JANUARY

And how right i was...how right i was...

Good to read about what everyone else got up to on NYE 06/07. I stayed in with a bottle of Alize with my dogs, knowing that they would go mental at the stroke of midnight. The kids in the neighbourhood didn't even wait til then until they started lighting their fireworks so all the dogs had to come in. I felt sorry for the neighbours dalmation (not sure what his name is, we call him Spotty).

Got a few random messages at midnight. Even got a few voicemails, but not what I expected...i think i scared everyone away with my old bag lady ";I'M STAYING IN THIS NYE AT HOME, OKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK" rant.

NYD

had work in the morning - yeah so what? triple time and i only had to work four hours anyway. At 2pm i left and was on my way to Field Day.� Caught the end of Crazy Penis *hee hee* while waiting for a workmate to show up as I sold her my spare ticket. Caught up with an old school friend and his girlfriend and then I kinda went on my own way after that. I saw Ugly Duckling who were so awesome, first time i've seen them live. Came back for Kaskade on the main stage, who was alright but some of the tunes that he played were like, from his set two years ago.

Jonathon Wall and Tim Sea were mixing with a video screen behind them which was pretty cool. I think they were mixing DVDs which is pretty� ambitious and I can't say I've ever seen anyone try that before. Some of the songs were a bit batty though and I think i'm getting over Put Your Hands Up For Detroit; since I heard it about 300 times since Boxing Day.

Later on I stayed for The Presets and it started to rain and the crowd was getting VERY crowded so I thought that I'd check out the Killer stage since I've seen The Presets not too long ago at Homebake (and their set list hadn't really changed). Jamie Lidell had a hardcore group of devoted dancers going and by the time he finished the Killer stage was a bit more packed (must have been people sick of Martin Solveig's BATSHIT...TOLD YOU!) Switch was about 40 mins late but while Ajax played heaps more people came and danced at the Killer stage but once Switch started there was no one getting in my fuckin way when it came to dancing. Best fuckin set of the day!

Later on I went back to my older sister's place and then after I house sat my brother's place at Mascot.� His place was awesome!� Him and his gf went up to Coffs Harbour for a week so I made sure the place was going ok...even had my mate Dylan come over with his xbox 360 plugged straight into the 50" Pioneer Plasma!!!� High definition gaming = who needs to leave home!

The Hoedown series kicked off in Brisvegas on a Friday night.� I caught up with Bec and Gina and took it real easy on the night.� The next day I flew up to Gladstone to be at the grand wedding of Jason and Angie!� The wedding was followed by the reception, followed by a wild night of partying!� Next stop was Brisbane where Jess, Adam and I hit up the XXXX Brewery followed by some more wild partying on the Tuesday night with Sarah @ The Bedroom nightclub!� When we first got there, we thought it was going to be dead for a Tuesday night, but then the place got filled up in no time!� But all of this was great compared to the utter shyte that was the Big Day Out.� Overpriced, overcrowded and the drink lines overlong.� Fuck that, I'm never doing it again.

FEBRUARY

Last month was spent hunting down some great beats and this was all for one good cause: Beatlovers!� This was the long awaited answer to "The Beat Quencher" from 2005 which went down well.� Something that didn't go down quite well was the proposed root canal that I had done on my front chomper.� $1850 later and yeah, let me tell you I now need to look after my teeth or else I am screwed!�

Speaking of finances, I was sending over $$$ to my little sister Paula who was terrorising countries through Europe before settling down in the UK.� No doubt she was getting drunk every night, just like the old crew at Harvey Norman Bondi Junction who invited me to one of their midweek pissups (retail's weekends are usually tuesday and wednesday)...the hangover the next day at work was punishment followed by a hard game of squash that came that afternoon!

More punishment was to be dished out especially after the Good Vibrations Festival.� In the morning I had some root canal therapy, followed by a trip down to the city to meet Matt and get into Good Vibes for dirt cheap, try $0 (thanks Bacardi!).� We saw Koolism, Cut Copy, Snoop Dogg, Jurassic 5 and Matt went to see Beastie Boys while I checked out Timo Maas.� Later on we headed down to Candy's Apartment to check out Dj Numark and fucking hell, that was the best two hours of hip hop I have heard ever.� He did a few tricks here and there but he kept his club set at the same tempo all night - fat dubby west coast hip hop......oh yeaah....

I had the chance to do my own thing at Louise's 30th party at her house which ended up being a trashfest, seeing that they opened up the Johnny Black pretty early on.� Not sure how I got home or when I got home, but I woke up the next morning with a pretty bad hangover....

MARCH

She left us late last year for two years but home sickness got the better of her.� My little sister Paula flew back under a shroud of secrecy that not even anyone knew!� Not even my own parents!� But she had given it a good nudge all over Europe and the UK and was back here in Australia to give it a nudge down here!!!

However I didn't have too much time to talk to her because March was full of travels.� One weekend was in Perth, followed by Newcastle, followed by Bendigo and Melbourne!� Shit!� Two Hoedowns and one NRL game in Newcastle and we were fully pumping out the miles!!!!� And talk about pumping out, that Hoedown trip was three years in the making!� Melbourne was a fantastic place and I can't wait to be back there again.

There were some top quality nights that I had out on the town.� There was a night out with workmates in Newtown visiting all the old joints that Old Man Robes hangs out at.� I found out that night that there were some old school friends hanging out at Newtown - some guys I hadn't seen for nearly 7 years!� Talk about the old school!!!� I also had a heap of HOBO Beatlovers CDs to give out seeing that I had a gig at Bonnyrigg Community Centre - the third time I played this place.� At least this time, the music was pumping hard all night long!

Speaking of "pumping hard all night long";, the final installment of Hoedowns was announced for 2007, to be held in Bathurst.� Straight after Anarchy!!!

APRIL

So three months have gone by of this year and it's going just as i predicted! I'm surprised that people are finding out that i just want to take things easy for this year, not for three months and then start resuming things back to what they were...but taking the time out to do the things that i need to do...

Don't get me wrong, this isnt it and it aint over yet! But I'm not going to give it a nudge every weekend like i have been for the past few years. Already I've been interstate three times and Djd twice which is great guns, as well as having the time to produce Beatlovers.

So what's the forecast for the month ahead? Well, there is Anzac Day and then the long awaited trip to Bathurst. I've been hanging out for this trip, been thinking about heading up there for months to visit Keira and then i decided it would be an awesomeness idea to actually get up there, straight after Anzac Day. I am going to make a pit stop at Katoomba on the Thurs to visit Ben in his shack up there by the highway.

Will aka Maxim rang me the other night and asked me when I am next coming to Bendigo...LOL. Can't wait to get back there, it was an awesome weekend. I don't have any other travels scheduled in for the rest of the year though. Getting my teeth fixed and getting even more fitter is what matters to me the most right now. But be warned, I'll be back and you will all know about it.

Other parties worth mentioning were Trina's Graduation Party which was a pretty trashy affair (I think I left there around 4am!).� Anzac Day Anarchy was another top notch day, even if the sun came out for only a minute the whole day and the hotplate at the park didn't work.�

MAY

We started hitting up The Chaser's War on Everything's ABC Studios on an almost weekly basis ;) if you get Season 2 Volume 1, you might be able to see us on the Special Features chapter!� It was an awesome way to meet some of our heroes that we laughed at for years.�

No one laughed when the news broke that Danielle and Grant hit splitsville.� With a baby on the way (Hayden Pheonix, 23/05/07) and two doting kids, everyone knew it was going to be hard for the both of them.� We did hear the alarm bells ringing a long time ago but hey, what can you do?� I personally don't think you can interfere too much into anything like this, even if you can see the danger signs.� I think that's the job of the two people in any relationship to sort things out.

At the same time, what would you do if you knew someone was rorting where they were working?� That was my dilemma with Angie, who was pretty much shitting in her own backyard.� In the end she got the chop from iinet and the fallout included me.� Hey, look I had my opinion about it and I had to give it, which is that everyone should have a responsibility to tell the truth and to act honestly in everything that we do.

That could have been the moral for the month of May.

I started scoping out a website called Facebook which was pretty cool - until it overtook my worklife!� Soon, I was banned from it at work and then more and more people started getting onto the website - which made it even harder to stay away from!� Move over, Myspace!

JUNE

The month started off with an invitation to the Lion Nathan conference in Fiji!� How awesome!� I had only heard about previous conferences and how the call centre hadn't been invited back since the last conference in '04.� All i needed was to choose my flights and everything else would be sorted, cool!

There were a few good nights out: mainly the Eskimo Joe concert, going out for Phil's 22nd (not as trashy as his 21st) and then being invited to one of my customer's 1st birthday party (The Gaff Nightclub).� I don't even know how I had anytime to set up my own Myspace for Mr Bones!�

JULY

So much for Fiji - the trip got canned!� What a load of bollocks!� Something about not having enough planes to take the whole salesfore of Lion Nathan there...booo!� I could have gone to Fiji, just taken a week off, kept on working, but instead I decided on something else rather grand...and something that would last all night!

One big night in July started off at Telstra Stadium watching the Panthers beat the Bulldogs, followed by Dangerous Dan's bday party in Maroubra.� After a lot of beers and a few shots, I headed into the city to meet my little sister Paula @ Dj Sinden's gig!� That was one awesome gig and it's a shame i couldn't remember any more - the less said, the better!� Other huge nights included Toni's birthday dinner which turned into a city pub crawl, the next night was Robbie and Sandy's engagement party followed by Liza's birthday party, and then....the Gwen Stefani concert!� No doubt some of you have seen the photo of me passed out after Liza's birthday party!� At least I didn't pass out at Robbie and Sandy's for that would have been disasterous!

I felt like passing out on my way to Grant's place after watching the Bulldogs beat the Sharks down at Toyota Park, in rain and icy cold wind!� It had to be about 9 degrees all day and that didn't hurt my sore abcessed tooth.� What helped though was the 10 shots down at Janalli pub followed by double shots of bourbon!� I even had to give up the meat tray that I won to Grant, seeing that I wouldn't be able to sink my teeth into it tonight!� By the time the "anaesthetic" wore off, it was time to book another appointment at the dentist.

AUGUST

I had one of my last apppointments at the dentist and that meant that I was fighting fit - woo hoo!� However I wanted to keep the downtime happening by concentrating on getting my Ls and I had my first real lesson in about 5 years.� Mind you, I hadn't really missed out after 5 years!

I also had my first City 2 Surf run in about 9 years!� Work was kind enough to pay for my sister and I to enter in and I finished about 39,956!� So I guess I could say I made it in the top 40...000!� I needed a week off to recover after that..well not really as I took some leave before the silly season of selling slabs started again!� I did my tax return, saw one batch of superannuation rolled over into another, cleaned my room and saw some friends I hadn't seen in years!�

I also had time to announce that I'd be having my LAN party.� But no need to bring your PCs...

SEPTEMBER

Got even more busier with the DJing schedule - the first day of the month was a party at Strathfield, then two weeks later I was down at Taren Point helping out the guys at DjConnect.� The following week, the guys repayed the favour when they played at Johnny's LAN PARTY and there were some that kept it going ALL NIGHT LONG!!!� Pity I couldn't last all night..but thanks to everyone that came down, I am sure you all had a great time!

Good times out included watching Craig make a batch of homebrew at the Seven Hills Beer Factory, watching the Cats demolish Port Power on a huge arse LCD screen at my friend Dylan's place, and then hosting Brooke and Graham from Perth...we went up to the Hunter Valley and had many a wine sample, went speedboating around Sydney Harbour and then there was that infamous Kings Cross Sexcursion that Graham and I took...

OCTOBER

The month started off with a very tired hangover - as we were still recovering from Parklife!� The highlight was seeing Derrick Carter once again bust out some tunes over three decks with his trademark boompity boomp house which got everyone going.

The next weekend we had Hayden Pheonix Sommers' official naming day ceremony.� This wasn't the only time this month that I would see Danielle and her slightly new partner Shaun, as the next weekend I dj'd and also mc'd at Kristy Robinson's wedding to Lachlan Maczkoviach (yeah try saying that one when you're mc'ing...FOR THE FIRST TIME!� I GOT IT RIGHT ON ALL ACCOUNTS, HA!).

Also, try keeping up with some of Jess and Adam's friends, who on their visit to Sydney, decided it would be a great idea to crack open the beers at 8am!!!� By the time I saw them at 8pm, they were pretty trashed!� However the pair were here for a job interview which Adam scored, and Jess became a resident of the greatest state in the nation...although she will probably be a QUEENSLANDER!!! at heart.�

I clocked up some more driving lessons in between watching DVDs - The Henderson Kids Season 1 and 2 were awesome buys!!

NOVEMBER + DECEMBER

This isn't a cop out, but I can tell you that every weekend from hereonin was going to be...a "crazy night out"

Nov

Sat 3: Neusa's Double Trouble Bday Party @ Bar Cleveland

Sat 10: Ana's Buzz Party @ Mascot

Sat 17: Mark's Movember Party @ Red Martins Kogarah FOLLOWED BY Mel B's Birthday Party @ Watershed

Sat 24: Jade & Rhiannon's Engagement Party @ Angel Bar, City

Dec

Sat 1: Toni's Farewell Party

Sat 8: Homebake @ The Domain

Sat 15: DjReal's Birthday Party @ Bright'n Up Bar FOLLOWED BY Lion Nathan Xmas Party ("A Very Bollywood Xmas") FOLLOWED BY Jeff Purser's Birthday Bender! (which i couldnt make..stupid taxis)

Sat 22: DAFT PUNK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mon 31: New Years Eve Party

It was as if for ten months I didn't bother partying and then I crammed all my partying into the last two months of the year.� Neusa and Bobo's party was definitely the most trashiest, Daft Punk was the best.concert.everrr and I am looking forward to New Years Eve - a change from last year, where I couldn't be bothered going anywhere at all.� I am djing for the first time on NYE which is a dream for any DJ, i reckon!

FUTURETHOUGHTS

In November, I scored "Lion Connect's Salesperson of the Year" which was a great award!� It has twofold implications - in one sense, it means I would want to stay working for the brewery for the long term, but on the other hand it also makes me a bit more of an asset.� I love working for a brewery, i don't think you can beat that for best job in the world!

My afro is looking to get a cut in March next year.� In the meantime, hit me up for the address for my "Shave for a Cure" website address!

Next year is going to be a year of more learnings and I think the best is yet to come when it comes to my work.� I am predicting I will pull out some of my best work next year.� It's almost going to be a renaissance of sorts, a new age.� We'll see how true that is in 12 months time.

All the best for 2008

Johnny