The Annual-2003

Just remember...if forgot something this year-it could be in here!

P.S. the people might change...but the names stay the same!  These are facts, and opinions are strongly of Johnny*s.

January

For the first time in three years, I wasn't at Balmain to herald in the New Year.  Instead, I was at Whannyd's NYE party which wasn't out to be as promised.  By the time I arrived (11pm), everyone had gone home, leaving a few guys around to get pissed.  And then get this, WhannyD and Mitch (the hosts) disappeared from their own party!  Totally random.

The next day was spent recovering at Field Day.  It rained hard and people wanted to buy our ponchos but FUCK it was damn good.  Sandy Rivera played hard tribal as the rain fell harder, Freq nasty had the breaks tent overheating and Chris Lum....OHHH YEAHHH!

While i worked for most of the month, I had a few days off here and there.  One weekend that I definitely had to have off was Sat 25/Sun 26.  On Sat 25 the Big Day Out came to town and geez....Jimmy Eat World absolutely rocked!  Other props go out to Luke Slater, Phil K, QotsA, Kamahl, 1200 Techniques and Underworld!  Yeahhhhhh!!!!!  But the party didn't stop there, it was straight over to Trina's for some PRIME TIME BOOTY as she just turned 18!  This was the ultimate Birthday Party going thru till 6 in the morning.  She definitely showed me how parties should be done!

February

2003 was already off on an away trip mentality-National Pornographic has us filling up Matt's car boot in January, but Northern Exposure was definitely the bomb-ass away trip!  12 Days, 3065KM, hostel to hotel to home, Robbie and Ruphie joined Baz and I on an away trip that had the Queenslanders begging for more!

When I got home, the first thing I did was to arrange to meet Zihni for lunch.  I was still trying to comprehend the fact that he got engaged to Lisa? (Like WTF!)..now what is going on here?  That was the Q I kept on asking him over and over (and over!) again at our lunch!

Meanwhile, Sej and Lauren were still causing calamity overseas, totally getting knees up in the UK and partying on as if Australia had just won the Rugby World Cup.  We're still waiting for those photos, Sej!  A rumoured 70 rolls I hear (I bet 40 of them were taken in LA!!)

And then Viv & Bill announced that they were making a major lifestyle change-giving up Sydney life, cutting ties and making the move over to Perth, where Bill's mum lives.  Their farewell ceremony was a trashing @ The Johnny Walker Taste Testing Night *licks his chops* nice one bruva!!!

March

Uni was about to start, but not after a good weekend of clubbing!  Miguel Migs was in town and played out 3 hours of damn funked up house music!  Ended up getting home at around 7 am or so.  Haha!

There were lots of other party nights in March-like Cat n Samb from Schoolies (schoolfriends.com.au) and then there was Grant's Birthday Party.  The usual suspects were there, as well as a heap of Danielle's friends.  Shocker of a night from the point of view of Craig and "Gaydrian"-LOL.  A good night nonetheless.  Coz you know it's gonna be a good night when the whole FEC is in attendance! ;o).  This party night would bear significance in about.....7 months time, LMAO.

Robbie and I settled back into uni, but not before I received a request for an ENCORE of the Sunshine State!  Alas, we put it in our diaries and promised to keep all parties informed of what was to happen.

March also saw the H.O.B.O. show take to the decks at the Shark Hotel in the city!  What was often joked about became cruel reality as I dropped Punjabi MC's "Mundian To Bach Ke", still awaiting a major commercial release.  To quote Terry, a fellow DJ on the night, "This song is fucking pumpin!", before dancing around the Shark Hotel like an Indian.

April

...started off with the April Fools Joke of the decade!!  Shannon had been an outright knob, nagging me forever to get him a gig at the Shark Hotel after I did the set there.  I had enough and told him, "yes Shannon...they will call you on Tuesday [april fools day]..." at about 9pm, he messaged me...

"i never heard back from Shark Hotel"

johnny*-"you were never meant to...APRIL FOOLS DAY!"

He's never stopped being an outright knob since, showing some premium form in some no shows such as Grant's Birthday-telling everyone that he was coming before ditching Grant for a date that ended up not even going anywhere at all!  Her car was, "broken down" LOL.  Then he 'booked' me in for the RAS Easter Show and was a no show!  Jodie also had me locked down for Easter Saturday but did the no show of the year!  So it was left to the magical talents of Trina and Robbo to save the day on Easter Saturday!  Earlier in the day, they were accompanied by Robbie and in the night it was I!  And it was well worth every cent my friends!  A few rides here, some fireworks there, fine booty EVERYWHERE!  I think I stayed out a little too much with them as soon after, I developed a pretty bad flu (NO IT WAS NOT SARS!)

It made social functions unbearable to go to-I even thought about ditching the annual "Anzac Day Anarchy" meetup, but how could I deny "our two finest exports, Lisa & Corin"!  They day started off with nice weather but as the clouds rolled in, so did the people to top off an absolute fine day of getting pissed at our favourite Shelly Beach!  You just have to be there if you have never been-the night possums are A-Mazing!

May

...was just full of damn good nights-Libity's 21st rocked Surry Hills one night, to be followed by Paula's (Mixy) birthday the next night-which Paula still maintains Julz hijacked, made it into a farewell for Samantha A. and yes-the H.O.B.O. was there, playing a diverse selection of RnB, funk n hip hop...and no dance music fanx!  Then I decided getting pissed was a better option and leaving the djing open to everyone else ALREADY pissed!  Came across some interesting observations, but still kept the party rockin'!

There weren't too many nights out on the town by The Gang this month-everyone was bloody busy!  Craig-workin 5 days/wk, Robbie-uni AND work (both full time!) and I had work and uni assignments when I could do them.  Besides, I spent the first three weeks of the month STILL sick from SARS (which I later passed on to Corin!) But Corin got over that and then was able to fly out of Australia with her little sister Lisa and their mother in tow.  We watched an observed Zihni.... ;o)

June

This is the time that paintball money was paid but I still figured that it was never going to be enough people wanting to come along this time around.  We just had to promote it to the HILT!  We already settled on a date and while the roll call kept changing, I still didn't want to miss out on going paintballing-yeahhhh!!!!!

I advanced into the 21st century with a new photo phone from Vodafone (hey, I got it for free!) and straight away I was taking photos of everything and anything *EG*.  Personally, it's the best ever piece of technology I've ever laid my grubby lil hands on (well except for the pioneer mixer @ the Shark Hotel.)  Anywhere, everywhere, blackbirds aren't just watching..but recording every movement!!!

As the semester drew to a close, there were more parties that I had to attend-namely Ear Candy (Fri night) and then the FHM party (Sat Night)!!!  This was compounded by the fact that I worked a 12 hour shift on Thursday and sleep was for the Monday...or the following Monday when I decided I finally deserved a massage...*licks his chops*.

I started a series known as 'Flying the Flag' where I tried to see as many friends as I could in the time remaining before I had to go back to uni.  I wish I was hanging the Bulldogs Flag on top of Panthers when we played there...we lost by two points!!!

July

...wasn't just about flying the flag...I literally hoisted it on top of my house and said..."I'm gonna get you all!"  Colleen's birthday party on the 5th was a total dud, shame more people didn't turn up for it.  Later that night, the JBWS hosted Scott and the amazing Highland Dancers-IN DA SPA!  THIS GUY KNOWS HOW TO PARTY!  He was telling me of nights where him and 7 mates would pool (no pun intended) money to hire a spa and BYO alcohol and hey presto!  Not so hey presto was Kristy..in town around the same time as Scott but they didn't get to meet!  Unlucky.  There was no one more excited than BAZ, who Kristy confided in, telling him that she loved no other man than him.  Awww...!

Also in attendance was Amanda (Ms Spiike-also Ms. Robbie!!!!) for about three weeks.  The next time after Kristy's I would see her would be the ultimate test of true trooperism.  In the morning of July 12, Paintball 2003 began-the only paintball event of 2003!  There were some unfortunate last minute non-attendees that couldn't be helped, then some outright piss-poor piking that deserved "Form of the Year" award.  It was still an awesome day though; the teams were ATTACKING all day long instead of the usual 'lag behind' mentality that has plagued every paintball event!  We also had three girls with us on the paintball field, instead of the usual one...which was a great achievement.  Maybe one day we will have totally level playing conditions!

Paintball done (I got through with only some minor wounds) and it was straight home to get ready for the superstar wedding reception of the year!  Grant and Danielle's, at the same time that the sun was rising in Kentucky for Tash & Wesh's wedding.  By all accounts, everything went well over there and everyone looked very flash in their gear!  Same goes for Grant and Danielle's wedding-ooh, EVERYONE that you needed to know about was there!

When I had recovered, the next weekend saw the 21st of Grant's best man, Robbie!  A lot of his family were present, as well as Amanda (three times in two weeks!-goddamn!  Only Grant and Danielle were the others present representing the Gang, with a lot of people there from Robbie's College!  Not to mention Bowlsy-direct via mobile phone!  It was a good night of getting by the fire and downing a few beers.  Those 44 Gallon Drums...God bless em!

August

It was now heading into the second semester of third year...but we were still flying the flag with Tillie, Sawah, my big sista and Linda all getting the presence of yours truly!

August is usually a rough financial month as I've just weathered the storm of May (Paula's Bday), & July (Julz, Julz & Toni) then August (both parents!)...and a few other ones.  Lana (my uni working partner from last year's 'Finding Home') had a 21st right at the end of the month-what a trashbag performance she gave...totally trashed!!!

There was supposed to be a road trip to Kat's 21st in Bendigo but the plans never got off the ground.  Quite personally, I couldn't see how I could organize it anyway.  I just came out of Paintball 2003 and straight after I started work on my next event-my birthday party...more on this later!

August also saw the actress debut of Ms. Alison Cahill on 'Kaput', a short project showing the tribulations of a girl who has been stood up before deciding to stand out.  Watch out for this one-I'm thinking of having a screening party...yippee!!!

September

Spring is definitely in the air.  There were a lot of people to see in this month-like Matt turning 22, The OldSchoolFriends.com.au crew absolutely rioting in the Parramatta Eels Club & "Do It Yourself" had Lisa and Nat secretly 'doing it themselves' in the back shed....NOT THAT YOU DIRTY BASTARD!  They were pouring themselves a beer!

It was a great risk, to let people have full authority over their actions in my own house/backyard.  They were going to play the music THEY WANTED to hear, pour as many beers as THEY WANTED to and there were other aspects of DIY apparent-Duneba Breweries, still a garage brewer, making the fine bevvies for us to drink, then there was I, djing by myself!

Shannon usually mans the decks but he had to be a real cunt at Paintball 2003, pulling him and his two confirmed buddies out of the event and leaving me $90 out of pocket.  MOTHER FUCK!  The best revenge is a dish served cold and our dj decks were not going to be molested by him!

The night-a total success!  Better than 2002 but never as good as 2001!  Together, we celebrated the end of the backyard as a place to have a good ol shindig, but we WILL be back in other forms.  I think after 2002, the future of the backyard seemed limited after that whole fiasco.  Next year, it will definitely be in the bar/pub/club/venue of some sort, in the city to make it central for everyone ;o)

October

So much for Grant and Danielle, the people magnet!  Their baby shower (YEAH YOU HEARD RIGHT!) was an absolute farce.  Shame on you boys for not supporting Grant during this tough time.  Isn't this what mates are for?

The next weekend I took off to Livid.  A bit better than last year, as I only wanted to see Jurassic 5 and Dexter-the rest of the lineup was just filler.  Goldfinger were awesome and the pick of the day had to be "Me First and the Gimme Gimmes"!

The next weekend was the beginning of a summer session-Panthers with Angie.  This is her local (she lives in Mascot by the way) and she goes there EVERY weekend!  I was accompanied by Craig and we met up with Amanda + Alissa for their birthdays, along with Dean and Rob.  I kinda lost them both and partied on with Angie, got pissed as a punk and danced the night away!

I went from a total high to a deep low.  The next day, Shannyn passed on the unfortunate news that friend, mother and Dancing Queen Hayley had passed away-still at a very young age.  I moved into my deeper sense of pondering, where I just thought about life and what it meant...I realised that indeed life is just one big circular...thing!  With that, Justin David Sommers entered the world, very small and very early!  When I heard about this, I realised about the big circle...every end leads to a new beginning...who knows, maybe Justin may be a dancer one day!

November

The Rugby World Cup was in full swing and going out more than the footy fries at Hungry Jack's was ME!  Dinner parties, birthday parties, dances with Angie-you name it, I did it!

I was almost going to do a rescue mission on the 15th-Angie was having drinks with her loverboy and she needed to bail out!  I was thinking of going out but decided to hold off for one week, and it was worth it.  Lauren's 21st was the way dinner parties should be held.  I'm not being charitable/povo, but surely you will get some more satisfaction from your guests if they have been paid for rather than the end of dinner "pull out your mortgage" ritual.  Ben Ethnic's 21st was the same.  I don't know...I'm happy to admit that I'm a poor student who can't afford to go out to dinner parties every week...for me, when I put on the party, there is no expectations...only for people to show up and have fun.  That way, we rely on the VIBE of the people.  People feel more at ease and are more likely to come when the cost to them is minimalized.  ;o)

The aftermath of Lauren's 21st party night was amazing-KatBat dropped in on us midweek, stopping over on her mega road trip from Bendigo to Brisbane and beyond to Cairns!  Colleen's art exhibition showed this girl having some hot lil mittens busy in action.  And then Danielle and Grant left partyholic Justin at home while they celebrated Danielle's birthday, a little early but nevertheless celebrated it in the city...Cheers: Where all our good mates meet!

Furthermore, there was one more addition to 'The Gang'-Alissa and Rob presented their little packet of joy-Maddison Drady.  Born just two days out of the predicted time, Maddison entered our world in a healthy state, and we're still waiting to hear how the father coped with the birth!

December

Summer time-everyone wants to have fun in the sun!  Unfortunate that all the Xmas parties around the place were a total FARCE.  The work Xmas party has a lot to live up to-2001's strip club sojourn will never be beatable at the rate we're going-people hijack the night, then are clueless when there is nothing happening and it's their call.  I made it up with a great night clubbing at (RIP) Globe!

Other Xmas Parties to totally suck arse included: Angie's (she rang me up to talk codshit about Korn) and Colleen's...thank God I spent Xmas day at home...at least we never fail to have good times, which rolls into the traditional boxing day boozefest!

New Years Eve-it's gonna be a quiet one this year...and I'm taking it back to my roots...not at home, but at Balmain!  Hopefully the bicycle will be ready for some mass pedalling action to bring on the Olympic Year!

Retrospect and Future Thought

Well...what a year it has been.  There were two massive away trips, Northern Exposure being the bomb!  A sudden passing of a friend, followed by the birth of Justin David, then Maddison Drady!

"The Gang" mutated through the year-mainly via gaining new members.  Our 'Nubreed' award celebrates this.  The definition of The Gang will always change as the progresses of time and people are documented and experienced.

At the end of last year, I said that "2003 was going to be about you and me"...come on...National Pornographic, Northern Exposure, Flying the Flag, Do It Yourself, plus the various birthday parties, miscellaneous parties and gatherings here and there.  The concept of 'the masses' was abandoned for a more sedate, smaller style of intimate gatherings at the home or in the pub.  It seemed to re-affirm existing friendships, stuff that can only be done in an intimate environment, where you can actually hear the person next to you.  =)

2004-Scary and Exciting!  Perhaps 2004 will be the Year of the Whore as I start selling myself off to various employees and people too.  I'm predicting that it will be the year that sets up my career so some big things are going to happen.  Not before the "Tour of Booty" though, which will be gruelling, appealing and pleasing simultaneously!  I don't know what attracts me to the whole concept of new day, new city but it's hectic and i LOVE it!  Once we go past Kerang, we're in new territory.  Perhaps a metaphor for the rest of 2004.  Hope to see you all on that particular journey!

Cheers and see you in 2004.....Johnny*