PIKE '02 - OST

(as requested by Riss)...

2002 was a year where my appreciation of music went up a notch.. It was year where I totally immersed my brain in it... Discovering new bands/artists has been both rewarding and lotsa fun... Below is the songlist for Pike '02 - Official Soundtrack...

1. Seven Years - Norah Jones
- Eyes wide open, always hoping for the sun
- And she'll sing her song to anyone that comes along

2. World Upon Your Shoulders - silverchair
The standout track from Diorama.. I was totally obsessed with this CD for at least a month...

3. Pretty Baby - Vanessa Carlton
The day pike went pop... lol... :D

4. Forget Her - Jeff Buckley
- Don't fool yourself
- She was heartache from the moment that you met her
Was at a wedding sometime in April, and this song was constantly on my mind...

5. Hard To Explain - The Strokes
- I say the right things, but act the wrong way
- I like it right here, but I cannot stay

6. Kansas City - Okkervil River
- And if I could believe what I want to believe
- I'd hold you close and take you with me

7. Across the Universe - Rufus Wainwright
"I am Sam" was one of my fave movies of the year, and the soundtrack was way cool.. I doubt that I've cried so much in a movie before.. *sniff sniff*

8. Grubby - Jonas
- Everyone is there
- Everyone is there
- Everyone is there

9. Live for Love United - Pascal Obispo & Love United
For over a month, the whole world was engrossed with the World Cup... The 2nd greatest sporting/cultural event ever held (behind the Sydney Olympics of course!)... Memories of Korea's euphoric win over Italy.. Ronaldinho running rings around the Englishmen.. Oliver Kahn's unbelievable save in the semi-final.. and the RED ARMY!! "ooohh Corea.... ooohh Corea..."

10. Under the Tracks - Creeper Lagoon
- Afraid of love, afraid you might get hurt
- Good luck, don't get stuck
- Turn right before you can't go back

11. Love Boat Captain - Pearl Jam
- It's an art to live with pain, mix the light into grey
I nearly died when I heard they were coming down for a tour.. After more than a decade, I will finally get to see them live... Music in its purest form...

12. If You Want Me To - Ginny Owens
- I'm not who I was, when I took my first step
- I'm clinging to the promise, You're not through with me yet
- So if all of these trials, bring me closer to You
- Then I will go through the fire, if You want me to

13. St.Patrick's Day - John Mayer
John Mayer just had to feature somewhere on this soundtrack.. At the moment, this is my fave JM song, so it makes the cut...

14. Dos Cosas Ciertas - Ozomatli
The first song they played at the Metro gig.. The year's most pleasant discovery...

15. Indifference - Ben Harper & Eddie Vedder
An amazing version of the PJ classic.. and seems like the perfect way to end the album...

OZO - MATLI

En la vida, dos cosas ciertas, son la muerte y el cambio

As predicted.. these guys were awesome.. spectacular... and it was easily the most fun I've had at a gig all year...

Picture this - one sax player, one trombone player, one trumpet player, one guitarist, one bass player, a whole host of percussionists, one pike trying to salsa.. and a singular voice that reverberates around the Metro like a Beethoven Concerto in full flight... A singular voice comprising of all the singers on stage.. and the hundreds packed into the theatre... The energy in the air was absolutely electric...

Ila Familia started off proceedings with a pumped up set.. and set the tone for what was to come... Then Will-I-Am (from the Black Eyed Peas) came on stage to introduce the band we were all there to see... "Ozo" "matli" "Ozo" "matli"...

I could go on and on about how good this show was... How they started and finished by performing WITH the fans in the middle of the room.. forming a congo line, beating their drums (and whatever else they could get their hands on) through the mass of ecstasy and sweat... How each song (and improv) was executed to perfection and with crisp delight...

It made a huge impression on me (yes, I wanna learn how to salsa!), and I'm sure the others who had the pleasure of witnessing this super LIVE band... and that's exactly what they are - a supreme live act that have to be just seen to be believed...

"Jealous" is not a strong enough word for how I feel about those who will see and absorb the marvel that is Ozomatli at the Falls Festival...

This is an article on the band's origins and is definitely worth a read, even if you're not a fan just yet...

SHARK JUMPING

We are only 4 more episodes away from The Truth - the final ep of The X-Files.. ever...

Last week, a horrible, incredulous event occurred... Television is never likely to be the same again...

Yes, The Lone Gunmen have been.. killed.. off...

Many would argue that xf had jumped the shark a while ago... perhaps when Mulder went AWOL.. or the movie.. or that kiss... Which ever way you look at it.. any x-phile would tell you that it has not been the same for a long long time...

The title for this episode is "Jump The Shark"... If it's meant to be some sorta lame joke.. I, for one, am not laughing... I refuse to believe that they are dead... There is only one true rule in the X-Files - and that is there are no rules... We have seen too many impossible escapes.. too many miraculous rebirths.. to accept that the great ones are no more...

At the start of the final season, I questioned my interest in the show without Mulder... Admittedly, I have only seen a handful of eps, maybe 5 or 6 (partly due to the fact that it is at the worst timeslot ever)... But something has been taken away... I no longer wait all week nervously to catch the next installment of the phenom.. that created a whole new genre of television.. not to mention a new genre in the way people viewed the world around them...

It is sad.. but good things do come to an end... and as "The Truth" gets closer, I can't help think of how the mighty have fallen... Perhaps, CC decided that by killing the most popular characters on the show, the fans will eventually get used to the fact that there really is no more... The sun has set fellas...

Still.. The Lone Gunmen are genuine heroes.. and heroes never die... Here's to Langly.. Byers.. and Frohike....

Christmas..

War..

It's never looked so good...

ERRR.. WHO TURNED OFF THE LIGHTS?

There's something always very disconcerting about the sudden lack of power being delivered to your household... Fumbling your way to the kitchen, and then fumbling your way through the draws to haplessly look for a torch.. is not my usual idea of fun... In pitch darkness, everyone can hear you scream.. after you stub your big toe on one of the legs of the dining table... ouch!

Now, missing out on the daily dose of late night X-Files is one thing.. but not being able to come online will just not be tolerated... But thanks to the trusty work laptop, the potential disaster was promptly thwarted (shite, that's hard to say out aloud)...

It got me thinkin'... Could I survive in a world without electricity?

Being the nocturnal creatre that I am, I would personally not be able to... No more DVDs in the wee hours of the morning.. no more free music downloads.. no more nothing... I may have to actually resort to sleeping... Either that or live in the Arctic for half the year and move to Antarctica for the other half...

Thomas Edison.. you are a legend...

THE GAUNTLET... OVER THERE

Was asked to do a speech at an upcoming engagement party..

Huh? Exsqueeze me? You want me to do a what now?? Where have you been for the last ten trillion years? Weren't you there for the last 3 times pike completely phucked it all up? Do you truly think pike has the ability to redeem himself, and show he is a well-spoken.. seemingly intelligent.. somewhat coherent individual??!?

Ok.. you're on...

PIKE'S PICKS

Ok.. time to talk music...

Game of Love - Michelle Branch & Santana
This song just hooks you in from the very start... so very catchy...

Not Myself - John Mayer
There is something about this song.. can't quite put my finger on it just yet... It's definitely no.1 on my guitar playlist at the moment...

Mad World - Gary Jules
One haunting piece of music.. It played during the climatic part in Donnie Darko... Creepy, yet touching...

Away with the Pixies - Ben Lee (feat. Liz Phair)
Vintage Ben... He found the magic formula at an early age and has stuck to it to this day... Liz has made a number of guest appearances over the years, including collaborations with Urge Overkill and Sheryl Crow...

and finally...

Anything by OZOMATLI
These guys are awesome!! A combination of samba, swing, hip-hop and a bit of politix... I know.. not my usual cup-a-tea.. but they got me straight away... The high-energy of 1,2,3,4.. The killer riffs of Dos Cosas Ciertas.. The flamenco of Timido.. It's all good! The ten-piece big-band from L.A. have made appearances with Santana, Jurassic 5 and The Black Eyed Peas... They are touted as one of the best live acts in the world today... and I'll get to see them first hand to find out for myself... Sun, Dec 29... Can't wait dude!

It's one big SNAFU

This whole selection process of Australia's 15-man World Cup squad is a complete farce... I'm just starting to accept the fact that the great Steve Waugh will not tour South Africa in February.. but the ACB has now officially lost all credibility with their latest bout of bad scheduling, and its appointed board of selectors' inability to be in touch with the cricket-loving public...

Let's take a closer look at the possible squad...

You could say that 10 players pick themselves - Ponting, Gilchrist, Hayden, Bevan, Martyn, McGrath, Warne (pending injury), Lee, Gillespie, Bichel... plus you could probably also throw in Lehman and Watson as near certainties, which make up the current team in the VB series...

This only leaves 3 spots up for grabs.. to be fought out by the members on the Australia A team... One batsman, one bowler, and one all-rounder...

Because of the ACB's complete lack of foresight, these youngsters have been given next to no chance to impress and push for a spot in the squad... As illustrated in Jeff Wells' article in the paper today (I usually loathe the guy, but he made a lot of sense on this occasion), last Saturday's clash between OZ A and Sri Lanka was the last time these fringe players were to play a game before the final squad of 15 is announced on December 31...

There are no domestic one-dayers planned either.. This means that players like Hussey, Harvey, Symonds or even Blewett, who did not get much of a look in on Saturday, now have no way of forcing their way into the squad... To make things even worse, an Australia A game is scheduled on Jan 1, the day after the full squad is decided...

No wonder Ryan Campbell was going for those circus shots (including that now infamous scoop shot over the keeper).. It was one of the most entertaining innings in recent memory.. but I'm not sure if he did himself any favours...

Warnie's injury gives Hauritz some hope, but I would go for the experienced MacGill... M.Clarke is an exciting talent, but probably not quite there just yet.. It would be a toss up between Maher and Langer.. and the more I think about it, Maher deadset ran Langer out on purpose!

Not a big fan of Lehman.. and the thought of him, in effect, being the replacement for Tugger, just astounds me...

My all-rounder would be Symonds, but only by default... There is not much competition there... In the bowling stakes, my choice is Noffke... He is economic, and reliable.. and very much in the Ooh-Aah-McGrath mould...

Knowing the selection board (led by the ogre Hohns, and his sidekicks, Border, Boon, Hilditch).. They won't listen to the pike one bit, and go with their own merry way to appease their own little whacked-out agendas...

If I sound bitter.... I am...

BRING MARK WAUGH BACK!!

One unforgettable night in Sydney - Wednesday 29th Jan 2003...

Norah Jones @ The Opera House
Jimmy Eat World @ The Metro Theatre
The Vines @ The Enmore

'Tis a shame I can only go to one of them...

and..

If you remember a girl's ph number after several days, without ever writing it down anywhere.. does it mean that you like her?

FALAFEL TALK

Philosophy.. Existentialism.. Anthropology.. Ethan Hawke...

These are just some of the words that come to mind when I think of Waking Life... Only managed to see the first half of it.. but it's unbelivable how intense those 45 minutes were...

I love falafel talk... I love it when Mulder and Scully are discussing the origins of existence itself... I love it when Dr.Karl shares with us his theories on the Ripples in the Big Bang...

Waking Life touches on these matters and much more... Take it from the Pike - a must see...

-- o --

Saturday was fun... All my friends turned up... Received heaps of pressies... What more can I possibly ask for?

THANKS GUYS!! :)

THE QUIET ACHIEVER

You know the story - It feels like a freakin' sauna when you go outside.. all the users are cranky (not to mention the boss).. the sun disappears behind the moon...

Recipe for disaster...

First, all the lights start to flicker.. then the alarms.. the bloody alarms! The UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) has apparently died...

Not good...

Phones are going off everywhere... "Yes.. I know the freakin' system is down!!"

Meanwhile, the power is still too unstable for me to start it up again...

Great...

An executive decision has to be made... I'm leaving the system turned off overnight... The rest of you.. go home!

I'm driving to tennis.. It's the final round before the finals.. Hubes would kill me if I was late (again)... The radio dude says there are fires everywhere... The radio dude says.. don't look at the sun...

< Tennis - Why am I so bad at it? Why must I go through this pointless exercise week after week? Just give up man.. You suck! >

11:00pm.. Tennis has finished... Don't even *think* about going back to work dude... So what if you bring the system back up? Will anyone notice? Will anyone pat you on the back and say.. "hey, you're just the bestest.."

No...

11:15pm.. I'm driving back to work... *grumble*... oh yeh, I forgot that I was hungry...

04:00am.. The system has been restored... I have saved a potential disaster... I WILL be employee of the month...

Dream on, Ikea boy...

White-collar sweatshops batter young workers

This seems to be an all too familiar story with some people I know...

Hurrah for capitalism!

Also, I finally got a chance to read this blog... How good is it??

Stupid Mondays... Why can't there be a 'rest' day between Sunday and Monday? It doesn't even have to be a full 24-hour day.. a 12-hour day would suffice...