Aoilike Felcheng....

I suppose I REALLY ought to stop drinking. Went out to do a bit of busking last night, couldnt find my mic ANYWHERE. I was thinking back, trying to work out where the hell I could have put it. I mean, I hadnt used it since saturday night, and its been locked away in my room...

...Then I had a bit of a drunken flashback.

Whilst I was sitting on the steps of the railway station on sunday morning, with the scots lads, there was also a massively gay aborigine (I mean, seriously, this guy was gay as christmas!) He had a tight fitting pink top on, and was mincing around singing madonna's like a virgin to pass the time! Now, in my post-drunken-ridiculously-tired state, I thought this bloke was hilarious, and gave him my Mic to sing into, so he could really pretend that he was on stage...

....then, in true pissed me fashion, a pigeon on the road or something caught my attention, that was the end of it. My train of thought was heading down a completely different track, without brakes, and so I completely forgot about the mic, gay aborigines, and quite possibly my own name, I was that tired, and walked off as everything faded to black....

...Then the drunken flashback ended.

This story does have a happy ending though (well, massively immature, which in my books is exactly the same thing!). I Bought a mic today with my busking money (well, ill need one for this weekend), and managed to get an Aoilike Felcheng mic.

Suffice to say I misread it a few times, and now thats it. I think ive found clearly the best mic money can buy. I think me and this mic are going to have alot of fun together, this is the mic for me!

...and any other dodgy puns you can fit into the thing's cheap packaging.  Ha. an I Like Felching mic. God bless the chinese! :)

Walk on the wild....oh, alright. Seaside

Again, its been pretty much the usual around here. Had quite a shite weekend busking...only made $80 on friday, and my mate Ciaron (met him and his gf whilst doing farmworking in Red Cliffs Prison) had a barbieque on the saturday afternoon, so I went to that, had an amazing time, got massively drunk, and then tried busking. Got a bit of money, especially considering that I was almost too drunk to hold the guitar the right way up for the first few hours...then the battery ran out. I missed the train back, so i made a little bit more, then walked to Macdonalds, and had a coffee, then met and chilled with a group of cool people who'd done the same thing. Cool people, cant for the life of my remember thier names.

Anyways, got back and into bed at 8am, so that was sunday pretty much written off sleeping / chilling out on the sofa, trying to ignore this whole real world thing for a bit! :)

Then, feeling a bit guilty, I decided that monday (also, the first day it got to 24-25c in a few months) I was going to do something. So I ended up getting a bus up to Scarborough beach (Its a really nice beach, about 20k north) then, after a bit of lazing around, I walked back.

Well, I walked from Scarborough to City beach (5k) along the cycle patch, which weaved along the coastline. Then I walked along the beach back to cottesloe (7.5k), nearly finding myself on an army firing range on the beach, which I had to go around! Then I got the train to north fremantle (2 stops), went to this really cool venue, Mojos, and watched thier open mic night for a bit, then walked the other 2k home. So yes, alot of walking...

I also got hit on by a massively scary 50 y/o lady, which was pretty much the only reason I left the place. After walking 9miles, I didnt really feel like talking to crazy old ladies, and she wouldnt take the hint and leave me alone....oh well! :P Its what you get when you're as good looking as I am! :) Least its not 80 year olds, like in the good old days at Lloyds Chemists! :)

Anyways, thats it. More busking planned this weekend. I NEED to get some money to pay for this bloody car. Or at least some of it. Bloody thing. (ADVICE: If you come travelling, dont buy a car. You dont need it. Its nothing but trouble. If you want to get around, there are plenty of people who DO have cars, that CAN drive you, and you dont end up spending ridiculous money on nothing).

Its also a friends housewarming on saturday, which I might go to, but again, I need to make money for said stupid bloody car, so i cant really go. Still, on the upside, ive got another friend from farmworking hitting perth on sunday, and a mate from melbourne hitting perth next week, and ANOTHER mate coming here soonish, so that should be cool.

I just should have been up to darwin and coming back by now. Argh. Seriously. If you come travelling. Dont buy a sodding car! *walks off grumbling*

Wow, its been quite a while since ive updated this hasnt it? Its basically because for most of the month, ive been doing the usual. Busking, paying off the car, drinking on the beach with my mates, drinking in the park with my mates, busking some more, sleeping...

Its been really good fun, but you cant really fill a blog with it! Ive made some good money busking - $420 in one night was the best so far. Looked to better it last weekend, when I made $85 in 2 songs, but then the stupid battery ran out. So that was it for the night! :)

Anyways...Ive finally got something to write about. Monday and tuesday were pretty uneventful. Wednesday I went to see my friend play at the Sail and Anchor up the road. It was a pretty good gig. There was this woman with an amazing voice singing after him, and 3 hot women who, and christ knows why, were well into me too. In fact, im heading back there this coming wednesday to meet up with one of them.

I also met the drunkest woman in the world, in a club, so yes. An eventful night. Didnt think Id better it...

....until the next day, when I got up at the crack of noon, and came downstairs to see my mate Jimmy, who asked me If I wanted a job for a day or two. Just to move a few things over to his bosses place. Well, I agreed, because his boss couldnt live more than a couple of hours away, hey? :) How little I knew...

The job was to pick up, and then drive, 2 pool tables and 100 metres of cable to this town called Newman, which is 1300k's north from Perth. Also, they had to be there before 10am because a building inspector was coming to the site. Wow. Okay.

So after alot of faffing around (oh dear. thats the 7th time ive used that word in conversation now. Im DEFINATELY turning into my dad! :P), I finally left perth, via a "shortcut" at 6pm. The "Shortcut" wasnt helped by some retard putting the name of the intersecting street on the main street before a junction in this suburb. So I drive for ages in completely the wrong direction...before turning around, going back, trying another few wrong turns because if you go one way, its the right street, if you go the other, its a different street name..bloody nightmare!

Anyways, after that I put my pedal to the metal, burnt it up north, averaging 140k + 1 monster energy drink per hour. Stopped off in Mikatharra for a bit of a power nap, that didnt really work, drove up and had an hours rest in a rest stop on the road, then carried on, getting to Newman at 8am. Well early!

So yes, I drop the stuff off, have a wonder around, drive up to a few view points. It was a nice place, but there wasnt alot to do. Its purely a mining town...well, region! Theres nothing but desert and mines for miles! They have had an above average amount of rain in the past though, so the desert is bursting with coulour, which was pretty cool!

Then I leave at 10am, and start the drive back. Obviously, having no sleep, Im STILL on the energy drinks. Also, im pulling over every so often for a 20min sleep again. I ended up having so much caffiene that I started hallucinating. Well, sort of. I knew it was hallucinating, and could switch mental gears and not hallucinate at will, but it was pretty cool, so I carried on. I thought:
*The road was a rollercoaster at one point, and it was going up and down.
* I was driving through an opressive forest, with trees that went up to the sky, and were trying to box me in.
* The trees I did pass turned into either comedy faces, or hands as I passed, and tried to grab the van,
* the Lorry in front of me suddenly developed a face (where the number plate was, sort of like when the front of a car sometimes looks like a face if you look at it at the right angle), then a Wig appeared around it, THEN it was surrounded in blue flames...

Suffice to say, I took this as a delecate hint that I PROBABLY didnt need any more caffiene, and replaced with with water, and slowly but surely my hallucinations dissapeared. They sound like they were quite scary, but It was cool. A bit like when you're only just dreaming, and can control what happens in your dream, I could see stuff at will, and was more awake than ive ever been, thanks to being 200 times over the legal caffiene limit! :P  I did wake up at 3am convinced that someone was trying to cut my hair and there was a monkey sitting opposite my bed though, which turned out not to be real. Its a shame. I could do with a hair cut... :)

Finally got back at midnight, after (acording to the odometer) 2517k's, in 27 hours of practically solid driving, and decided that it was high time I went to bed (even though I was still buzzing from the caffiene!).

The journey itsself was pretty cool, although I wouldnt have done it if I wasnt getting paid. Its cool to see the trees and fields turn into Red Desert as you head furthur up. The stars out in the middle of the desert were phenomenal, and there were some nice towns I passed through. Theres nothing to do though...a few nice dried up old rivers, and thats about it!

Anyways, that'll do for me now...In the immortal words of the poet, keep on rocking in the free world! :)

Testing out my amp!

Its been quite a productive weekend! I finally got (nearly) everything I need for my amp. I borrowed a battery, and an inverter from my mate Josh, but otherwise set myself up.

Made $185 on friday night (but I stopped a bit early because I was tired) and I made about $290 yesterday, which was good. I also got invited back to a party, to play guitar to everyone for $100, which was cool. So I got a free Kebab, Free Beer, and $100.

After playing Buckeroo with some poor bloke who passed out on the sofa, and this dude making up songs about tim tam chocolate balls (bloody funny. Pissed people and guitars = win!) I finally got to bed at 630am, and was rudely awaken by someone calling me at 830am, and couldnt get back to sleep. So im knackered today, which has stuffed up my busking.

I really dont have the energy, but I DO have enough money to register the Car, so thats pretty good! Ill just have to head out tommorrow. I also need to get into the basement to borrow the hostels heat gun to get the tints off the windows. I was itching to do it this weekend, but some -insert expletive here- has managed to lose the key. So I cant get in until bloody 11am tommorrow when the sodding handyman arrives! *sigh* Such a waste of time. I jsut want to get this damn car on the road....

But yes. Its been a pretty productive weekend!

....I think I spoke too soon!

Right after I wrote the last blog, I went to see a band play at this really cool bar called Mojos. Matt Gresham. He was sort of good, but got a bit boring after a while. Also, when I went up to speak to him, he didnt give me the time of day, so that was it. Hes got a black mark in my book, and when im a world famous musician, im going to hire someone to Pee into his letterbox... :P

So yes, went to that. Got incredibly drunk, and spent Friday recovering. Mostly. I also got a new set of glasses (the lense kept falling out my old ones, and the arm had fallen off months ago, so it was High Time I got another pair!). $510 altogether the bloody glasses cost. Thats after getting $60 back for the eye test on Medicare! Bloody expensive! Still, it needed to be done. I also got some new clothes.

Now, after that, my plan was to rest. I was pretty hungover, but it was my friend Carla's leaving BBQ at 6pm, so I thought id go to that, have a few beers, walk back, do a bit of busking. Job done.

Ha. That didnt happen. Word of advice: NEVER party with the Irish...at 1am on Sunday, after 2 hours sleep, I FINALLY stopped drinking, and went home. Utterly demolished. It was a really good party though...and Carlas flatmates are awesome! The slight up/downside is I also sort of ended up with a car, which I wasnt after, but its pretty good...I also had the worst Cough Cold ive had in years, stopping me from busking which sucked..luckily I had some cash from the tax back to fall back on, although I would rather have been making it!

Anyways, Basically, because Carla is leaving (well, has left!), and she couldnt sell her car, she gave it over to me, and said that I could either Do it up and sell it, giving her the cash for it, minus whatever Ive spent on it, OR I could pay her the money for the car (she wanted $1k) as and when I had it.. It needs to be re-registered, but ive got the test tommorrow, and all it needs on it now is one Tyre, and the boot lock putting back on (I think it just needs a bit of brute force and ignorance, on closer inspection!). So yes, this baby is my ticket to Darwin. Or at least Broome,,

Then, last weekend, there was Christmas in July at the hostel, where for $10 we got free beer and goon (3 crates of beer, and 5 boxes of goon!), and a massive roast dinner, between about 10 of us. It was really good! Any excuse for a roast dinner is alright by me! :P

So yes, been quite an eventfull few weeks. My voice is back now, so im back to busking. Ive also got my amp through the post, and the rest of the stuff is hopefully following. Annoyingly, an Amp arrived from america before a bloody inverter / converter / battery charger that I ordered from sodding Melbourne! Which is annoying, because Josh has been working lately, so I havent been able to use his amp....

Still, i'll get there eventually. So yes. thats it! Lets see what the future brings!

Its Freo-zing! (see what I did there??)

Hey, just a quick update! Again, I havent been up to a huge amount. Ive been battling coughs and colds for the last 2 weeks. It'll come, stick around for a week, go, then come back again. Last friday I couldnt even busk because I just couldnt sing...

The winery thing never happened in the end either because I needed an amp (and obviously a pickup, mic etc for my guitar). Which is exactly why I cant book myself into all the local coffee shops / restaurants. Which is annoying..

Because of this ive applied for my tax back ($4500), and have been looking at the best amps to buy. Ive got advice off of a couple of friends, and have decided (not that any of you will care, but im going to write it anyways) an AER compact 60 amp, which is expensive, but sounds great, will hold its value, and also is small and light enough so it comes with a shoulder / gig bag to carry around. Which is great for my travelling... Ill probably also get a K&K Pickup for my guitar, because its come highly reccomended! Altogether, it'll come to around $1300, but considering its going to earn me a shed load (I will be able to busk more, because I wont have to wait until Josh is free with his amp, i can take mine out...) it'll be worth it...

Apart from that, ive done a few more open mic nights, had a few parties on the beach, around a campfire. Stuff like that, but its been pretty cold here, and most of the days are wet now. Its been good fun though...

On more exciting news though, it looks like ill soon be on the move! A couple of mates from the hostel are buying a car, and are driving up north next week, so i think ill jump in the car with them! Darwin is my ultimate goal, and because its the height of the dry season, the busking up there will be incredible!

So yes, not a hugely exciting blog, because its died down around here, but I thought id let you all know how I was getting on!

Freo

Just a quick update. Ive been carrying on with the busking, which is still going pretty well. Its getting a bit cold down here, so im saving up money to go north with, towards Darwin via broome, but still clearing $3-400 thurs-sun. By saving money, i mean i have $10 towards it.. :P

In the meantime though, im getting a few actual gigs sorted out. The week before last I played a gig at this pub called The Swan, which was alright, but the bloke organising it was really disorganised, even by MY standards, and considering id given up a friday night busking, I only got a Jug and a half of beer for it. Still, it was pretty cool, and a good chance to play my own songs. It also meant I knew how to get across the bridge into North Freo..

Then, last monday I spent all day at Cottesloe beach, which was really really nice. It was a beautiful day, and the beach was stunning. I relaxed and read a book for a bit (yeah, i know, rock n roll!), then grabbed a beer on the beachfront resteraunt and watched the sun go down..which was pretty awesome!

Then, that evening, I went down the pub for a $15 steak with my friend valarie, and met up with Jordan and Jordan, who I met doing my farmwork, grabbed a few beers, and ended up at this really cool rock bar called Mojo's. It was really cool. In fact, its one of Australias main gig venues I think. Anyways. it was an open mic night, so i booked myself in. Luckily the bloke told me to write it down...ha, it was 2 days later, when i had a drunken flashback, and suddenly thought 'Hang on...do i remember booking a gig for myself? Let me check my phone...oh. Monday, at 8 eh? :P'

So yeah, that was tonight...It was really good. A great audience, everyone liked me, and on top of that, ive got to ring up on wednesday to get myself a slot at Houghton Wineries, up in Swan Valley. Ive had a quick look at the website, and it looks a nice place. Ill probably get twitches as I get closer, and maybe the odd flashback to my sodding farmwork, and i DID promise myself id never look at a bloody grape again, but I think i might forget all of that, for a proper paid gig. And i suppose grapes arent SO bad when you're drinking them as opposed to picking, packing, and pruning the things.. :)

Anyways, thats it really. Im coming down with the man flu this week, so the futures looking bleak. Im not sure ill make it to the next blog...its all going grey...*thud* :P