I'm Love(box)ing it

My claim that Lovebox is the best music festival ever was upheld with the event over the weekend!

However, a two day festival really does take it out of you, and I am a shell of a woman today. So rather than my standard descriptive narrative of my adventures you get subheadings and semi-coherent ramblings.

The Crew
On Saturday we had quite a crew – me, Angela, Amber, Stewart and Laura. We also met up with my old manager and his friend, and tried to catch up with Beavis, but it is rather difficult to co-ordinate such a large group. On Sunday it was just Angela and I, though we made friends with the crazy old festival dancing men (two old guys dressed in suits, wigs and Elvis sunglasses that Amber and I saw last year, and that Matt and Mark saw at Notting Hill Carnival, they must go to every festival) and anyone who happened to be standing around us at the time.

The Music
What we saw of Temper Trap was good, Florence from Florence & the Machine has got a fantastic voice, Friendly Fires played a great set at dusk, Ladyhawke was good once she had warmed up a little, and N*E*R*D were good but would have been better if the sound was turned up. There were two highlights for me, both from the Sunday lineup. The Correspondents were an absolute surprise, which we stumbled across as we came out of the vintage fashion fair because I was looking for a cardigan to keep me warm (but instead bought a super cute little dress). They were playing their style of 1930’s hip hop from a colourful bandstand in front of a massive two-story wooden tree house, under a tree hanging with oversized apples and pears. Fronted by a skinny man in black tights, white business shirt, black vest, teal satin tie, glasses and a comb over despite having plenty of hair, the Correspondents had the entire crowd dancing and cheering. The other highlight was Groove Armada, of course. They are the ultimate showmen and really now how to get the crowd worked up, starting off with Funk You Too, songs belted out by their new female vocalist Saint Saviour, moving into a mash up of Song for Mutya and Madder, followed by a magical performance of Down by the River. Unfortunately, as I had the most slamming headache and had to work the next day, we left early at this point, but heard Super Stylin on the way out.

The Stages
Lovebox truly out do themselves when it comes to staging and theming, which just adds to the fantastic atmosphere of the festival. The Gaymers stage had the aforementioned treehouse and bandstand, a helter skelter, a ferris wheel, and inflatable apples floating throughout the crowd. The All Star Bowling Alley was a hidden gem that we discovered on Sunday, where you could drink delicious cocktails and dance to retro tunes on a checkerboard dance floor. The Jose Cuervo was our home base on Saturday, as we sipped our tequila cocktails, listened to the various South American musicians, tipped our free cowboy hats, and snacked on corn chips with salsa. There were other areas that we unfortunately didn’t get around too, simply because we were having such a good time at the other ones!

The Drinks
Lovebox was all about the tequila, as far as Angela and I were concerned. Because it’s bad to mix drinks you know. So, we sipped margarita-like cocktails on Saturday, and tequila punch on Sunday. Mmmm, tequila…

The Food
A couple of years ago, Scott and Nathan and I went to the Toowoomba Food, Wine, Flowers and Cow festival, where I ate myself stupid on all of the glorious market food available. The selection at Lovebox was even better. You could have had hog roast, tacos, chorizo rolls, Japanese noodles, quinoa salads, burgers, sausages, waffles, bakery treats, fairy floss, fresh coconut milk, jerk chicken, and more. With such a wide and delicious selection on offer, I of course ate the same thing on both Saturday and Sunday – empenadas, aka espadrilles as I liked to call them. Little half-moon pastries filled with argentinian beef or spinach and cheese, that were just too good. And on the Saturday I couldn’t go past the churro stand for some doughy, sugary goodness, though I made everyone else eat them too so I didn’t feel so bad.

The Weather
Typically English. It rained on the Saturday, actually, no, it pelted down. We didn’t bring anything for such weather, so Angela and I made for the shelter of the treehouse but managed to get some free ponchos on the way. I stylised mine with a belt, so as to stand out from the other big white plastic blobs in the crowd. Sunday it was supposed to pour down, but the weather held out and was actually rather pleasant.

The Verdict
I freakin love Lovebox, and hereby declare it the best music festival I have ever been to and the best music festival I will ever go to!

Whatcha lookin for?

So, I now have this thing on my blog that allows me to see how people got here, and it is revealing some interesting things.

The majority of people land on this site because they are doing a Google search for “Rayban Wayfarers”. GET OVER IT PEOPLE! They are stupid, ugly, over rated sunglasses and the fad has passed. Let’s leave them in 2008 shall we?

Someone stumbled here while searching for “Groove Armada Hvar”. I don’t know if they were expecting the band to be playing in that sleepy little Croatian town, but I am pretty sure they weren’t trying to find the adventures of the hos and mos on the Adriatic Sea.

Another person came here looking for "refill beverage etiquette". I hope my rant about lazy colleagues making me fetch them cups of tea helped to answer your query.

Quite a few people have come here because of a search for "mumble pants", I hope they found what they wanted.

Then there is the grammar fool who wanted to know... How do you punctuate Exhibit "C," or Exhibit "C",? The answer is the latter.

The funniest though is the person who searched for “leather pants tube”! Ha ha ha!

Second thoughts

I may be having second thoughts about moving home at Christmas, and these are keeping me awake at night.

When I left Australia in April 2008 I was moving to the unknown – no job, no where to live, not many friends, no family, no real idea what I was doing.

Moving back home in December this year is sort of the same.

I am worried about finding a job. While my CV boasts a fantastic job progression with The Government Agency, I don’t know what the market is like in Australia and if any potential employers would be impressed with that experience.

I am worried about living on the Gold Coast, so far away from all of my friends in Brisbane. This is also worrying if I do get a job, because how am I going to get there, so…

… I am worried about how I am going to get around. The public transport system in London is fantastic, there really isn’t any need to have a car (apart from if you want to buy a watermelon at the supermarket). I don’t want to have to always ask my parents for a lift, so I will have to look at buying a car when I get back.

I am worried about money, because I haven’t really saved much money while I have been here. I’ve been making good money, but have been spending it on holidays to Croatia and Europe, dinners in the dark, music festivals, dresses from Joy, PowerPlate sessions at the gym, and having fun with my friends.

I am worried that I am going to be bored in Brisbane, and warn you all that you had better be prepared to entertain me. I used to do a whole lotta nuthin in Brisbane, but plan to change that, so you will all get dragged along to dinners, road trips, mini golf, markets, football games, and the such.

Please assure me that things are going to be okay?

"So he tells me his last year, and what he'd like to change, I say to get down to the beach and to give us a call, he hears nothing at all, so he sits there all alone, waiting for that golden sun in the Morning Light, just let go, just let go, last year's gone so leave it all behind”
Sparkadia, Morning Light

A little late jumping on the bandwagon

This story from popbitch makes me want to join Twitter...

Crazy Little Party Boy - Poor Aaron Carter's lost it

Since the passing of his dear friend Michael Jackson (who once bought him a Bentley), Aaron Carter seems to have gone into meltdown and is now determined to rid the world of disease and suffering.

He tweets:

2:46pm - THE FIRST THING I WANT TO DO IS HELP FIND A CURE FOR AIDS!

2.47pm - I WILL SPEND THE REST OF MY LIFE SEARCHING FOR ANSWER'S FOR MANY DIFFERENT REASON'S,THERE IS A LUPUS WALK IN NEW YORK THAT I WILL START WITH

2.50pm - I HEARD ONE OF THE JONAS BROTHER'S HAS DIABETES AND ONE OF THEM WENT TO THE GOVERMENT TO VOICE HIS OPINION... NOW THAT'S WHAT I MEAN! :)

3.06pm - STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO! I WRITE IN CAPS FOR A SPECIFIC AUTISTIC PERSON! LEAVE IT ALONE! I WILL NOT CHANGE FOR ANYONE

AIDS, lupus, diabetes and autism. All in 20 minutes.


"There's something that I've got to say, you're always with me even though you're far away"
Aaron Carter, I'm All About You

Observations of driver

Four and a half hours is 270 minutes. That is a very long time to be in a car by yourself. Driving for nine hours in a 36 hour period will make you slightly crazy, will result in you talking to the radio, and will make you hate your own company.

British radio is rubbish, absolutely rubbish. The reception was patchy and the selection was poor. The worst part was, once I got back near London and the stations started getting a little better they all simulcast the Big Top 40 and all they played was freakin Michael Jackson. If I don’t hear another MJ song for 20 years I will be happy. The only saving grace was chancing upon Keane’s “Somewhere only we go” as I drove into Hertz to return the car.

Unlike Australia, there are not many red cars in England. The most popular colours are metallic silver and blue.

Like in Australia, there are plenty of idiots in England that don’t know how to merge or overtake.

Did you know that the symbol ^ is called a chevron? I found this out because these were painted on the road and there was a sign telling me to keep two chevrons in between me and the car in front. However, this caused massive traffic problems for the two miles that they had painted chevrons on the road, and then everyone went back to driving with common sense and the traffic sorted itself out.

Roads in England are crazy. Back home, if you want to go to Sydney you get on the freeway and go there, or if you want to go to Townsville you get on a freeway and go there, or if you want to go to Toowoomba you get on a freeway and go there. You get my drift. In London, if you want to go to York you have to get on a freeway, then another, then another, then six others, then you get there. If it wasn’t for my £14 a day sat nav I would still be driving circles around Heathrow wondering how to get the hell out of there.

But the drive was worth it to see Great Aunty Ana and Great Uncle George, and I had a great time visiting them. It’ll probably be a couple of months before I can handle being stuck with myself for company again though…


“Oh, simple thing, where have you gone? I'm getting old and I need something to rely on, so tell me when, you're gonna let me in, I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin, and if you have a minute why don't we go, talk about it somewhere only we know? This could be the end of everything, so why don't we go, somewhere only we know, somewhere only we know?”
Keane, Somewhere Only We Know

Celebrity spotting

I love me some celebrity spotting in London!

Whilst having drinks at Covent Garden with Dom and Alex last Friday night, Kimberley Stewart waltzed past. (Mum, Kimberley is Rod Stewart’s daughter)

However, I am more excited about today’s celebrity.

I am just sitting at my desk enjoying a salad for lunch when Kevin McCloud from the television show Grand Designs walks out of a meeting room. If he wasn’t with one of the Group Directors and I didn’t have a mouthful of avocado I totally would have gotten all crazy fan on him.

Kevin is the host of a reality television show that follows people as they build or renovate their dream homes. He is a pompous twot though, always criticising them throughout the project, telling them where they went wrong, and generally reminding them that he is better than them. Then at the end when the house is finished he wanders through and waxes lyrical about how lovely it is and why it all works so well.

I love him and I hate him all at the same time.

Yes, I am a lazy blogger

I don't feel like writing a blog entry at the moment, sorry.

I'm tired, a little run down, and have developed a cough that is completely unrelated to Swine Flu. The Health & Safety Manager at work asked if I had a back up plan, with someone in place to continue Internal Communications should I fall ill. It's just a cough dude, settle down.

Instead I am going to direct you through to another blog - the BBC Magazine Monitor 10 Things blog.

10 things we didn't know last week

Snippets from the week's news, sliced, diced and processed for your convenience.

1. There are 2,500 year old bird nests still in continuous use.

2. The Fred Perry sportswear logo was almost a pipe - Perry was a keen smoker - but his business partner thought this would put off women customers.

3. As a cold-blooded insect, flies are slower in the early morning and evening when the air is cooler, and speed up in the heat of the day.

4. C, the single-letter codename for the head of MI6, dates from when the first boss, Captain Sir Mansfield Cumming, signed himself "C" for Cumming.

5. Streetlights cause problems for bats.

6. The pilot and co-pilot on a passenger plane are not allowed to have the same meal in case they both get food poisoning.

7. The Queen has an allotment.

8. Scotland has the lowest age for criminal responsibility in Europe.

9. Hitachi makes trains.

10. Pak Do-ik, the North Korean footballer, is still known as "the dentist" among Italian football fans for causing them pain by scoring the goal that saw them beaten 1-0 in the 1966 World Cup.

You learn something new every day...


"I'm wicked and I'm lazy, ahhhhhhhaaaaahhhaaaaa don't you want to save me"
X-Press 2 featuring David Byrne