I went to a music festival!

Yep, I haven't been to anything close to a festival since SXSW 2009. Auckland's Laneway Festival was a big day. A big hot day. I got burnt. I got sore feet and sore calves from walking and standing and finally jumping up and down at the end. I got a sore neck from craning to see. I got hot and sweaty. I felt like my age started with the number 2. I felt childless. The music was loud and very good. Even the stuff I didn't like was still quite good. There were tons of well-dressed hipsters, and not too many badly dressed peeps. Highlights?

My top-three bands were (in no particular order): EMA (pictured above), The Cults and M83. And good ol' Leslie Feist was awesome, but in an expected kind of way.

For a taste of my top 3 - check out:




EMA - this lady is crazy-young looking, and very cool, and she was super-friendly.



I had heard quite a bit of The Cults' music prior to seeing them, but nothing prepared me for their total computer-programmer-geek-I.T-nerd look that they had going. Totally Dungeons & Dragons and really incongruous with their quite peppy/dancy songs.



M83 went O.F.F. (that's when I did a bit of jumping up and down and hurt my calves). Turns out they are French (which is maybe why they weren't very big on the crowd-banter thing - it seemed only to extend as far as three phrases:

1. thankyou thankyou thankyou!!
2. New Zealand!!
3. Auckland!!

Anyways, no complaints from me - super awesomeness all round.

We had to get up at 5am this morning to get Matt back to work on time. Pulled the kid out of bed, jumped in a taxi and flew back to ChCh with him wriggling and whining and crying all the way. When I arrived home later this morning I was wretched - tired and red-faced and very-much reminded that my age begins with a 3.

The Leaning Tower of Christchurch

Since someone fell off a ladder on to their head, they have ceased demolition of the Hotel Grand Chancellor. Here's progress to date:

We are getting some crazy-arsed weather round here...

Summertimes.

Summer is in full swing here in ChCh. It has been HOT and dry. Although I have been working lots and lots (a big time for locums), we have taken some time out - we took the kid to the beach for the first time, made pizzas, and checked out a new bar + eatery from Johnny Schwass.




Said eatery - Gorilla, great food, good drinks (if you want some caffeine you have the choice of 'black coffee' or 'black coffee with milk' - nice). Awesome service (nigh on non-existent in Christchurch). SHITE location. In the middle of Ferrymead shops - soulless, miles of carparking. AND sandwiched between the Speights Alehouse and Winnie Bagoes - it feels like you are sitting on Oxford Terrace in what used to be called The Strip - except you don't even have the pretty Avon river to look at. Just asphalt and cars. Not sure what the logic behind the decision to set up here was, Johnny Schwass usually is on the right track with that kind of thing... And that's my rant.