TRAVEL DIARY

A weblog regularly updated by Jodi Rose.

VIEWING ALL POSTS FOR: OCTOBER 2003

Monday, October 27, 2003

2:52 PM
Posted by jodi rose

Colliewood. Back in the 'hood.
Just had a fabulous lost weekend, went out yesterday arvo to see the Sand Pebbles with Ben, very psychedelic trippy popsongs that sounded almost familiar, like you listened to them all one summer when you were 15 and falling in love on a family holiday to Bateman's bay with the fishing boy who totally never noticed you so you ended up playing space invaders in the mall for 2 weeks to escape your grandparent's new wife and kids. (some of that is true other parts are fiction. like all the best stories. and melodies) Lush swirly guitars and spacey keyboards, 'nothing chills the summer in my heart' and another song apparently about invoking a teenage killing spree in norway, with the singer totally deadpan delivery over these fucked up lyrics and retro-pop. In the best possible way. Go out and buy the CD when it's released.
Then Ben and I went to pick up sole from spencer st station, after her short tour of albury street performers festival where she did characters on stilts and gave a workshop to 24 6-11 year old kids. the little darlings.
Hanging out in their apartment for a while - I love being the part of the furniture in old friend's lives, (hi, I'm your chaise-lounge) - as another sydney-melbourne emigre noted, this place has a soft outside but a hard centre, you meet amazing lovely people and have great friends, but never quite develop that part of the furniture feeling - then went across the hall to the infamous 'golden thigh' for dinner with the kids from stalker and watched 'fantastic voyage' incredible 60's inner space adventure. Some great lines, 'it's nuclear power, quite safe' and something about Raquel welch's array of toys. She often had to unzip her top in order to get any work done, the boys felt she really should have been naked to perform the necessary repairs to the laser at optimum capacity. Enough of that silliness, slept on the couch - I love waking up in other people's hotel rooms and apartments, feel like such a rock chick! The Cosmopolitan when Ben was with the Whitlams was always a blast too, had breakfast at Jerry's the quintessentially cool Elwood cafe and now I'm back on that 10,000 words thing for the masters. Remember it's a game. You're playing with ideas. Take it lightly. So much to do, but I've realised that I need to be more involved with life to have the energy and enthusiasm for my work, because cutting myself off from everything and becoming a hermit really wasn't happening for me. No life and no work. Now at least I have a great life and am getting 'some' work done. It's all there, I just(?) have to shape it and edit it and beat those words into submission, or maybe coax them. Seduce them into order and meaning.
Very disappointed that I didn't get to the go-go dancing in Fed Square, had been wanting to go for weeks and that night had a strange emotional squall and decided the couch was a better option. Silly girl. Just remember the Lacanian mantra (courtesy of Justin) - DON'T GIVE WAY ON YOUR DESIRE. Not matter how insane or ludicrous or even counter-productive your desire is, that is the only ethical and moral imperative is not to give ground in relation to your desire, because once you do, the rats start eating away at your soul until there's nothing left.
So, I'll just have to learn to go-go someplace else. maybe vegas!
Had a crazy sewing bee on the weekend, more to come, with lots of not-quite-right hems being fixed and shaping those mens shirts with darts into something funky and a little more feminine. I once went completely insane and sewed stars on all my clothes, maybe a few cut-out shapes this time in that barcelona t-shirt style that seems to be around now. As Lizzie discovered when she set up her business doing mosaics, once your passionate hobby becomes a viable career, a job, you need to find new methods for creative expression. I think that's what has been happening to me with the bridges, now it's my job, I have to find the whimsy in other things, because suddenly the bridges are quite serious.
What else, oh yeah, becoming obsessed with the current crop of retro rock'n'roll, woke up today dreaming about watching the yeah yeah yeahs on mtv shooting a film clip on a farm in australia - thought, hmmm how did they find that location from new york - ahhh the internet! Heard their song 'Artstar' last week - my new anthem. It's a long guttural scream AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRTTTTTTSSSSTTTTAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRR!!!!!! fabulous! dreams of going back to new york and living there, also berlin, and barcelona and hungary. Apparently hungary is the felting capital of the world, according to Julaine who just got back from stuttgart where she learnt the german felting technique, but the hungarians have the best dyes she tells me. And all those sexy magyar peasant clothes (and boys). I'm there! Well, this has been fun but it's really time to go and write 10 more versions of bridge guff for various purposes.
Last thing, Legs for Fish were fantastic, very intriguing sonic landscape they created with a minimal fucked-up electronic beeps and beats thing happening, check them out www.legsforfish.com
bye love jro

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

7:27 PM
Posted by jodi rose

ahhh the joys of sound art. I went to hear something tonight, which promised to be a sonic reconstruction of 3 cities in the gallery space.... but sounded a lot like fairly average electronica with lots of mike noise and tape hiss. very disappointing. and that oh-so-serious art rent-a-crowd who all look the same from sydney to new york to berlin to melbourne. not making any new friends here, I know. it reminds me that I really need to get out and do more stuff - of course I appreciate the work people are doing, but some of it makes for more engaging listening than others. I loved the fruit playing boys at dienst bar in 24 stunden neukolln. and ed's work and miss kittin, she rocked with fun sexy feisty dj and singing. but the boys in black hunched over laptops really don't do it for me. if you're going to get up and perform in public, I think you need to give something more of yourself than that. rant rant rant. and as for the sonic reconstruction, it was a darkened room - because it's sound art, apparently you have to be in the dark to appreciate it (see this months 'contemporary' art magazine for a discussion on the problems of exhibiting sound art in the gallery/museum) - with a video screen of blue fuzz and some random experimental electronica. which has it's place, don't get me wrong, but bill fontana was doing incredible stuff with sonic relocation in the 70's and plenty of other people since then.
at least my critical faculties are still working. going to another gig tomorrow night at loop, with legs for fish playing, I hope that will be more exciting and fun for the ears.

Friday, October 10, 2003

11:19 AM
Posted by jodi rose

good morning! still dancin' out here, dragged sole along to federation square last night and we danced with gene kelly. lots of fun, completely dorky and ridiculous, and fantastic, to be tap dancing to singing in the rain with hundreds of people in the middle of the city. love it. opening night of melbourne festival, all about the body.
getting mine moving is having an excellent effect on mood and overall outlook on life - there's so many adventures to be had.
the art thing is going well, cd remixes bubbling away, I'm playing with ideas for a new project involving film footage of bridges to be projected at live performances, and making lots of interesting connections with people. The fabulous Rick Hobbs is due to go and record the Tacoma Narrows bridge cables this week - and hopefully he'll be there on the anniversary of galloping gertie's plunge into the sound. I like that bodies of water can be called a 'sound' it's very cool.
thesis plugging along, reclaiming my original ideas and inspiration, and if that's a problem for anyone, they can go write their own. I'm writing the work that interests me, no correspondence will be entered into. Bridges, angels, metaphysical languages, transcendence, the divine voice, it's all goin' on! Oh yes, a little feisty today. It's a counterpoint to my generally unconscious desire to never have to deal with conflict or argue or upset anyone or make waves - which means I sometimes don't stand up for myself as much as I need to. Well not anymore. It's easy in writing, but I'll get back to you with the results when applied to life.
How about arnie being governer of california. that's demented. america really is very very very strange. the whole cult of celebrity thing - apparently there is now a recognised medical condition, called 'celebrity worship syndrome', the most acute sufferers being willing to cheat, lie and kill for their chosen idol, if asked. Although why celebrities would be asking anyone to do the above for them is beyond me. Unless maybe some hollywood drug money needed laundering, or you got entangled with yo gangsta rap crew, and took part in some drive-bys... actually I guess there is plenty of scope for celebrity crime - Free Winona!
enough of this for now, must go and administer some sculpture, bag a few lollies and visit one of the fantastic city bars in melbourne that I won't have access to for much longer. sayonara.