Archive for the ‘traaiiiiin’ Category

A side of Train we hadn’t seen.

7:39 pm, January 4th, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Posted in boythings, girlthings, local, traaiiiiin by Liz

So, we took Train to the vet today. We’ve been talking about doing it for a couple of weeks because her 1 year vaccination was due. Being the responsible pet owners we are, we clipped her claws in preparation of a little bit of anger and took her along to the vet.

During the short car ride in she was fine, mewed a little in a curious way but seemed okay. Once we got into the surgery, she got very, very quiet. Little did we know what was to come.

We took her in to the examination room, and she refused to come out of the carrier. That was an easy fix - the roof easily unclips. Turns out, that was a bad move.

Angry kitty had come out to play, and was not going to have a bar of any kind of check up or injection. The Vet did his best to win her over, but gave up and asked a nurse for assistance. He suggested to bring some gloves in, but she declined. Little did she realise what she was in for.

She put a towel over Train in an effort to get a hold of her (and to calm her down with darkness) and Train went mental. Not just a little mental, but totally fucking out of her little kitty mind mental. She was screaming and growling like an angry bear and waving her claws and teeth at everyone she could. The nurse decided perhaps the gloves were a better idea after being punctured with the aforementioned claws, and came back in to pin her down for the injection.

Train was so scared/angry that she lost control of her little kitty bodily functions and so not only did she get her nails clipped and a vet visit, when we got home she also needed a bath :(

The Vet was kind enough to provide us with a prescription for Valium ’so we could prepare Train for next time’ and we were sent on our way.

She’s totally fine now, doesn’t have a problem with us touching her or going near her, but geez, we’re going to have to prepare for the next visit. Thankfully it wont be for another year.

Hair Tie Catching Machine.

9:10 pm, December 28th, 2008 | No Comments »
Posted in cuteness, girlthings, local, photography, traaiiiiin by Liz

We’ve already blogged about Train’s super ability to catch hair ties when flicked in her direction, but only tonight did we try take decent photos of it.

See how much kitty anger she has inside?

And can you imagine what those claws do to flesh?

Train Got Christmas Presents!

9:17 pm, December 25th, 2008 | No Comments »
Posted in boythings, cuteness, girlthings, photography, traaiiiiin by Jarod

From Smudge the Dog no less!!

Kitty Bath Time.

9:58 pm, December 15th, 2008 | No Comments »
Posted in cuteness, girlthings, local, photography, traaiiiiin by Liz

In an attempt to make the blog slightly less tarnished after that post, I should also mention we bathed Train the other day. Oh the hilarity!

We came out unscathed, but she refused to look at us for the rest of the day. And also covered our bathroom floor in water while trying to escape.

Thanks to our new Nokia e71s,

8:01 pm, December 3rd, 2008 | No Comments »
Posted in cuteness, internets, local, photography, traaiiiiin by Liz

we discovered Train is a robot.

Look at her EYES.

Thanks, Nokia!

There’s something about this that’s creepy.

8:36 pm, November 15th, 2008 | No Comments »
Posted in girlthings, internets, roundups, traaiiiiin by Liz

I can’t pick which bit it is.

Is it the fact that their examples show ‘happy’ cat owners willing to set up their litter trays right next to their own toilets?

Is it that the ‘liquified waste’ gets deposited in the toilet?

Is it that they made something called the ‘PowerFlusher’?

Or is it because in the ‘How it works’ section, they have a photo of a cat curled up in the litter tray?

I mean, I’m not a fan of cleaning Train’s cat litter. In our house, as soon as we hear her scratching, the first person to say ‘bags not’ doesn’t have to clean it. (Mature, huh?)
But, I’d still prefer the scooping and emptying and cleaning to some machine that washes itself. And if I were a cat, I’d be a bit pissed if I really needed to pee, and my litter tray was filled with soapy water.

Bye, Train!

8:14 am, November 7th, 2008 | No Comments »
Posted in girlthings, local, photography, traaiiiiin by Liz

Yesterday we packed up the kitty and dropped her off at my brother’s house. We’re off for the weekend to Blayney for a friend’s wedding and she couldn’t come along.

It’s weird not to have Train around. This morning it’s been so quiet. I didn’t have my feet nibbled once while eating breakfast :(

Our kitty.

8:18 pm, November 4th, 2008 | No Comments »
Posted in boythings, photography, traaiiiiin by Jarod

Oh Train, when will you stop putting yourself in silly/adorable poses?

Hopefully never. Else this blog and Liz & I’s photostream will be a whole bunch more bland.

Birthday Augie March

9:40 pm, October 31st, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Posted in girlthings, local, mooosic, photography, traaiiiiin by Liz

As Jarod pointed out, we went to see Augie March at the Metro for my birthday. It wasn’t really for my birthday, it just so happened that the only night they played in Sydney was on my birthday. And thus, they played for me. Right?

I wasn’t sure if I should take my camera as the last thing I wanted was to be told I wasn’t allowed in, but caution into the wind and home a 10 minute taxi ride away, I decided why not.
At the door I was asked ‘Are you a photographer?’ to which I replied ‘Yes’, partially out of habit, and partially because, well, the question wasn’t all that specific.
I only took the 50mm & 30mm (1.4) anyway, so I wasn’t about to take sellable photos without pit access.

We arrived in time to see Dan Kelly & the Ukeladies start. We managed to just make it to the front row, albeit in front of the left speaker stack, which Jarod was kind enough not to complain about.

Early on in the night, I met a certain Mad Cat Lady from the Augie March forum. Well, to be precise, she came up, held out her hand and said ‘Sillykitty?’
Now, that hasn’t happened to me in almost a year (strangely, it did used to happen quite often).
I’m used to random internet encounters, so was quite happy to put a face to the name. The hilarious part was when she turned to the boy and said ‘And you must be Jarod!’. Insert Jarod’s first ‘recognised from the internet’ experience here, because of the overexposure on my photostream. And perhaps this blog. Train also got a mention, so she can’t feel left out.

And so, the Augies came out and the crowd went a little bit mental. I’m not sure if I missed something vital, but Dan Kelly played with them for most of the gig. They also had a three piece (interchangable, it seemed) brass section, which came out for all the appropriate bits.

I was quite disappointed initially, they played a bunch of songs from Watch Me Disappear, all sullen and grumpy, no banter or hello to the crowd. Glenn wasn’t having the best night, and did stop a few songs altogether to try them again.

Here is the set list:

Watch Me Disappear
Lupus
Pennywhistle
Glenorchy Bunyip
Cold Acre
Mugged By The Mob
Farmer’s Son
The Devil In Me
The Slant
Owen’s Lament
Vernoona
Thin Captain Crackers
The Baron of Sentiment
One Crowded Hour

[Encore]

Dogsday
Drowning Dream
Brundisium
Train
There Is No Such Place

Around the time they got to Cold Acre, they’d loosened up a bit, acknowledged the crowd and things seemed to go a bit better, despite the worsening technical and memory difficulties.

When I realised they were playing Owen’s Lament I squealed like a fourteen year old. But, oh, it was worth it. Even if Glenn did mix the lyrics of the first and second verse. He certainly looked embarrassed about it.

One Crowded Hour turned into a sing-a-long, whether the band liked it or not. They kept up their part while everyone else seemed to try and overpower Glenn’s voice. Didn’t work.

Drowning dream was absolutely delightful. The way they all were in their own little music-y worlds with their eyes closed in the middle of the song reminded me why I like them so much.

Brundisium reminded me of when I saw them with Antz in Perth with WASO. Just awesome and overpowering and brilliant.

Train was, well, hilarious. Every time Glenn yelled ‘Traaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnn’ I got an image of little terrible Train in my head and it made me giggle.

There Is No Such Place was the perfect song to end the night with… but Glenn kinda ruined it for me. It was so beautiful and still, and he came to the end of the song… and forgot the lyrics. There were a bunch of people in the crowd already singing along, so it ended with an soft, girly chorus of
‘Just a can upon the sill
To catch the tears
To feed your garden…’
But instead of letting it go, Glenn made the point of mentioning he’d stuffed up, spending a moment remembering the lyrics and then singing them, and the moment was well over by then.

But, enough rambling. Overall it was a great great great show, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Oh, and I was allowed to take photos. I was very very cautious, and had a security guard right in front of me, so I figured I’d rattle a crappy shot or two off and put it away, but they were completely fine with it, despite the ‘absolutely no photographic or recording devices’ signs.

And so yes. It was wonderful, and I need to catch up on sleep.
(Photos are in the photo section up the top.)

Watch Augie Disappear?

8:57 pm, October 25th, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Posted in girlthings, internets, mooosic, traaiiiiin by Liz

I stumbled across an article online at SMH (here) about Augie’s latest release, and some comments from the band. By the sound of things, things are a bit rocky…

In separate long conversations Glenn Richards, the band’s singer and songwriter and resident Eeyore, and Edmondo Ammendola, bass player and self-described “glass half-full” man, reveal a band in flux. A band still recovering from a bruising recording experience with producer Joe Chiccarelli, who arrived with very strong ideas and imposed himself more than any other producer had with them before. A band uncertain if their new writing and working methods have worked and not certain if they like or dislike the new album.

“We’re not communicating as well as we should be at this point in our career within the band,” Ammendola says. “The music has got more focused, the production has got more focused, as individuals we’ve all sort of honed what our sound in our head is to the point where we think it’s being clearly represented on a record. But yet the other stuff, like hooking up a rehearsal and making sure everybody turns up, has gone by the wayside. There are factions and fissures within the band that are their deepest yet. I don’t mind saying that. I don’t think saying that sort of thing is detrimental.”

Are these differences reconcilable?

“I think so but at this stage a lot of things are quite difficult,” he says. “That’s not necessarily a negative thing. What’s happened in the past is that, regardless of what’s going on outside the band or how people are feeling, the will to play good music is still very much at the centre.”

… (later on in the piece)

It’s also true that no one is more likely to say about this album “it’s not that good, we’ve stuffed it up” than Richards.

Hearing this, Richards laughs knowingly. “That’s pretty much where I’m at. Not the kind of thing I’m supposed to say, though, is it? I think it’s a good collection of songs. I know where they could have gone and, as often happens, they’ve gone somewhere else. But it’s a nice album.”
It is more than that, of course; it is a very good pop album. Which isn’t necessarily something that people would have thought of with Augie March before.

“Um. Well, look, I’m getting from the unlikeliest of places favourable commentary and I didn’t expect that, so that’s made it a little more interesting to me,” Richards says, not entirely convincingly. “I don’t know. I grew indifferent to it pretty early on. For another three years to elapse [since he wrote the songs for the previous album] and only 11 songs to come out of it is always a bit heartbreaking for me.”

Aww, guys. C’mon.

While I don’t think Augie’s latest album is their best one yet (Sunset Studies is still my favourite), it’s still a good album.
I also hate trying to sound like I know things about music, when I mostly just know what I like… and I like Augie March. A lot.

In case you didn’t know already, Train was actually named after This Train Will Be Taking No Passengers from Strange Bird, mainly for the way Glenn sings ‘Traaaaiiiiiiiin’ at the start of the song.
My sister also happens to have an Augie tattoo on her wrist. Clearly, she’s a little more dedicated than I.

I’m glad that I’ve got tickets to see them when they’re playing in Sydney, because it sounds like perhaps it may be longer than normal before that happens again.

Fingers crossed that their latest album title isn’t a sign of things to come…

Unexplainable.

7:11 pm, October 20th, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Posted in comedy, cuteness, girlthings, local, photography, traaiiiiin by Liz

All I can say is that we didn’t put her there.