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Axver

[ website | U2-Vertigo-Tour.com: for all your U2 setlist needs! (Got a question, suggestion, or addition? Feel free to leave me a comment! I co-maintain the site.) ]
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[3 April 2008|11:09 pm]
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[Current Music |'The Twyncyn/Trembling Willows' by Pure Reason Revolution]

Well, April looks like it's going to be considerably busy and stressful. The fact I'm updating LJ rather than writing an essay surely isn't doing me any favours either. However, I feel motivated to update, while I can't say I feel terribly thrilled about rehashing arguments on the Holocaust in Romania in the quest for a mark, so update I shall.

March quite unexpectedly proved to be a rather good month. To tell the truth, it was probably my best month of the fourteen or so I've spent in Melbourne so far. When it started, I can't say I expected that. It was stinking hot, I was feeling fairly lonely, and Mum was not in the best of health at all. But it turns out the Internet is more than just a vehicle for porn and flamewars, and I can largely thank LJ and Interference for such a good March - my mother's all too short visit also significantly contributed. From Interference, the Maj. is not just in one of my courses at university but in the very same tutorial (what are the odds, seriously), while outside of uni I've caught up with Ali and TE/Melissa a few times and went to the National Gallery with them. It's been terribly good actually getting out and doing things, and a group of us are going to the premiere of U2 3D next week. I must admit I really don't care too much about U2 3D - it's a sort of ridiculous concept and only one song in the entire setlist really leaps out at me as worth hearing, but I'm not going to say no to passing the evening with a cool group of people and music I'm sure I'll enjoy despite my skepticism.

Meanwhile, in quite a chance encounter, [info]harmonybear/Kat and I bumped into each other over on [info]melbournemaniac. Would you believe there is another albino railfan roughly my age in Melbourne? No, I didn't either. But I'm not even joking. We've been out railfanning and tramfanning a fair bit the last few weeks. Most of it has just been around the central city, including one day when the routes 3, 64, and 67 tram lines were running via William Street to terminate at Dudley Street - I really wanted (and got!) photos of Z1s and As on a route normally run solely by Z3s and B2s. I've also ridden the Frankston - Stony Point line twice, once by myself and once with Kat; it's the only non-electrified train on the Melbourne commuter network. At the moment, it's operated by an A class diesel locomotive hauling either two or three of four MTH carriages, undoubtedly the most comfortable rolling stock of any suburban train. It's well worth the trip, especially as it's going to be replaced by Sprinter railcars rather soon. Kat and I are planning another trip later this month before the A+MTH are replaced, this time to photograph it between stations and also photograph the Long Island Steel train, which I frustratingly missed by a matter of minutes when we went down last weekend. Assuming I don't get too stressed over the next few days with essay madness, I'll post some of my pictures from my railfan adventures.

On another note, I'm considerably relieved with the very sudden departure of summer. Three weeks ago, Melbourne was melting in 40C weather. Today barely reached 16C. Looks like the coming few days are going to be rather pleasant and comfortable around 20-25C. Tomorrow evening, I hope it's fine as I plan to go out and do some more tramfanning, unfortunately without Kat as she'll be in Adelaide making me jealous by riding Adelaide trains. But it's the last weekday evening before the end of daylight saving and I don't yet have a photo of a 00 tram on the route 55. The 00 trams are return workings of peak hour trams that aren't rostered to actually run the 55 in the counter-peak direction; they are simply returning to Essendon Depot. Since they run in the evening and it will soon be too dark for my camera to produce worthwhile shots when the 00 runs, I'll go park myself somewhere in Royal Park, do readings, and photograph the parade of passing trams in the hope that at least one 00 comes my way when it's still nice and light. I do wonder if any counter-peak 00s run from Essendon Depot to West Coburg in the morning, but I'm never even remotely up that early to find out! I imagine they do, but I'll stick with catching the 00 in the evening for now. I don't think any of the Melburnians on my friends list or Interference would be terribly interested in joining me tomorrow, but if anybody is, let me know! I'm thinking about getting pizza.

And I think that's about it in news from Axverland. I've 3,500 words over two essays due in ten days, of which only 900 words are thus far written, and 4,000 words to do for the Royal Historical Society before the end of April. What fun. Have a good one, everybody.
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[22 February 2008|11:58 pm]
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[Current Mood | amused]
[Current Music |'Undertow' by Chroma Key]

Today has been an insane day. A new U2 song leaked, recorded by someone outside the studio, and it of course sounded like the band were playing underwater - not to mention at the other end of a wind tunnel. Truly hideous quality. And a clearer clip surfaced of The Edge just rehearsing, playing scales, which wasn't terribly interesting. So you'd think that suddenly Interference would explode with thousands of posts over-analysing it.

You would be wrong. Instead, in a random thread voting on the worst song from the Pop album, the most insane spontaneous messageboard discussion in a long time took place. And somehow I managed to burn an entire evening on this thing. I even stopped paying attention to the cricket. It spawned a second thread. We've shot well past 1,300 posts with this in very short time. I think almost a quarter of those are mine. We managed to cover just about every topic under the sun, from Steven Wilson to Christchurch's cathedral and even a bit of terribly amusing wink wink nudge nudge innuendo - and absolutely no U2! Because, of course, who on Interference actually likes U2? That's right, nobody.

In other words, that's why I don't have a worthwhile entry for today. But the epic Postwhoring of Pop Survivor Round 1 needs to be commemorated for the ages, and that's what this is for. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun online.
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Every time I turn around, there's another silence drowning me [19 February 2008|11:52 pm]
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[Current Music |'And The Swallows Dance Above The Sun' by Porcupine Tree]

This evening, I've been reading a thread on a Dream Theater forum on the topic of realising your favourite band is not your favourite band any more, and this has sparked a number of thoughts for me. Music is possibly the most important thing in my life, even ahead of literature, my academic interests, and railways. When I wake up or study or do the dishes, I do not feel the overwhelming urge to ride a train, but you better believe I'll soon feel something is wrong if I am not listening to music. When I am watching television, the one thing that often occurs to me is that "I'm not listening to music!" As the most important thing, music is only subordinate to the most important people; only when I'm interacting with people has it never occurred to me that I could be listening to music but I'm not. So I'm sure the patterns of my musical preferences say something about me and reflect where I was at that point in my life.

It is hardly any secret that U2 are my first musical love. I grew up on their music and have always enjoyed them; the first CD I ever bought was the Best Of 1980-1990 when I was 11 and U2 were nominally my favourite band from that point on. I say nominally because I really wasn't that deeply into their music, and didn't own much of their material. Music until I was about 14 was there to be enjoyed and I had already developed the habit of religiously writing while listening to music, but it had not yet developed any serious internal significance. Around that point, however, I got more seriously into U2. My transition from casual fan into serious fan occurred swiftly in December 2002/January 2003 with the release of the Best Of 1990-2000 and my acquisition of the Under A Blood Red Sky and Rattle And Hum videos - from each, the three songs I can pinpoint as solidifying my love of the band are Gone, 11 O'clock Tick Tock, and Bad (so much for the theories on Interference that casual fans won't get fully into U2 unless they're bashed around the head with Where The Streets Have No Name, One, and Beautiful Day for the 1,000th time). I very quickly became deeply into the band, trading bootlegs and becoming an expert on setlists. I still draw endless fascination in the band's setlists and, despite my changing musical tastes, I find working on U2VT to be one of the most satisfying things I have ever done.

However, in late 2005, I started to feel that perhaps I didn't like U2 as much as I did. I was so excited by the prospect of U2's first tour of Australia since 1998, and yet by January 2006, my desire to listen to their music had plummeted. In mid-December 2005, the plays of U2 on my last.fm registered in the hundreds per week. By mid-January 2006, they struggled to break the 40s and have almost never passed 100 since. Just reaching my top ten weekly artists has been an achievement for the last year. Their music, on the whole, just does not resonate with me any more in the ways it once did. I tend to associate U2 with a happier time of my life and some youthful idealism now replaced by a disappointed cynicism and a lack of expectations. I should be clear here and say that The Unforgettable Fire, with all of its beautiful atmospheric soundscapes, remains my favourite album and the 26 December 1989 performance of One Tree Hill is my favourite song. But so much after the end of the Lovetown Tour in January 1990 leaves me feeling empty, especially the superficial and simplistic material the band has produced this decade. I wish they had never written One; yes, I wish the song that saved the Berlin recording sessions and by extension kept the band together had never happened, and not simply because it is a terrible song. If they had split up and left their eighties material as their legacy, they would undoubtedly still be my favourite band. But no band can be my favourite when I wouldn't save half their discography in a fire.

So U2 from the start of 2006 returned to being a nominal favourite. I remember around March and April 2006 I briefly considered Dream Theater to be my favourite band, but there wasn't much passion or enthusiasm behind that. They were definitely a top three band for me at the time, but favourite? No, and as the U2 tour in November 2006 drew closer, U2 had at least some of the trappings of being the favourite for me. I had incredible fun at the concerts and I would do it again in a heartbeat - there is something about U2 concerts that is very hard to describe, but it makes them an immensely enjoyable and rewarding experience. However, not even the tour could reignite my declining love of the band. My top three bands at the end of 2006 were Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, and U2, but none was a distinct favourite.

Early in 2007, I thought Dream Theater were starting to emerge as my new favourite. The anticipation I felt for their impending new album, Systematic Chaos, reminded me of awaiting U2's How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb in the midst of my U2 obsession in 2004. Then two very significant things happened. Firstly, Porcupine Tree released Fear Of A Blank Planet in April and absolutely blew me away. I gave their back catalogue more love too; I began spending time exploring parts that I had neglected and discovered more of the same brilliance. Secondly and most crucially, Systematic Chaos leaked in May. Without a doubt, this is one of the worst albums I have ever heard by any band even approaching half-decent. I have never felt so disappointed or so letdown by any album; I could not believe as I played it for the first time that not one track appealled to me, and that I even vehemently hated some songs in a way I didn't think possible. That one album irreversibly soured Dream Theater for me, and helped highlight just how bad the two preceding albums are too. I still love their 1989-1997 material and that keeps them in my top ten bands, but they are nowhere near the top.

Ever since then, Porcupine Tree have risen sharply in prominence. I'm sure those most acquianted with my tastes are probably surprised they weren't my clear favourite earlier. But by June 2007 I was closely following their setlists, and even songs I didn't love so much initially are now strong favourites. That stands in stark contrast to every other band I've ever been fond of, where those songs I've initially not liked so much have tended to just slide further. Porcupine Tree's music does everything I want music to do, and best of all, it's consistent - there are no albums or songs that I hate. I've even got a strong fondness for some of On The Sunday Of Life and other early releases full of bizarre experimental music. Certainly at this point of my life, Porcupine Tree speaks to me, and has done so in other phases too. I keep wondering if I will be one of those people who ends up with one predominant musical love, or if I will continue to slowly but surely move between bands. I know I will always return to U2 as my first musical love, and Porcupine Tree as the band who opened me up to so much more, but I see some people who have loved Dream Theater as their favourite for 15 years, U2 for 25 years, Rush for 35 years, and in light of Porcupine Tree's clear rise to dominance in my current tastes, I have to ask myself: so, Axver, how long will this last?
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The moon is up and over One Tree Hill [16 February 2008|07:00 pm]
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[Current Music |'Welcome, Ghosts' by Explosions In The Sky]

Just a quick post today, mainly for the U2 fans on my friends list. I've already posted that when I visited New Zealand for my 21st birthday last month, my uncle gave me a framed One Tree Hill single. I've finally gotten around to photographing the thing, so here are some pictures. Some very bad pictures! Trying to avoid glare was just about impossible and I'm simply a poor photographer. One Tree Hill, as is no secret, is my favourite U2 song and is named after an extinct volcanic peak in Auckland. As for the single itself, it comes from my uncle's collection - back when it was issued, he bought thirty. I have one of them already, plus this one, while he still has the other 28; as the single was only issued in New Zealand, it's actually worth a fair bit now.

( Pictures. )

Anyhow, I have a gig to attend. Have a good one, everybody!
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[10 February 2008|11:54 pm]
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[Current Mood | bored]
[Current Music |'Trains' by Porcupine Tree]

Well, today's cricket match is proving to be remarkably dull. The Australian innings was entertaining as India simply skittled them, but after a good start, the Indians seem to have become scared of being skittled in similar fashion and have seriously put the brakes on. So, to pass the time, I thought I would make a post to complement my "fifty top albums" post from last month. But instead of just something bland like "fifty top songs" (which sounds like a tough ask anyway), I thought - well, what am I known for? I'm the U2 setlist guy. So, what the hell, here's my ten of my favourite U2 setlists over the years.

( Cut for length. )

And after doing this in fits and starts, it's nearly midnight, the cricket is well and truly over, India quite satisfyingly won even if it took them a painfully long and cautious time, and I should get some sleep. Have a good one, folks.
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My Top 50 Albums [12 January 2008|10:31 pm]
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[Current Music |'No Place Like Home' by Subterranean Masquerade]

Yesterday, [info]liamtreasure challenged me top compile a list of my top fifty albums. For some insane reason, I have accepted the challenge despite the fact that I find even a top ten to be close to impossible. I already disagree with this list; I doubt I could ever make a list that I would stand behind for more than five minutes. However, I do feel that it is a very strong selection of music. The criteria is somewhat confused and I have not quite established whether this is a best or favourite fifty, but I did enforce a couple of guidelines:

1. The release must be a studio album. No EPs, singles, live albums, compilations, etc. I am permitting just one exception: The Shadows. Their best material was released in 1960-62, when the single rather than the album was dominant, so the easiest way to get their material is via compilations. As The Shadows have been so influential on my musical tastes, it would be wrong to omit them, so the compilation I own is on the list.
2. Once five Porcupine Tree and two Blackfield albums appeared in the top 25, I said "that's it, no more". This isn't a Steven Wilson And Friends list. I am fairly confident that had I kept going, every Porcupine Tree album apart from On The Sunday Of Life would have made it, and at least another album from one of his side projects would be floating around too. I otherwise felt no need to limit any band.

One of my concerns was high placings for albums that are very recent and yet to stand the test of time - however, this is a snapshot of my opinions right now, so my qualms about including releases from the last few years is thus pretty minimal. I've provided brief explanations of why I like each album or what it sounds like, but I have tried to keep it brief - more successfully in some places than others.

So here goes!

( From 50 to 41. )

( From 40 to 31. )

( From 30 to 21. )

( From 20 to 11. )

( The top 10. )

That was very hard. I'm really only confident in my top three. Regardless of the order and what I may remove in future, these are all fantastic albums that are well worth a listen and they come highly recommended from me.
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[6 November 2007|11:40 pm]
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[Current Music |'Don't Fall' by The Chameleons]

Wow, time really flies. I can remember exactly where I was a year ago at this very moment. Luke and I were standing on a hill looking into ANZ Stadium, Brisbane, as a Queensland tropical storm broke above us and U2 played a dress rehearsal for their first gig in months the next night. Luke was under the shelter of my umbrella. My right arm and notepad for setlist details were also safely under the umbrella. Meanwhile, the rest of me was in the pouring rain, getting abso-fucking-lutely drenched. That's what you call dedication to setlists. A good time was had by all. The setlist is here, down in the soundcheck portion for Monday 06/11. And this is the article I wrote for U2VT after we got back home.

Last November really was such a load of fun. I travelled, I caught up with loads of cool people, and I saw seven really cool gigs, plus the aforementioned dress rehearsal. I saw the real One None Tree Hill, walked down the Onehunga Branch, and got delayed on a Melbourne tram because of a guy with bongos. I got to use German with real Germans who smuggled cameras and tape recorders into concerts; I met Danes who spoke English better than most of the native speakers I've ever met; I watched a bunch of Sydneysiders create a bizarre form of "queue cricket" with a tennis ball and jandals (that's flip-flops for the Yanks) while our entrance to Telstra Stadium was delayed. We got songs like One Tree Hill, The First Time, Party Girl, and Kite. Damn it was awesome fun.
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A brief return to Axver the U2 Fanlad of old [20 October 2007|11:56 pm]
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[Current Mood | pleased]
[Current Music |'Treasure (Whatever Happened To Pete The Chop?)' by U2]

I was looking back on some old LJ entries, and I must say, some of the old U2 fanaticism really seems quite embarrassing now. Most of my entries I'll still stand behind, but damn, I think I enjoyed that band far too much. Over the last couple of years, I've seriously drifted away from their music (though not the setlists, which still provide hours of nerdy interest), especially everything they've done since 1990 apart from the Passengers project. Bands such as Porcupine Tree, Pure Reason Revolution, The Chills, Orphaned Land, and so forth do far more for me in general. However, I often find myself returning to the eighties albums, especially The Unforgettable Fire, still my favourite album of all time. The Joshua Tree also ranks very, very highly; it is definitely in my current top ten albums of all time.

And suddenly, a couple of days ago, an old spark caught again. The Joshua Tree was released in March 1987, and with no sign of anything special in March this year, I think everyone in the U2 fan world concluded that there wasn't going to be any kind of 20th anniversary reissue. It seems none of us reckoned on the Paul McGuinne$$ factor, the manager who believes nothing's worth releasing unless it's in the final quarter of the year to milk Christmas sales for all they're worth. And suddenly we've got a reissue of The Joshua Tree. Now, U2's recent reissues haven't been anything to write home about. The ZooTV and Popmart DVDs haven't exactly provided much spectacular content in the way of extras. We still don't have official video footage of songs like Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses and Miami despite the fact U2 have it. So I would have been content just to have the full Joshua Tree with its b-sides, especially those that missed the cut of the Best Of 1980-1990 b-sides bonus disc. But U2 have gone ahead and given me a huge surprise.

The fanciest edition is, without a doubt, the single best U2 release ever. The first disc contains the Joshua Tree album, fully remastered; here's hoping U2 don't fall victim to mastering from the "loudness wars" and I especially hope the levels on Exit are not ruined. The second disc contains b-sides, other miscellaneous songs gathered from other sources (e.g. Beautiful Ghost), and four previously unreleased songs. One of them has the amazing title of Drunk Chicken/America. There's some 56 page hardback book with essays and liner notes by various people, including the band. And then there's the DVD. Firstly, it has the entire 4 July 1987, Paris concert apart from the cover songs (Stand By Me, C'mon Everybody, Help; setlist here). Then it has the Outside It's America documentary. And a rare alternate video for With Or Without You. And then ... the fucking Red Hill Mining Town music video! The mythical video the band trashed because they hated it so much. The video rumoured to still exist for years, purportedly broadcast once on whatever random obscure channel you care to name but with no recording to prove it. I simply cannot wait to see how horrendously bad it is. I normally don't give a toss about music videos, but this? This is something special. This entire release is mindblowing. Maybe I've been a little too harsh on U2.

Now if only they'd release a DVD of a concert from my beloved Lovetown Tour ...
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Axver's crazy U2 escapades [3 December 2006|11:59 pm]
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[Current Mood | tired]
[Current Music |'Godhead's Lament' by Opeth]

I've finally finished writing my reviews of the U2 concerts I attended in November and I figure at least some people on my friends list would be interested in reading about my experiences at the shows. I think I've already posted about the notable non-concert events, and to save me repeating what I've already written, I will simply use this post as a reference tool listing my reviews over on U2-Vertigo-Tour.com.

Brisbane, 07/11: setlist and review
Sydney, 11/11: setlist and review
Sydney, 13/11: setlist and review
Melbourne, 18/11: setlist and review
Melbourne, 19/11 (second best show): setlist and review
Auckland, 24/11: setlist and review
Auckland, 25/11 (best show): setlist and review

I'm not sure whether I would consider the second Auckland show to be superior to the latter two of the three I saw in Boston in May last year or not. They were all absolutely incredible concerts.

Oh yeah, and I'm the guy on the right holding the sign! That's from the second Auckland show. We were trying to get the band to play Slow Dancing, the only b-side to have been performed on every single tour since its debut but yet to appear on the Vertigo Tour. We even had a lyric sheet with chords, and that sort of stuff has prompted the band to take up fan requests before, but unfortunately they didn't this time.

And it's late, so that shall be the extent of my update. Either tomorrow or the next day, I plan to write something political. I've had a half-written entry in my head for the last few days and it's got to come pouring out sometime soon!

Have a good one, folks.
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The moon has turned red over One Tree Hill. [28 November 2006|11:48 pm]
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[Current Mood | tired]
[Current Music |'Stranger In Your Soul' by Transatlantic]

So, some people have been asking me about my thoughts on the U2 gigs in Auckland and I figured I'd make a bit of an update. Longer reviews will be posted in the coming days on U2-Vertigo-Tour.com's homepage. I don't think anyone I know is going to the four remaining concerts so I'm not worrying about avoiding spoilers or using LJ cuts, and what I'm about to say probably isn't a spoiler for those gigs anyway.

The important part is that the band played One Tree Hill. At both shows. In its full band, electric form. With Edge's extended live solo. For the first time since 9 January 1990.

You better believe that I was excited, not to mention moved. It is quite simply the most emotionally powerful musical thing I have ever heard; lining up for hours upon hours was most certainly worth it. The band played the song flawlessly, Bono's voice was stronger than I expected, and the best part was that at the second of the two shows, One Tree Hill was the very last song. There could not have been a more perfect ending to the show, or to my U2 trek in general.

And now I'm going to say something likely to surprise some of you. I have said before that if I could have my way, I want One Tree Hill to be the last song I ever hear U2 play live. Furthermore, I do not know how the band are meant to top their performance from the second Auckland show. Therefore, unless something truly exceptional happens such as a concert in my hometown or the band starts playing all of Wire, Tomorrow, 11 O'clock Tick Tock, Heartland, Gone, and other unlikely favourites of mine, I will not see U2 live again. It's funny how the only people who have believed me when I've said that elsewhere are the people who were with me at the show and witnessed the performance of One Tree Hill for themselves.

Oh, and on a slightly different note, at the two Auckland gigs, Bono also did his most awesome snippets ever. During the breakdown of Elevation at the first show, Bono sung a few lines of Crowded House's Four Seasons In One Day, and at the same spot during Elevation at the second show, he threw in some of Split Enz's I Got You. As far as I'm concerned, that even tops the few instances from 2001 of Bono snippeting Joy Division's She's Lost Control.

That's about it for now, as I'm really quite tired. Have a good one, folks!
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[20 November 2006|12:35 am]
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[Current Mood | excited]
[Current Music |Trams outside]

HOLY SHIT.

Melbourne, 2006-11-19. What an amazing U2 concert. I am still in awe of what I just witnessed. Wow. That was on a par with the 2005-05-26 and 28 shows in Boston. Setlist and stats.

My mind is officially blown by the awesomeness of it all. The band's performance was thoroughly electrifying, and combined with the spectacle of the stadium stage setup, it was a night I will certainly remember very fondly. Especially because I was just a couple of rows from being up the very front on Edge's side. Damn. That show was so worth it.

Bring on Auckland and hopefully a full band, electric One Tree Hill!
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An overdue update. [17 November 2006|08:34 pm]
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[Current Mood | good]
[Current Music |'Kinetic' by Arcturus]

Despite whatever my journal may indicate to the contrary, I am not only still alive but actually getting out and about for a change. Yes, quite remarkable, I know. So I suppose it's about time that I gave an update on my life.

( U2 concerts and travelling to Sydney. )

( News from university. )

( Plans for the next couple of weeks. )

And that's about it for now. Have a good one, folks!
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[18 October 2006|04:31 pm]
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[Current Mood | busy]
[Current Music |'Release' by Anathema]

Well, it's been a while since my last entry, and I forgot to reply to its comments but I'll get around to it someday soon. I've just been busy with university and so forth, and my eyes have decided they really don't like me, so that's been making life difficult, what with the copious amounts of reading I do. As far as university goes, I have somehow been both pushing myself too much and procrastinating more than I should. I realise those two concepts should be mutually exclusive, but they aren't.

It's funny, I was looking forward so much to doing History and Political Science, and yet now I don't feel as if I am doing what I love. I feel drawn back to the first thing in my life that I truly loved and that truly held my fascination; New Zealand's railway system. Shame there isn't any sort of Bachelor of NZR. Ah well, maybe I can use my History and PolSci stuff along those lines; the railway certainly played a very large role in New Zealand's 19th and early 20th century history and politics.

And I randomly felt like making a list in response to a post over on Interference, but it wasn't within the context of the thread and I'm sure making a new one would just cause unnecessary conflict, so I'll post the list here, complete with side comments. I give you ...

( The ten worst U2 songs. Ever. Except not quite 'ever', as my mind does change from time to time. Don't read if you're one of those ultra-defensive U2 fans who can't take criticism of the band in your stride. )

And that's all for now. Have a good one!
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Life, music, and not quite everything. [5 October 2006|11:41 pm]
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[Current Music |'The Sahara's Storm' by Orphaned Land]

Well, I guess I'll write a bit of an update about life.

1. I have been breathing lately. I am sure this comes as a shock to most of you.

2. University is keeping me busy, especially the side of me that is almost uncontrollably inclined to procrastinate.

3. I have an assignment that I thought was due on the 16th. I have recently learnt it is due on the 9th. I now feel like I am up shit creek, but luckily, I am not without a paddle; we had to write a page-long outline of the essay for an earlier assessment task, so I have that to work off. Maybe that assignment wasn't as worthless as I initially thought!

4. Hey, Horowhenua-Kapiti, you know what'd be cool? If you'd play as well this year as you did last year! Losers.

5. My friend Jamie visited me last weekend. As I had not seen him (or anyone I knew from high school, as a matter of fact) since my birthday back in January, it was really nice to catch up with him. We stayed up late into Friday night playing Monopoly, which was grand fun. The New Zealand edition of Monopoly must be the only edition of Monopoly that has streets people from other countries just can't pronounce - hearing Jamie get his tongue tied on Taumarunui Station or Rangitikei Street was priceless. The best moment of the game came late at night. We were both getting quite tired, our mathematical skills were starting to go to hell, and Jamie happened to draw the Chance card that reads "you have been elected chairman of the board". He stared at it intently, focused, and read it slowly and methodically: "you have been elected boardman of the chair", at which point I just cracked up laughing. In between fits of laughter, I remarked that it probably wouldn't seem as funny if I weren't so tired, but my goodness, I still smile about it now because of how focused he was and that he STILL got it wrong. Alas, he nonetheless beat me at the game. I owned the entire expensive side of the board, but Jamie muscled me out of the rest of the board, and even though I could milk him for heaps if he landed on Queen Street, the other three sides of the board were death for me and I ultimately lost - even though at one point, I had Jamie down with just $3 to his name!

6. I am currently completely addicted to the first three songs on Spock's Beard's Day For Night album, especially the third song, Skin. It is the kind of music that makes me feel truly happy, not only because it is genuinely good music played by talented musicians but because it is so uplifting. I'm also pretty much addicted to Orphaned Land's album Sahara. Orphaned Land's pre-Mabool albums didn't initially strike me all that much, but they have grown on me massively lately; they are more death metal focused than Mabool, but still with Orphaned Land's Hebrew and Arabic influences very prominent and strong focus on the Abrahamic religions. Songs such as Ornaments Of Gold, Seasons Unite, and The Beloved's Cry are simply stunning. Nothing is left, just the dust ...

7. I was going to write my thoughts about U2's recent actions, but you know what? I'll keep them to myself. I'm sick of people on all sides of the debates at the moment. I'm particularly sick of all you overly positive, overly defensive U2 fans who paint every remotely negative argument with the same brush, characterise it as childish, and completely uncritically dismiss it. But I'm also sick of people who uncritically dismiss everything U2 does without providing any substance to justify their insults. Why can't we have a calm, reasonable discussion about the merits of something without assuming someone's losing sleep over a largely unimportant matter?

Also, theological ponderings will be coming sometime soon, but it's hard to get my thoughts in order at the moment. I hope the more intellectually and theologically inclined folks on my friends list are up for some serious, in depth discussion, because I could really use it when I get around to finally posting my current thoughts.
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[24 September 2006|08:33 pm]
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[Current Music |'Gibberish' by Spock's Beard]

I was going to write a continuation of my previous entry. I did say that I would post more yesterday, but as it was, time ran away from me. Today, despite the fact the first portion of the continuation is written and the bare bones of the rest is already well established in my mind, I just don't feel like completing it. I really need to write an essay anyway; my time would be better invested there this evening.

However, I still feel like updating LiveJournal. I feel like talking about music, and so I shall.

( Despite vast expansion and changes of taste, I still like U2. )

( Favourite singers at the moment. )

And, just like a couple of days ago, I was going to write more but I really need to get on with other stuff, so I'll end my entry with just a brief note. It's no secret that I've become very interested in most things prog and metal, but I have also lately found myself becoming increasingly intrigued by post-rock. My initial entry to the genre came via various types of instrumental metal, from instrumental prog to sludge and drone doom, and post-rock has really captivated the side of me that appreciates atmosphere and soundscapes, the side of me that makes U2's The Unforgettable Fire my favourite album of all time due to the strong and cohesive atmosphere that flows throughout the entire record (bizarre to compare a U2 album to post-rock, but it works in my mind). I particularly find instrumentals very conducive to creativity and focus when writing.

Have a good one, folks.
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Pluto and music, a random combination [26 August 2006|10:48 pm]
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[Current Music |'Insect' by Spiral Architect]

For today's entry, I shall post some thoughts I've mentioned to a few folk before but have never really gotten around to posting as an entry. So a few of you will likely recognise the subject matter of at least half of this entry.

( Because everyone has an opinion about Pluto. )

( Disliking a band's classic albums. )
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[31 May 2006|10:03 pm]
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[Current Mood | Somewhat cheerful]
[Current Music |'Limbs' by Agalloch]

Axver's notes for the day:

1. Some U2 fans really, really annoy me. I am specifically referring to the types that consider Pop a "challenging" or "difficult" album. How agonisingly mainstream can their tastes possibly be? I hope no-one ever tells them that Porcupine Tree has a 40 minute song; just being told about it may stun their bland self to death. People, Pop is not exactly the most musically adventurous or challenging album ever made. It's only "difficult" if your musical tastes are confined to what top 40 pop radio tells you to listen to. I imagine it is quite a mind-blowing album if your musical adventures are confined to the Backstreet Boys, Ashlee Simpson, Blink 182, Christina Aguilera, and Jet (all of whom no-one will remember in 10 years). But seriously, Pop is ridiculously mainstream compared to something like what's in note #2, which I shall get to right now.

2. Agalloch's new album, Ashes Against The Grain, has just leaked. Let me just say that these guys have, thus far, been a band of ridiculously consistent good quality. If you have even a passing interest in metal, become acquianted with their genius immediately. This album is just as good as their first two, but with a more consistently heavy approach. Agalloch haven't lost their touch for painting haunting and chilling sonic landscapes at all - in fact, I know no band better at painting landscapes in the listener's mind. It seems a common theme is that those who listen to Agalloch get transported to the depths of a forest in the northern US or Canada. This is great music for those who appreciate atmosphere and metal, but if you live more on the pop side of life, well ... ask yourself: do you really think you'll enjoy a band whose songs are titled This White Mountain On Which You Will Die, ...And The Great Cold Death Of The Earth, She Painted Fire Across The Skyline, and Our Fortress Is Burning?

3. My computer has decided it hates me, or more specifically, one of my computer's fans has. For much of today, it's been whirring rather loudly, and when I opened up my computer, I discovered it's contained within a box I can't open, so I can't tinker with it to see what the problem is. The best I can do is stick a paintbrush through a vent to try to collect the dust I can see on it - which doesn't really accomplish much! But it seems to have quietened down now. It was sounding sicker and sicker, like it was about to die (as if it was running on a battery that was dying), but now it's operating with just minimal noise. I hope everything's OK.

4. I would just like to address some false impressions from my last post. University, in general, isn't getting me that down. Part (but not all) of my absence through May can be explained due to busily working on essays. Exams are on 15, 16, 19, and 20 June, so I should be studying for those. My results thus far are making me very happy. I've received two major essays back this week, both with marks of 7. I'm not sure about my class standing in the Geneva essay I mentioned yesterday, but I got the equal highest mark on the Modern Political Ideologies essay I received today. I couldn't believe it, as I wrote the damn thing in a mad panic over just a couple of days. When class started, the lecturer wrote the average, highest, and lowest marks on the board, and when I received my essay back, I opened it up to the marking sheet and blurted out "HOLY CRAP!" I think I smiled for the next two hours. I really wasn't expecting to do so well!

And that's all for now. It's late, so I shall turn in for the night. Have a good one, folks.
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I guess this is going to be my token controversial entry for the month, or something of the sort. [10 April 2006|10:25 pm]
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[Current Mood | sick]
[Current Music |'The Dance Of Eternity' by Dream Theater]

Dear people,

Please observe basic LJ etiquette and common sense.

1. SPELL AND PUNCTUATE PROPERLY! I cannot emphasise this enough. If you think I don't read your entries, first ask yourself "do I spell and punctuate properly?" If the answer is no, then I am not reading your entries and likely won't start any time soon. Correct spelling and punctuation exist so that I don't have to put effort into deciphering what you are trying to articulate. Commonwealth English is particularly cool.

2. Posts with heaps of pictures (or, really, more than a couple) need lj-cuts. I hate scrolling past heaps of pictures, especially when they are of people I wouldn't know from a bar of soap and will never meet. As a rule, people who care about pictures click appropriately labelled lj-cuts, while those who don't just move down their friends page.

3. Write as much as you like in your entry, just stick to one entry! Excessive entries are not cool. I have learnt this from personal experience with making way too many entries a couple of years ago. Spread your entries apart by a decent amount of time. If you think of something you wanted to say just after you made an entry, there's this fantastic device called the EDIT FEATURE.

4. Warnings that your entry may be "emo" are entirely unnecessary on LivemoJournal.

5. I am sure I am not alone in thinking the [info]u2 community's Song Of The Day series is annoying as hell and should cease immediately.

6. NO-ONE FUCKING CARES THAT BONO CUT HIS HAIR.

Yes, I caught some illness in NZ and now I'm grouchy. However could you tell?
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[10 March 2006|02:36 pm]
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[Current Music |'Black Ice' by John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess]

Well, I'm sure all those concerned already know that the final ten concerts of U2's Vertigo Tour have been postponed, and that includes the shows I was to see in New Zealand and Australia. The reason given for the postponement is the illness of an immediate family member of one of the band, with no further details given. I've taken quite a lot of heat for my response to this news, so I'd like to state my case here just for the record.

Firstly, I think this situation has been handled absolutely appallingly. The news breaks with a somewhat vague press release from the promoter - U2 may make good music, but they sure don't do the public relations side of things well. The really appalling part is the fact this comes a mere eight days before the first postponed concert. Frankly, the show must go on. If this had come with long-term notice, such as two months, then it would be alright. Most people wouldn't have even made hotel or airline bookings. But at this point, thousands of people have made their bookings and the show's virtually about to begin! Now, maybe something unforeseen has happened and one of the band members has to make an emergency trip home (for the rest of this post, let's presume the rumour mill is correct and The Edge's daughter Sian has leukemia, which would indeed be a tremendous tragedy for the Evans family). Nonetheless, the show must go on - Edge's guitar technician, Dallas Schoo, or a session musician could step in and fill the role. I'm utterly amazed at the aggressive response I have received to this suggestion, despite the fact other bands have done exactly such substitution, and if you go to the performing arts, productions have an understudy to replace a main actor if they fall ill! Apparently my perfectly reasonable suggestion is anathema to some U2 fans. Personally, I'd rather see Bono, Adam, Larry, and Edge's Stand-in than not see U2 at all and see a lot of money go up in smoke. I guess some people think U2 can't function without all their parts, despite the fact they coped fine back in 1993 when Adam had to miss a show and his technician stood in for him.

I'm also a bit bothered by one aspect: when Bono's father was on his deathbed in 2001, U2 kept touring. Bob Hewson died the morning of a show and the concert still went ahead, even though Bono had been beside his father when he passed away at 4am that day. So U2 could keep touring in We$tern Europe even though an immediate family member was so gravely ill that they actually died, but now they can't keep touring Australia and New Zealand? That raises an eyebrow. New Zealand in particular gets the short end of the stick. U2 were meant to visit NZ in 1983, but instead they felt tired so they canned the plans and came a year later. Alright, fair enough I suppose, they'd been touring or recording almost non-stop since 1979. U2 were meant to start the Joshua Tree Tour in New Zealand in late 1986/early 1987, but recording of the album ran overtime and they started in the US instead, not making up for New Zealand's omission until three years later. Extreme, but it led to Lovetown, U2's best tour ever, so I'll let it slide. 1993, we're just tacked onto the trailing end of a two year tour, even though initial plans were to come a year earlier but were changed when U2 decided to record a new album. 1997, New Zealand is initially listed as a location to be visited by the Popmart Tour, only for this to just vanish and no show to eventuate. FINALLY, U2 announce that they're coming for the first time in 12.5 years ... and they postpone. Spot a pattern? U2 has never toured New Zealand when they said they would. I can't say that particularly impresses me.

Now, I just hope that I and those I know who have invested lots in airfares and hotels are able to get refunds. I've been accused of being selfish, and maybe I am, but here's my perspective. Sian's illness is a horrific tragedy and I wish her and the Evans family all the best, but there's not a whole lot I can do. I don't know whoever's sick, I've never met or even seen them, I have no involvement in their life nor they in mine, and I have few emotions invested. On the other hand, I certainly do have a monetary investment in the tour that affects my life. So I'll worry about what has a significant impact on my life first. I also can't believe the audacity of people who just had 80 or so shows in their country when they talk down to those of us who are incredibly disappointed and worrying about finances. There they are, sitting back in their comfy seats with no money lost, having already seen U2 in their homeland, and they're trying to tell us to have some perspective? Well, I just gave my perspective: that I'll worry about what affects my life, and losing a significant amount of money affects my life. That's money I could have used to see my girlfriend who I miss tremendously, or money I could have saved to provide for future basic necessities as I am a poor student and finances are tight. I'd budgeted on seeing U2 now, not giving airlines money for flights I now have no intention of taking, and if/when U2 do return, it's doubtful whether my finances will stretch far enough to do what I'd planned on doing now. I have reason to believe the postponement may become a cancellation (and if we're lucky, the next world tour will begin here as "compensation"), and if I have to use the flights within 12 months (as people are being told) ... well, I better find something else I want to do in my destination cities and forget about U2 if they come here later!

This is just an awful blow. What has happened to Sian, Edge, and his family is utterly dreadful, but I think those of us who were just about leaping out of our skin in anticipation are justified in feeling very disappointed and concerned about our own circumstances too. We don't have bottomless pockets of cash or time to take off studies or work (personally, this tour fitted in incredibly perfectly with my university schedule but if they do come back later this year, who knows if it will or not). We rarely even have the opportunity to see U2 in a destination that isn't thousands of dollars and many flying hours away, and to have the elation that U2 had finally remembered us ripped away at the very last minute feels like a kick in the guts. It's just a bit rich when Americans who are guaranteed 50+ shows per tour in their country try to talk down to us and tell us to stop worrying about the circumstances that most impact upon us!
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U2 and university schedules. [1 March 2006|08:55 pm]
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[Current Music |'Burning Sky' by Porcupine Tree]

Alright, folks, U2 fans in Australia/New Zealand in particular, it is now March. U2's first tour of this part of the world for 8 or 13 years (depending on the country in question) is almost upon us, and as I am a fan of organisation, I'd like to sort some things out while we still have reasonable time to do so. When I went to the US, I had good intentions to meet up with some people that never came to fruition, and I do not wish to have a repeat of this.

As I am naturally a very shy person, I do not typically talk to people I don't know; however, I'd love to pass the time in the General Admission queue talking to U2 fans and generally having a nice time rather than acting as if I am mute. In other words, if I could meet up with people I already know, I could have a good time without my shy instincts kicking in and rendering me incapable of speech. So if you'd like to meet up, please say so and hopefully we can do something.

Where will I be? Everywhere but Adelaide. ( More specifically ... )

( My defence of why I'm going to so many damn shows, as I know someone's going to make a condescending comment sooner or later. )

In case anyone actually cares, today, my university schedule was finalised. I suppose that if you want to talk to me, knowing when I'll be here will come in quite handy really. I'm very happy with how the schedule has worked out.

( The schedule. )

I think that's all for today. Have a good one, folks!
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