The Wash

Not really sure how I can do a write up about the festival, so many things happened, over such a short time period, that it's next to impossible.

Over all the festival was pretty amazing.  Good friends, good bands, good times.  Sure it rained, a lot, but we made do.  Everyone was well prepared and managed to stay as dry as possible.  Standing in the rain watching bands and drinking beer isn't the worst thing in the world after all.

Our camp site was packed, so there was always someone around to talk to, or meet for the first time.  A really great collection of personalities made for some amazingly funny chatter.

Spent a fair bit of time hanging out with Neat, Cripps and their two mates Gaskall and Warner.  They were a good bunch and we got loose together a lot.  Spent a bunch of time in the bar drinking Pink Flamingos and getting up to no good.

Saw a bunch of people that I was looking forward to talking to, and one or two I could have done without.  My first ever girlfriend, from Primary School, was there but I didn't end up finding a chance to talk to her.  Was a real shame, though I'm not what you talk about with someone you haven't seen in 20 years.

Got back on the Monday afternoon, showered and was in bed really early.

Such a good long weekend, it won't be topped any time soon.  Well, at least not until Meredith in December!

Some things that won't make sense to anyone else but me;

Steve's Stories, Drew's Wallet, Acid Heads, Warner's Slides, Pavement, Let's Never Lose Each Other, Lawrence Hate, Run Bad.

Went for a date last Thursday night, and it was a hell of a good time, although things didn't go exactly to plan.

Picked her up around 7:30 and we headed to St Kilda.  Ate dinner at The Elbow Room which has a pretty decent vegetarian menu, so was easy to find something delicious to eat.  Plenty of fun conversations and laughs.  She made a comment about it being strange that I can talk to girls, even though I'm from a large family of mainly males.  Haven't heard that before, but I guess it's a compliment?

The plan for after dinner was to go to Luna Park for their Circus of Screams event.  Wasn't sure if it was going to be entertaining, but I thought we'd make the most of it either way.  After dinner we started wandering down there, and decided to stop for a drink or two at the Espy.  The girl is from Sydney so she hadn't been there before, and being a Melbourne institution I thought we should stop by.

By the time we got to Luna Park it was 10:00pm, which should have been fine because it was open until 11:00pm.  Sadly, they closed early due to it being a "quiet night".  Was pretty bummed but kept the mood happy and she didn't seem to mind too much.  We walked the beaches of St Kilda, messing around and having a good time.  We then went and met up with some friends in Richmond for more drinking and laughing.

After we had been kissing for awhile at one stage, she asked me if I remembered kissing her at Pony a couple of weeks back.  Had to admit that not only do I not remember that,  but I don't even remember GOING to Pony that night!

Got home at 2am and got a message from her saying she had a "perfect evening".  Awww.

What a crazy four days for me, it was so much fun, but broke me in many ways.  I'll try and condense all that happened into this one post, so you'll have to excuse me if it gets a bit lengthy.

The Weakerthans played at the Northcote Social Club on Thursday night.  One of my favourite bands, who I never imagined getting to see, played at a venue within walking distance of my house.  This was crazy, and the only thing that could top it is that the gig was AMAZING!  Had very high hopes, maybe too high, and they blew them out of the water.  Played every song I wanted to hear (including some I never thought I would hear), the sound was great, their stage presence was amazing and the crowd was relatively fine.  Will remember this night for a long time, seeing a great band with great friends is the best thing ever.

Friday was Soundwave Festival at Flemington Race Course.  This was always going to be an epic, long day and it didn't fail in that regard.  Spent over 10 hours standing in the sun, taping my foot to music and drinking stacks of water.  My highlights are pretty obvious, The Weakerthans and The Get Up Kids who were both GREAT!  I've seen The Get Up Kids before, but this was even better than last time.  Played great songs, sounded good and they didn't even let the fact that someone threw a SHOE at them get them down.  They said they're coming back, and that makes me a happy camper.  Other highlights include; The Aquabats, Jane's Addiction and FAITH NO MORE.  Such a great day, but it was long so by the time I got home at midnight I was beat.  It was the first Friday night that I've been home at that time, not drunk, since becoming single.

Saturday Cripps and I went shopping, like a fun little gay couple.  I'll forever be in his debt for helping me out, and I hope he had some fun at the same time.  Spent a LOT of money on clothes, but due to my weight loss nothing really fits me any more, so it had to be done.  How I fit into a size 30 jeans now, I have no idea how.  Also lots of small t-shirts and shirts, which is great news.  That night we went to a fancy dress up party with a Wild Wild West theme.  Didn't really dress up much because had places to be, but wore some fake guns, holsters, sheriff badge and spurs.  The party was PACKED but fun, lots of good people drinking and having fun.  There was hay all over the floor and you could eat peanuts and ditch the shells on the ground.  Afterwards a bunch of us headed into the City and started an epic journey from bar to bar which of course ended with us at Cherry, and then Pony, until 5am.  FUN.

The only downer of the weekend happened on Sunday.  Was supposed to be at a wedding in Ararat (Country Victoria) at 1:00pm.  Got an SMS from a mate at 12:30pm, which woke me from my slumber.  The wedding was a 2 hour drive away, damn, felt like such a bad dude.  Seems I had managed to set my alarm for the correct time, but not actually switch it ON, which is incredibly smart.  Rang and made my apologies, which seemed to go well.  Lucky it was only a small, impromptu wedding at a celebrants house, so no one was out of pocket.

This week I have to get ready for Golden Plains Music Festival which just means food and alcohol shopping, then packing my bag later in the week.  Should be an amazing couple of days spent with great friends and great bands.  Also I've got a date a bit later this week which will be heaps of fun, she's a great chick and I look forward to seeing how we go on this date.

Wow, what a long post.

Now that I'm exercising every day, and drinking a bucket load of water, I'm trying to get my diet right.  Lots of protein, small amount of carbohydrates and a share of fats.  My normal diet has been coming to the following stats:

1300 carolies.  22% of the calories are from fat, 30% from protein and 47% from carbs.

Not only am I not eating enough calories (bodyweight x 14 = ~2400 - 20% (weight loss) = 2000) but it's way too many carbs.  So after some tweaking, and changing what I eat, I've managed to get my diet for today to:

1500 calories.  34% of the calories are from fat, 38% from protein, 27% from carbs.

Obviously I'm still not eating enough, but it's plenty of food over the course of a day.  The carbs are still too high, but if I take out my post work out meal (dinner) it goes down to 21%.  That meal is the ONLY meal of the day that I can get away with eating carbs, so it doesn't bother me that much.  My goal is to have a 40/40/20 split between fat/protein/carbs.

Eating 5 times a day will be hard, especially on the weekends (impossible?), but I will get into the habit and see how I feel.  Hopefully I can lose weight, but still gain muscle, we shall see.

8am - Breakfast, 11am - Snack, 2pm - Lunch, 5pm - Snack, 8pm - Dinner

EDIT:  My diet for today, Thursday the 25th of Feb is:

1700 calories.  35% of the calories are from fat, 43% from protein, 22% from carbs.

Wow, what a weekend.  There's no way I can encapsulate all that happened, so many things, so much debauchery.  If you were there, you know, if not... I'm sure your liver likes you more than mine did yesterday.  Most definitely the most fun weekend I've had all year and one that won't soon be forgotten.

Old friends, new friends, drinks, speed, The Carlton Club, garage chats, Cherry, Pony, Richmond, random hook ups.

This week will be pretty crazy.

Wednesday - Date night

Thursday - The Weakerthans at the Northcote Social Club

Friday - Soundwave

Saturday - Wild Wild West party

Sunday - Wedding in Ararat

Busy, busy!

Hello Internet Friend, I hope today finds you well.  Haven't updated in nearly a week, so thought I would today, with some random musings.

My Father has been in hospital for the last couple of weeks, in a lot of pain.  Yesterday they sucked a thumb nail sized gall stone out of his bile duct.  The procedure went well and he's leaving hospital today!  Mum will be super glad to have him at home, means she won't have to do a 3 hour round trip every day.  Thanks to all those who have been asking after him, it means a lot to me.

Finally got around to buying scales and weighing myself, and as of this morning I weigh 80.8kg.  Nothing to brag about, especially considering my height, but at least I know.  The good thing is that I'm pretty sure last year I weighed as much as 90kg, so it's an improvement.

One great thing that has come from eating well and working out is that I no longer get indigestion!  Cannot even remember the last time I had to eat an old man lollie, this only dawned on me today and it's an amazing thing.  This coming from someone who would be in pain from indigestion/heart burn EVERY day, sometimes twice a day.

Still working out every day, though I have a "rest week" next week.  No weight lifting, just cardio and core work for the week.  This should work out well as next week is going to be flat out crazy.  Going to see The Weakerthans and also going to Soundwave and a dress up party.  Fun times hopefully.

Went on a date last night which was a lot of fun, the girl is really into me, which is flattering and scary at the same time.  We'll have to see how it plays out, but it's good for my ego none-the-less.

Still in the process of applying for jobs, have a couple of things that look promising.  Hopefully this comes quickly because driving to Cheltenham to do no work is slowly killing me.

My fitness and weight loss has been going really well.  Getting random comments from people about my arms, or my appearance is really amazing.  It's not something that I'm used to, well, except comments about my calves I guess!

Unfortunately I didn't take a before photo, or weigh myself, so can't show definitive proof in how well I'm doing.  None of that really matters though, because I know I've been working hard, eating well, and feel amazing... and that's all that matters.

Going to pick up some scales soon though, just to help encourage myself to get to the gym and work out.  Haven't had too much trouble being motivated so far, but it's only been 6 weeks.  Hopefully I can keep this up for 90 days, end up skinny and fit, then work on putting on muscle.

My weeks training regime:

Monday - Chest & Back

Tuesday - Plyometrics (Jump training)

Wednesday - Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper

Thursday - Tennis or Kenpo (Fake martial arts)

Friday - Rest day

Saturday - Legs & Back, Ab Ripper

Sunday - Bike ride or Football

One of the most bitter sweet days of the year for me was yesterday, Superbowl day.  It's always a great day (drinking at 10am on a Monday), and usually a good game, but it means no more NFL until September.  The off-season is always long and drawn out and yet filled with optimism for your team and the season ahead.

For the first time in about six years I did not watch the Superbowl live.  This came as a surprise to everyone, including me.  It wasn't that I was at work, because I've had the day off since last February, it was because I didn't want to watch the game alone.  Gaz had to work, and he usually does all the pimping for the event, so there was no one at my house to watch it with me.

At 7:30pm we finally got to watch the game, quite a large group at my house showed up with plenty of beer and laughs.  The team I wanted to win, did win, so that was the icing on the cake.

Bring on September 2010. 

Airport to the Hotel, Hotel to the customers site, straight to Glenelg after that.  Drinking free alcohol in the sun with Mumbles was really fun and after a few drinks we really opened up, and chatted for ages about life, love and work.  Learnt more about him in those few hours than in the previous 2 years of basically sitting next to him all day, every day.

The flight home was quick and painless, but by that time I was completely destroyed.  So tired and run down, it was two days that felt like five.  Slept for 12 hours that night, and felt a lot better the next day.

Was a good trip, made me more eager to get a new job.  Mumbles knows a lot of people, I never would have guessed, so hopefully he can help sort something out for me.

Three capital cities in three days; the most flying I've done in years. Although it was for work, it was actually quite a fun trip. Though the lack of sleep from jumping time zones I can do without. Was supposed to go with an American guy called Rolf, but instead went with a Sri Lankan named Waruna, hereby known as Mumbles.

Perth was pretty fun, lots of cute girls and great weather. The sun burnt my white Victorian skin though, but that's not Perths fault. After our two hours of work was finished Mumbles and I headed to Kings Park, a pretty tourist trap with lots of sight seeing and war memorials.

Talked three local girls into giving Mumbles and I a giggling, guided tour of the area. I'd say they knew less than us, but was humerous to hear them make it up. Thanks L, M and A you did your city proud and I'll be in touch.

Flew that night to Adelaide for another two hours of work on Wednesday.

Sitting bored in a hotel room in Adelaide now, here for work, not tired. I'll write about the trip a little later, but for now dear reader, it's catch up time.

Friendly drinks on friday, no complaints. I have to apologise to Miss Cash though, but is it my fault that I'm loved? Hopefully not.

Been awhile since I've seen local bands without someone I know playing in the band. That changed on Saturday and even though I didn't know the songs, I still had fun. The headlining band was from the US, The Polar Bear Club, they were rocking and I encourage you all to check out their jazz.

Bailed to the city afterwards to meet up with special people and drink in a new location; and a familiar old one. Much fun and laughs were had avoiding overly touchy un-attractive girls and being loose.

Went on a date with S on Sunday, which was a good time. A lot better than my earlier date with K, that I haven't written about yet. Here's a tip; it doesn't matter how hot you are if you're boring.. Cya! At least this latest date was filled with laughs, me being arrogant and drinking. Not sure where it will go, she seems into it a lot more than I am, even at this early stage.

Dates are lots of fun and I'm looking forward to many more.

After 18 months of fighting with not one, but three, tumours in his lower back, my dog died today.  The original Vet that looked at him gave him 6 months to live,  but he fought well and got an extra year.

It has been a little heart breaking seeing him go from an active, loving dog, to a broken, grumpy old one.  Still any time I would visit he would give me a lots of love and all the energy his legs could give him.  Will be strange visiting my parents place now, without him there.

I got him as a pup, but only because no one else wanted him, didn't even really want a dog.  Quickly fell in love with him though as we spent every day, and night, together for 5-6 years.  When it came time to leave my folks place and move to the City, I brought him with me.  He hated living in the City though, being stuck in a back yard, and was forever getting out and scaring me.

After about 2 years of living in Melbourne it was time he went back home to the place where he had no boundaries, no collars and lots of other canine companions.

My folks are amazing people and looked after him for me with lots of love and care.  I'll never be able to repay them for that, but hopefully Murray brought a smile to their lives, just as he did to mine.

Even though I only saw him every few months, I will always miss him.

R.I.P Murray dog.

It's Friday and things are looking up in my world.  Feeling pretty good about everything which is a great sign.  Was a bit worried that after this weeks events I would be set back a little, but that doesn't seem to be happening.  I'm sure I'll still have my down days, but overall it's looking cheery.

This weekend should be fun and filled with drinking, buddies and creeping.

Flying to Perth on Monday, then Adelaide on Tuesday, then back to Melbourne on Wednesday.  The trip won't be very fun, as it's for work, but it's going to get me out of my routine which will be amazing.  Doubt I'll sleep very much while I'm there, so might have to stop at the pharmacy and pick up something.

I need a new job, wheels are in motion.  6 figures would be nice.

Been getting a lot of comments on my appearance already, and I've only really been trying to get fit for 2 months.  Kind of wish that I had taken some "before" photos (and measurements) just so that I knew HOW well I've been doing, but I'll live.  Hopefully in 3 months from now I'll be at a point where I'm happy with my body.  Maybe then I can work on having a "The Situation" of my own?

Can anyone imagine me as a huge steroid muscle bound meat head?  That would be amusing.