Initially, this was going to start out as one of those long epic emails that I have the tendency to send out. I figured that many of my friends were probably getting a bit sick of this, and so a compromise should be met. I can create this Blogger site, write my pointless waffling epics here, and just present the 'point form' version in email for those in a hurry who just want the essential bits.
Job
FYI - I've agreed to come onboard at Alphalink and began today. They seem like a really great company, but I'm still not 100% sure if this is the right move or not. The upside is that it is a 9-5, Mon-Fri job (yes, I can already see the old FMR crew laying bets if I will consistently make it in time at 9am)... but at the same time, i'm not sure how challenging I am ultimately going to find it. All the same, it has only been one day, so perhaps I am coming to conclusions far too soon, and really should give it a couple of weeks to settle and decide. One thing I did note is that I did not hear one piece of music all day, and that is something really really strange for me.
They're also working on wireless internet - a rather exciting new development which could bring Alphalink right forward in terms of ISP's. I have no wanky titles; it's basically a schlepper job... but it's one that will keep a roof over my head and pay the bills - that's the important thing.
The thought did occur to me today that perhaps music retail wasn't as silly an idea as I thought to return to. But I guess we'll see as I think it would be a bit rude of me not to give Alphalink a fair opportunity to work.
Gym
Strange how small things excite you... like the fact that, now I have a regular income coming back in, I went and lifted the suspension on my gym membership. The month prior to leaving FMR was so busy that I was never getting to gym... and the last couple of weeks have just been constant catch ups, coffee and freakin' wedges or delicious cheese cakes (hmm... cheese cake with a fruit and chocolate infused base...), and so I feel well overdue to go back and i'm really excited about it. I've always hated those hypotheticals where they ask what is more important, the mind or the body? I maintain that the answer is both, and while I think i'm better at maintaining one over the other, even just the attempt to get both in order seems to make life a little more organized.
So, went back on Saturday and feeling sore today from it, so I guess that's a good sign! (Michael - I will be starting to nag you about going in the morning again!)
Study
There does seem some level of irony in me wanting to go back and study something with the intention of trying to break back into an industry that is downsizing and perhaps not on my best terms at the moment... but I guess sometimes you just feel passionately enough about something and believe you deserve to be there that it is worth fighting for, regardless of the realities of the world.
FMR wasn't just a job. I've always joked that my love life sucked cause I was married to my job, but there was an element of truth to that. It's not a sympathy card, but it is different when you have loved ones and partners to go home to, to make you feel like there is a little more life outside of a job description... but for people like myself, where 'the job' was 'my world', this sort of experience can be both frightening and humbling.
I've had a few people say that I should fight to stay in the music industry, but really - what is the point right now? I have ambitions now... but i'm hoping that time will slap them out of my head and make me realise how much more is out there.
So, I went into RMIT on Sunday for their open day (i'd been inspired lately thinking back to Dave at FMR who combines study and work successfully), and chatted with a few people there... grabbed my VTAC guide and starting to suss it all out. I guess lately, I feel like it would be good to formalise some of the things i've been doing over the past three years and basically, if I can't improve myself as a 'product', how the hell am I suppose to convince anyone else to buy it? Out of all the things i've encountered lately, this is the one that I tend to feel the most genuine enthusiasm for and the most heart felt 100% commitment... it's very exciting.
Bowling
Have to say... went Bowling at Bump & Bowl at Strike on Sunday night... SO much fun. Last time I was at Strike was the night the FMR gang went bowling. I think we all basically had too much to drink and then threw ourselves down towards the pins. Sunday night was pretty much a re-enactment of that. Apart from Michael and Jimmy trying to control my excessive drooling, it was just a really great way to chat to some guys that we may have seen out and about but never really had the chance to talk to before... I can actually see this taking off, as the more people drank, the more they started wild ambitions of some gay bowling league... Even funnier was the reaction when Deborah Cox's 'Absolutely Not' came on and I could've sworn, if they had a bowling alley that went up and down like the stage at The Market, it would've been packed with gym boys dancing wildly. It was actually rather hysterical... anyone free on an upcoming Sunday night? Only $15!!! (drinks and shoots not included)
Recommends I might as well try to push some new music while I'm at this.
Helen at FMR will recall a packaging meeting we had recently where the guys brought in this box package with a rather handsome young man on it named Michael Buble. Well, the album turns out to be pretty much a collection of cool cabaret numbers, although he does sometime take a bit of a left of centre approach ('Crazy Little Thing Called Love' as a cabaret number?). Still, he has a great voice, chooses some great tracks, and includes behind the scene footage for added perve factor, so it's pretty cool...
Morcheeba have a new live DVD out... so good. I went to see them when they performed here last and I thought they sounded better live than on record. I thought Skye's voice sounded a little weaker here than I remembered until, at the end of the DVD, she explains that it is the last night of the tour and she has had a bit to drink and apologizes for her voice. I still maintain that Morcheeba are one of those bands that you just need to play the music to people and they'll immediately become interested...
And lastly, the Underworld Back To Mine... they can't even do a Back To Mine totally chilled... but this rocks. I put it on Saturday afternoon and I was bouncing around the house before getting ready to go to gym. It has a bit of everything from it, from hip hop through to world music and back again... truly eclectic but I love it. I once had the honour of interviewing Karl from Underworld and found him so immediately likeable, we ended up going CD shopping together at Crown Sanity straight after the interview. He ended up making me buy Jeff Buckley's'Grace' album, which I don't think i've even played all the way through once to this day... but hey, I made him buy the Fatboy Slim albums as he was on tour with him for BDO and didn't own any of them...
Lastly
Now that I have a job and things are getting back on track, I want to thank everyone again for, firstly, putting up with such long emails and secondly, constantly making me feel supported. Atleast with this Blog, I can vent my 30 something diary fascination instead of subjecting it to you all in weekly digests. Ultimately, i've always felt that as long as you have good friends and family around you, nothing else is as important.
