale drew 50 or 60 kids and although were totally tired we had a sweet time playing. Ricky (Mikey the guitarist has been rechristened Ricky!) used a bass amp for his guitar as the guitar amp blew up the night before at Spectrum.
We then headed straight to Bondi for the Beach Road Hotel gig during which an abnormal looking female stood still at the front and eye-balled Ricky while waving at him non-stop for 30 mins. Not sure what she was expecting to get back as Ricky's hands were kinda tied up. After the show we climbed up to the roof with teenagersintokyo. Ricky got smashed and was break dancing on cobble stones! Awesome.
On Monday we went to Sydney zoo! It was amazing! Check out the pics yo.

 
Phil Hadfield , bassist for NZ's Cut Off Your Hands continues to report from the road as the power-pop band circumnavigate the Australian seaboard.

Newcastle:
There weren't many people in the huge room but those who came were singing along to every word. Drove back to Sydney that night. Along the way we stopped for gas, this old guy pulled up at the petrol station who looked like he was gonna die... he was about 200 years old and had driven down from Brisbane. We helped him for a bit then took off home. Good samaritans on the road!

Phil Hadfield , bassist for NZ's Cut Off Your Hands reports from the road as the power-pop band circumnavigate the Australian seaboard with Sydney-siders teenagersintokyo.



Arriving:
We got into Sydney exhausted from a 5am start at Auckland airport to catch a crazy flight through Brisbane, connecting to Sydney. Most of us had stayed up the night before spending last moments with girlfriends (see photo of the three of us on the phone to them simulotaneously!), as after this we're off to UK for the rest of the year!

After meeting the teenagersintokyo girls and boy we got on the road to Canberra with newly established first impressions, and school camp style group separations. We soon broke down awkward barriers and were hanging out like old chums. We got to Transit Bar to find the sound system was down, and had to use their vocal PA which was a pain, but we're pretty used to playing crappy sound systems so we got on with it. It was the first time
we'd seen teenagersintokyo and we weren't quite sure what to expect , but we were all very impressed- in particular by their huge Siouxie and the Banshees style tribal tom-tom drum break downs!

This photo is Angus and I hanging out and playing piano and guitar in the long hours between sound check and performing in Cork, where things move much more slowly. Cypress Avenue above the Old Oak... we played late and ended up sound checking for  about ten hours. So long that we actually wrote a song called 'If the lemmings wanted me'- and another one which was drum and bass oriented called 'Give me the beat donkey skunk.' Our dad was with us through the tour in Ireland so he got out the guitar and jammed with us...which was lovely.