NEW ZEALAND ADVENTURE

The longest tale ever told via e mails to friends and relos

Picture 1: Dominic's First Class Meal on QF25 to Auckland. Picture 2: Dominic on the way to Wanaka from Queenstown. Star Wars Episode II CD playing.

PART ONE Brisbane Airport Qantas Lounge, Free Internet July 2 2002 I've been in Brisbane for an hour now, and two pieces of news are disturbing me. Firstly, QF25 to Auckland has been delayed by an hour and forty five minutes due to "technical difficulties." Secondly, 97 people are reported dead in a mid flight collision between two planes in SOuthern Germany. Not even if the Prime Minister's jet was somehow caught up in this tragedy (which unfortunately it isn't) would it have made me any less nervous about the next flight. Oh ok, so i'm heartless. God, do you think those e mail spies at ASIO will get me. Shit, and I just realised I'm reading Michael Moore's absolutely brilliant STUPID WHITE MEN. So, as you can figure, I'm a bit worried about the flight to Auckland. Furthermore, I'm in seat 1A. That's right. The front of the plane. Chance of survival in a nosedive 0.0000001%. Speaking of seat 1A, I was under the impression i'd be flying first class (that's what i booked on FF). Now they tell me that Qantas doesn't do 1st class between Brisbane and AUckland. Damn, and I had all these requests ready (do you have a steak sandwich? Can I have a shower now? Do you have any Penfolds?). My dad worked hard for this Frequent Flier flight! Now I'm stuck slumming it in a Business Class seat, at the front of a plane that with its technical difficulties will go nose first to my doom. Well, hopefully i'll have a glass of cheap aussie wine in my hand on the way down.

Anyway, so now here at Brisbane Airport, the whole lounge experience is wearing thin. There's only so much free OJ, coke, fruit and soup you can sample without racing to their wall to floor doored toilets to spew it. And the initial sort of excitement at realising that you can have a shower here (Brett no doubt would be racing to christen both showers in the lounge), send faxes to companies in Brisbane, and read the Q-Boutique magazine, where goods at 'duty free' prices seem suspiciously expensive, wears away to a sense of hollowness that without the beauty of internet, would make this lounge so boring. But maybe that's because I haven't gotten into the spirits yet.

I better get going. I'll keep in touch throughout, and can't wait to get to the snowfields in Wanaka. No doubt i'll make just a big a fool of myself as i did a few years back when even with training i couldn't manage to get past the beginners curve on the two skis.

cheers and remember, I love you all, I love you with all my heart, but you're all fucking mad.

dominic

PART TWO

TUESDAY 2 JULY

SPOILED BRAT ROUTINE

After getting into all manner of trouble by the incompetent Qantas staff who would not re-print my boarding class to FIRST because all flights to Auckland are BUSINESS class, it was with great sadness that I boarded the plane. And that was a full two hours after it was due to board. But I didn't go empty handed before boarding the plane. After sampling the wall to floor toilets, I then gulped down a greek salad, some tomato juice and then some condiments (ham, foccacia bread - yuk).

Upon walking into my seat on the Boeing 747, I was greeted by the FIRST CLASS lady - who re-assured me that yes, this was a first class trip. I couldn't believe my eyes. The seat was so large, it slides into a bed. Just like a little boy discovering his first Tonka set, I quickly started playing with the seat controls. Up, Down, Footrest Up, Footrest Down, Lumber Support. ANd yes, I managed to stuff it up for a while and I was scared that I wouldn't be able to get it back upright for take-off.

Now, just when we thought we'd be up in the air, came an announcement from the Captain that two people had decided to cancel their travel at the last minute. They were spooked that the plane had a hydraulic fault in Sydney. Well, what's a trip without a bit of an Adrenalin Rush. Especially in seat 1A, where the only place closer to the nose of the plane was the clothes cabinet.

THe First Class attendant immediately offered us a glass of wine: "perhaps a 1997 Penfold Shiraz sir?" I thought I'd be clever and ask for a 1995 of the same one, but I was rocked 'cause they didn't make it that year. Then she brought out a plate of "smoked almonds". I don't know if it was sipping on the wine while playing with the up down button on my seat, but they were the best smoked Almond's I've ever had (maybe they're the only ones i've ever had). I hardly finished the wine before she came around asking me if I wanted to "top it up." No, i'll be a bit different and ask for Coke.

After the supid idiots who decided at the last minute to get out (u know, in real life planes never crash when people do that) Weakest Link style (and their luggage found and removed from the plane), we took off. What a buzz. Now I know how the rush of a hit of cocaine combined with the after-effects of pot feels - euphoria tinged with paranoia and feelings of imminent doom. The wheels closing now sounded like the wing falling off, but no luck, my parents wouldn't be making a profit out of me through a huge negligence payout.

Now, I requested the movie Domestic Disturbance, and it was brought to me and placed in my on seat video player. It was the perfect mindless film to watch in the plane. Wooden Acting, heard it before storyline and enough filler material to make you appreciate the flying experience while also watching a film i hadn't seen.

The menu was brought out. I requested TWO main courses. hek, i had three hours and I was gonna make the most of it. I treated it like entre and main

1. TUna slices with capsicum salad
2. Beef Fillet with chilli black bean sauce and Asian vegetables

I asked how hot the chilli would be and the flight attendant assured me it wouldn't be too hot. A few minutes later, she said: "we can put that on the side for you." I WAS IN HEAVEN (almost literally).

Well, I don't need to go to Rockpool anymore, cause the dishes were full on restaurant style. The cuttlery was shining, I had a metal knife (another perk for 1st class), though the pinot noir was too wooden for my liking.

After gulping everything down, and feeling the effects of breakfast, the greek salad, and now two lunches, I put my cutlery down and GAVE UP on desert. Not even their legendary cheeses could tempt me.

THe air hostess then brought me a bottle of the purest water on earth, made in Tasmania. I was going to souvenir it, but she collected it at the end of the flight! I was too embarrassed to ask for it back... what? Dominic embarrassed? Well, there is a limit to what sort of endless requests I can make. I also got her to take two photos, so that'll be on film too.

AUCKLAND, 8pm

AUckland could be any city. Not that I saw much. I stayed at Sky City - which is a huge tower. The complex and hotel is impressive, with a Casino, theatre. Its location was central, next to a Village cinemas and Borders. Instead of going to Village (too late), I went back to the hotel, had a bet (and lost) at the Casino, then went to my room, ordered some chips and sat down. Now NZ television has CORONATION STREET as the third highest rating show. I missed that - another thing I deeply regret. I just wanna laugh at how they can watch such crap - and then i remembered that our top 20 is dominated by Lifestyle shows. The best lifestyle show is the sendup on SBS called LIFESUPPORT.

Then I caught the last half hour of SIX FEET UNDER, which really rubbed in the fact I was travelling by myself. It was a profound episode that dealt with dying lonely (a lady dies, has her funeral paid for, but no-one goes to her funeral she was such a loner), and it sorted of resonated while chewing on the now cold chips. Then it was to a bit of reading, and before i knew it, midnight had come. As Auckland is two hours ahead, I wasn't that tired, had a shower, read some more, went to sleep.

WEDNESDAY, 5:15am

OH GOD! I NEED SLEEP.

On top of that, the taxi driver i had arranged to come, didn't show up at 5:30. I was in a taxi at 5:40am. I was on time at the airport, making it at 6:05 a full 30 minutes before boarding.

At 6:35, The captain announces, "Ladies and Gentlemen, you won't believe this, but a car has broken through security, and we will not be able to take off until the car is located. We will not be taking off until sunrise." God, am I jinxed or what - not only am I in economy class, but i'm going to be there longer than what was alloted! I felt my blood clotting, and my neck getting stiff - so that's how the plebs get DVT.

The plane took of 20 mins late, and made it to the beautiful vista that is CHristchurch just in time for the connecting flight to Queenstown.

QUEENSTOWN

Amazing. That in a word describes how beautiful this place is. It would have to be one of the most awesome entries into an airport. Sheer snow covered mountain peaks over a golden morning with the sun glistening off the pure river. No wonder this place is so popular it boasts a KFC, McDonald's and Pizza Hut. Not only that, but it was near freezing.

After spending a while looking around and buying stuff i was ready to go the hour and a half to Wanaka. Also in queenstown, there's this awesome Gondala that goes to the top of a peak, where you can also do some luge. I'm thinking of going tomorrow... will see if i can go back.

The drive to Wanaka was comparable and surpassed the most beautiful driving conditions in Tasmania. The blue off the lake was unusual, and the mountain peaks were breathtaking. Having my hire car upgraded to a Holden Vectra also helped - it came with a CD, and I had the Star Wars Ep II playing for the first hour and then Silverchair's brilliant new album after that (the first track is a concoction of so many different musical styles that i can't believe it works). On my drive to Christchurch, I'll be listening to Eminem's latest masterpiece (nothing better than listening to MM on a beatiful road before moving onto some Hans Zimmer movie music... but that's in a later e mail.

Wanaka is just as beautiful as Queenstown but on a smaller scale. I checked into the Edgewater Resort, where I was also upgraded to a one bedroom room which as a view of the lake and the mountain peaks behind it. It's a little piece of heaven.

I haven't caught up with Mason yet... i don't even know where he's staying or his phone number, so i don't know if i'll be snowboarding. THere's lots more to do than that here. And it is the "adventure capital" of the world.

PART THREE

Re-live the experience in mind numbing detail

WEDNESDAY JULY 4

Wanaka is amazing. I don't think it's possible to overhype how good this place is. After getting into Wanaka, sending a few emails out, I needed some sleep - 10 hours sleep for two days takes its toll, and pink eye was developing. Slept for an hour, got up, and tried to locate mason. Eventually, I got a call from Mason and it was good to catch up. Drove up to Wanaka Backpackers, which is a homely place. Of course, being Dom (and a wog), I was the only car to double park in the carpark. Eventually Mason came in, and we hit the town for a night of highjinks. Ofcourse, with dor dor, hitting the town is going to sleep early. So, we went to an irish pub, where Guiness flowed freely and the food was as cheap as you could get in this town. For 10.50 NZ, a huge Chicken burger sandwich came through with piles of chips. I was starving, but still was getting over the after effects of my Neil Perry dinner on QF 25.

After dinner, we headed over to thE nightplace, SHOOTERS. Given my middle eastern appearance (i probly also smelled), we were turned away from the bar due to it being "too crowded". Sure it looked busy, but if that was what they considered "too crowded" then I knew that this was a special place (I mean, Toongabie Workers at the all you can eat buffet on B&B night - that's crowded!).

Heading back to the hotel room, we unforunately couldn't get access to Sky 1, whose programmes include "Jerry Springer", and at midnight "Threesome". Instead, Scooby and Scrappy Doo brought back a few memories. Agreeing to meet Mason the next morning at 9:30am up in Treble Cone, I drove him back to his place (do things change? hehe), phoned home, and slept.

THURSDAY JULY 5
Disaster Strikes

Waking up at 7am, having a really nice breakfast over the sunrise, I was ready to head up to Treble Cone at 8:30am. The lady at reception told me no chains were needed. Then the rain got heavier, and I was a bit worried. Half way up the mountain, I saw that dreaded sign : "SNOW CHAINS ESSENTIAL". God damn Thrifty Rentals. I had no snow chains. Mason told me if worse comes to worse to hitch it up. BUt being stupid, I didn't know where to leave my car, so I thought I'd go back, try and get a bus in and all would be well.

Bus operators don't work after 8:45am. People need to sleep in! I was a bit loathe to hitchhike, plus my eye was getting redder again, so I decided to go back to the hotel. It was 11am.

I decided to "lie down" for a half hour and with the sun sort of making an appearance, i thought i'd go get chains and try my luck.

1pm

Oops, got up after a nightmare woke me up. It was a pretty lurid dream I had. Can't remember the details, but it featured a number of car crashes with me falling off the road to Treble Cone. (the road to TC is reminiscent of the route to the Cedars of Lebanon, one slip and you're over).

Rushed to find chains, loaded the car up, and headed off. The lady at TC said I would need no chains, so was looking forward to the ride. Again, she was wrong and that sign was there.

SNOW CHAINS ME CAN'T DO

After managing somehow to get the snow chains around the tyre, I moved the car forward to secure the loose ends. Unfortunately, the whole chain shifted out, and became lodged between my car and the door. I was confinced it would be stuck there and that I was doomed. Fortunately, I got them out (hurting my shoulder), but they were so out of shape, I couldn't use it.

GOD DAMN IT - I WANT TO MAKE IT UP THAT MOUNTAIN

So I started walking. WHAT? Walking? Dominic? at 2:30pm no one goes up to TC... so I thought, I'm going to see snow and then go back. Naturally, being out of shape, I was soon fogging up my glasses from the steam coming out of my pores, and this was compounded by the dripping coming off my head. But I kept going... if i had to die in a puddle of my own body fluids, I was going to see snow. Eventually, one of the TC workers was coming up and offered me a lift. I said: "how much more is there to go?" He said: "4kms". I quickly got in that vehicle, and in a few minutes I saw the beautiful sight of the TC village. It was after 3pm, and the sun was getting lower - the man warned me that the roads become slipperier as the sun goes down.

I went to the beginners lift, but Mason wasn't there - i assumed this would be the case anyway. I stepped on some snow, went to the toilet to clean the dirt off my hands, bought myself a beanie. Before I knew it, it was almost 4pm and I knew I had to get in early before everyone started hitching. I couldn't believe that I would hitch it, but there is a silent comraderie behind the hitching experience. I will definitely think more about picking up hitchhikers after waiting 15 mins in the freezing cold.

Eventually, someone picked me up. He was a man with his business in Sydney who bought an acre of land by the lake overlooking TC in Wanaka. In August the land was 265000. Now it's over 400000. And I think that price is a bargain given the beauty of this place. I can't explain to you how good it is down here - and I can guarantee that the growth that Wanaka will experience over the next few years will be huge. Anyway, I said thankyou, having completed my first ever hitch without getting stabbed, spat on or abused.

My car was fine half way up the hill. Thankfully, no out of control cars had veered into it, because that excess would've been a killer. Thankfully there was no charge for the out of shape chain, the man said he'd fix it up. All people here are still generous. I only think this will change once it becomes more commercialised (SUBWAY is building a chain shop here... Maccas is only around the corner).

Anyway, will catch up again with mason (hopefully) tonight. There's a Cinema here with old car seats that make up the theatre. It should be awesome, and Spiderman is playing.

cheers,

dominic

PART III Addendum

Listening Music between Wanaka and Treble Cone:

Hans Zimmer - live in concert. A selection of his great scores.

The Thin Red Line track is commanding and haunting. A perfect complement to the misty morning and barely visible cloud covered mountain peaks. Works best at 90kms per hour.

PART IV

Where was I?

yeah,

THURSDAY JULY 4

So, after writing another e mail, I was driving the wanaka strip, and see mason with a mate and do the big beep thing. Sure shook up a few residents there. Went down to Shooters. This is a mix of nightclub, pub with pool and chill out area. It's not very wanaka, and i'm not surprised that Subway will be opening near there soon. A jug of beer cost $4.50 for TC workers, but I order a coke - only the "hard stuff" for me. We then spent an hour or so. Met some of Mason's fellow "lifties" up there, where they were able to catch up on the days idiots - the fat man (me in disguise) who couldn't negotiate the hand lift up and needed a stretcher and a fork lift to get him up (or something like 6 men). Or the idiots who had their ski sticks sticking up as they were going in. The punishment for this crime was a whipping - can you believe the lawsuits that would happen in Australia (not to mention the assault charges). But it's OK in NZ, cause no one gets decent compo here. Mason will now be employing this technique as it is officially sanctioned. Well, after all the liftie stories and reminiscing, I spoke to a few of them - two of them were from England, one studied music at the stuffy Sussex Uni, where he wanted to compose scores. It was getting late, and we had CINEMA PARADISO to go to.

CINEMA PARADISO

After getting changed and having a shower (feet were wet from the trek up the mountain and snow), we went to what is the most unusual cinema. Cinema Paradiso has lounges, granddaddy chairs and even an old VW in the cinema! They also have an INTERVAL, where hot cookies can be purchased. THe popcorn is crisp and even the coke tastes better. THe count of monte cristo was excellent even a second time, though I did manage to dose off.

The film was over at 11pm, we headed back to SHOOTERS, but Mason's friends were not there. Apparently there was a reggae band playing somewhere else. So after a quick drink and some catching up, we headed back to the hotel. It was a very cold night, but the rooms were heated - maybe too heated. Unfortunately, Justice Leage and Superfriends were finished on the cartoon network - and Mason was tired, so went to sleep. He currently sleeps in a place where he can see his own breath while asleep! So the upgraded hotel room was a bit of a change. Anyway, I caught the opening of Lawrence of Arabia - a classic where we know the main character is dead at the beginning of the film, but realised that it wouldn't finish 'til 4 am, so was in bed around 1:30am.

FRIDAY JULY 5

After another nice brekkie, with Bacon and Eggs, it was time for Mason to meet up with his buddies to go snowboarding on his day off. I also had to leave for the five hour journey to Christchurch. It took around 4 hours to get into Christchurch, and there was a beautiful lookout overlooking Mount Cook. I got someone to take a photo, and proceeded. I hardly stopped on the way as I just wanted to get to Christchurch and relax.

Stopped at the Millenium hotel, where I didn't have a booking. I didn't book it! Thankfully they had rooms spare, and it was a really classy hotel overlooking Christchurch square. I ordered room service, which was probably the best i've had - their greek salad was outstanding - as though they had their own fresh farm making the ingredients. Final Destination was on the cable, and the news was dominated by the shooting (one fatal) of two police officers by a 16 year old gunman. What surprised me was the detail the police chief went into. News seems a lot more serious in New Zealand. The election gets a very big run and every week there's an hour programme where voters ask leaders the questions in debates. The Holmes current affairs show also interviewed the family of Saddam's stepson - a former engineer with Air NZ, who was caught in the USA on a visa violation trying to attend an engineers refresher course. Final Destination was its usual best, the best scene of the film and one of the most outstanding pieces of the entire new age suspense/horror films being the scene where after his friend is decapitated, the main actor doesn't even feel bad for his friend, instead working out the "plan" of fate.

And then I slept at 11pm.

SATURDAY JULY 6, 4am

God I hate waking up. After checking in around 5:15, I went into the lounge and am writing this e mail. It's now 5:55am, and boarding time for the 6:25 am to Melbourne. Hopefully I'll get to catch up on the new releases at the Jam Factory and then get some sleep. I'll be like a walking zombie in a few hours.

Cheers,

dominic

PART V
The really ridiculously long journey comes to an epic conclusion that will have you in tears*

SATURDAY JULY 6

The plane to Christchurch took off, and going back to Australia on a slightly different than usual 767-300 (i think it was an older model) in business class was nothing like my trip from brisbane but u can't complain really - there are people out there flying economy and getting excellent value for money while business passengers subsidise them. Breakfast on this plane was pretty simple but very nice. The fruit salad was outstanding - there wasn't one bit of off rockmelon. I asked for another one but the lady said they had no trays left - i always get rejected. Qantas has a monopoly and they go all cheap skate. I have one thing to say to Geoff Dixon - if he wants this cosy little arrangement in the local marketplace to continue, then he better make the customers feel that they don't need another airline. Instead, Qantas seems to do the opposite, which is completely wrong. I look at a company like woolies, who have a virtual duopoly and market dominance, but they always set aside part of their profits to make their goods cheaper, which brings in more customers. Perhaps Qantas should do the same with their profit - though i suppose they're working on bringing in new planes rather than the cheap option.

The trip to Melbourne was uneventful, and the landing was perfect - i can't think of a better landing evver. After waiting for five minutes until they managed to get the door open from the bridge (the staff had to do it with their hands), I was at Melbourne and only half an hour away from the Jam Factory. But first I had to get through customs. Even when you're a perfect citizen and have done nothing wrong, the fear of God enters you when you put no in every single box on the customs declaration. I mean, I wasn't scared in Lebanon or Syria at the military checkpoints - goes to show that a non-corrupt organisation doesn't need guns to scare the shit out of you (and with my nagging diarrhea i was coming close to making that more than a saying). Well, was I disappointed big time when they didn't even ask me a question and just let me out!

I picked up the hire car (cheaper than getting a taxi and much more convenient). I didn't stay at the Como this time, but a few blocks towards melbourne, and the hotel was also really nice. There was a dvd/tv player in the room! And you didn't have to pay for the movie channels. I managed to watch Men in Black, but it was pretty cold which meant i stayed in the hotel most of the time. I got some excellent greek meatballs with a youghurt, garlic and sliced cucumber sauce. Washed it down with an excellent and strangely darkly coloured but sweet red (coca-cola). Caught some of the Williams brothers Wimbledon final which basically consisted of a slogging match. Anna Kornikova might not be able to play, but she really knows what women's tennis is all about - for example her finest work to date was falling booty first on the French open clay court - her whites were sure soiled. I reckon that Serena could beat most of the men on the circuit.

I also forgot to tell you about the shower. It was 11pm. I decided to shave and shower. The terrorist look didn't work at the airport and i was doubting my own skills. I didn't wear a cross on purpose just to get a wierd look from customs but not one of them treated me badly. They all smiled. So what's the point? Anyway, the shower had this humungous shower head, around 30cm diamater, straight out of the roof. It was one of the best showers you could have. The water floods you and you almost have to get out of the jet stream to take a breath. At home, we have probably the most pissweak shower in the entire world - where even with the taps fully opened, you feel like you're getting a drip from a leaking roof.

SUNDAY 7 July

Another early flight, this time 7am. I barely made it to the airport and after checking in, the plane was on final boarding call. Thankfully there were a whole heap of passengers caught up, and the queue through the metal detectors was very large. Being a credit to my heritage, I just pushed into the front of the line mumbling like a maniac something about final calls and making a plane (god can i pull that routine off with flying colours, especially with my hair so overgrown i look like i've come out of a mental ward straight off the electroconvulsive therapy machine).

8:20am - Landed in Sydney. Home at last. The plane needed five minutes because there wasn't an available slot. Again, I worry about Qantas' service level. This is the time where they should be making it hard for another airline to even consider that they have a chance in the Australian aviation market. And on top of that, the bags took ages before they were on the conveyor. I was met at airport by mum and sis, we went for breakfast, then home. It was complete.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

media read, listened to and watched on the trip

MOVIES:

A.I.: If not the best movie of 2001, then pretty close to it. OK, so none of you agree but I'm sure that in the future people will look back on this film with awe. Watched in hotel at Melbourne.

Count of MOnte Christo: Watched at the Wanaka movies, on an old lounge chair. A unique experience.

Domestic Disturbance: A very ordinary film. John Travolta needs to get better advice when picking his films. Watched on route from Brisbane to Auckland.

Men in Black II: Pretty good follow up - a little slow in parts, but the film knows how to put in a few sly jokes and some racial observations. The two female characters add a lot to the film. Especially the bulimic alien. Watched in the Jam Factory.

READING on the Plane:

Michael Moore: Stupid White Men - Absolutely brilliant stuff here. A passionate democrat, the way a true opposition should be. THe Labor party could learn a lot from this man. The book resonates more and more with each day of the GW Bush administration. Written before S11, he talks about being absolutely scared everytime he gets into a plane because workers at maccas get paid more than airline pilots in the USA. We're getting more of that here with the increasing de-unionisation of the aviation work force - of course it brings us cheap fares and so far we haven't had many safety issues (except for the hush hush Virgin runway overshoot).

Face Magazine July 2002 - The Osbournes interview is excellent - there's something about this family. There's also a good pic layout of a lady getting tattoo'd on various parts of her body. One of the pics looks like she's taking a shot of heroin, and another one looks like she's having a huge orgasm from the insertion of a nipple ring.

J T Leroy: THe Heart is Deceitful Above All things - Pretty heavy going stuff so didn't get through much of it, this book is a series of short stories too real not to be based on truth. The antidote to Eminem's music, and yet another horrifying side of white American culture, the severe abuse and neglect inflicted on children because of incompetent drug addicted parents. THe writing is an amazing blend of childhood simplicity and adult language. It's too clearly written to be a bad dream and maybe that's the intention of the author.

CDs

The Eminem Show - A brilliant CD. "Cleaning OUt My Closet" is the most cinematic and dramatic track of the album, featuring one of the most wrenching tirades against a parent in music, including what i think is the climax of the song when he says he's dead to her. And again Eminem builds the characters he's established over the two CDs. There are other countless good tracks but it doesn't reach the heights of the Marshall Mathers LP, where every single track was an indispensible part of the album. Still, when you have to follow up one of the best albums of the 1990s, you can't win all the time. This is the equivalent of Reality TV on CD. And that's why this album is selling through the roof in the USA amid the worst ever year for the US record industry.

Silverchair Diorama - I think I talked about this CD already. Track 1 is something completely surprising. It starts off with a melody that could be straight out of an Elliot Smith (Good Will Hunting song writer) song, but instead of guitar, i think a harpsichord is used, and then it goes into a big band sound coupled with heavy drumming and full orchestra. Then there's a bit of a jazz touch with a muffled trumpet playing along with the lyrics. The song changes tack completely "let's get married and have another baby coz I don't want to be lonely I just want to be alone." Not being lonely but alone is a great concept - who thought some kid from Newcastle could come up with word play like that. The song changes again, having an almost musical like intro before heading off into orchestral rock. This is the wall of sound effect with accoustic instruments, heavy rock, big band and pop sensibility all mixed in. Again, a good song to drive through the world all by yourself. Though some of the lyric in this album is laughable, the music on this album is excellent. If Johns didn't have arthritis (strangely enough track 1 talks about hugging a man's arthritic shoulder), this album could be nominated for Grammy awards if it did well in the USA and was followed up with a strong tour. I'm sure critics will respond really positively to this transformation into new and unexpected territory.

Star Wars Episode II CD - Already talked About it

The Wings of a Film, The Music of Hans Zimmer - Excellent stuff, shows a diversity of his scores from you can also seeing him grow into his own music with a unique voice. The Thin Red Line track is haunting and proves the development - perfect for driving up a mountain with the clouds underneath you.

Wired Up - A collection of metal/heavy rock music. Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach (Bizkit clones - well, nu metal clones anyway), Linkin Park, Rammstein etc. I can't help but think that metal has come to a natural conclusion. Thank god for bands like Slipknot who at least try to put a bit of controversy and invention into their songs. Just check out the lyrics from this Slipknot song "Disaster PIece" (off the Iowa album not from this album). This is the musical version of body disembodiment (perfect pomo) that you find in horror films:

"I wanna slit your throat and fuck the wound
I wanna push my face in and feel the swoon
I wanna dig inside, find a little bit of me
Cuz the line gets crossed when you don't come clean..."

And this for something that you can imagine going through the minds of those kids that crack and kill all the people who bullied and laughed at them. It's actually scary how much this music resonates with teenagers.

"How does it feel to be locked inside another dream
That never had a chance of being realized?
What the fuck are you lookin' at?
I'll tell you what you're lookin' at
Everyone you ever fuckin' laughed at"

SINGLE SONG

Nelly, Hot in Here - Never heard it on the trip, but it was an echo in my head because that song is very catchy (and the irony was kewl in this cold place). I defy it not to go to number 1 on any chart around the world. It is the perfect song... stripped of all subtext, the singer delights in the obviousness and simplicity of its desire. It is perfect music porn. And because porn is so chic, it can't not go big.

RUNNING THEMES

For those observant people - I had 3 references to the eleventh hour in short sentences. It's sort of an internal reference to the planning and execution and outlook to the whole trip in a sort of biblical/epic way.
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*of boredom

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