So tonight was the last ever gig at the legendary Tote hotel, this is unbelievably sad as it was a fantastic venue  and a crucial part of the Melbourne live music scene since 1981. I wont go on about it in too much detail as there are loads of more articulate people than me ranting all over the internet. What I will do though is ask you all to check out this petition to the state government urging them to pull their heads out of each others assess and change these ridiculous rules.

From http://www.tonedeaf.com.au

The Petition of certain citizens of the State of Victoria draws to the attention of the Legislative Council that the current liquor licensing laws and regulations are destroying the vibrancy and viability of live music performed in licenced venues.

The “high risk conditions” should not be triggered by cultural practice (if live or amplified music is being played) but rather by high alcohol consumption patterns. The assessment and application of security, CCTV and other high cost conditions should be evidence based, and not based on the biased assumptions and opinions of bureaucrats.

It’s painfully sad to see the Tote go down and if we don’t make our voices heard this may only be the first in a long line of closures.

Also thanks to 3CR, RRR and PBS for the live broadcast for those of us not able to be there in person.

Long live the Tote!

Since my last post Marika and I have made a few trips away. Most notably we’ve visited Tasmania, Wilsons Prom and recently a little bit of Western Australia too. Yeah, I guess we’ve got it pretty good. I’m starting up my new job tomorrow which i’m nervous and excited about, one of the many perks is that I will be getting a car as part of my package so hopefully this means M and I can make more camping trips around Victoria (we have new sleeping bags to try out after all!).

Also, after more years than i’d care to admit it looks like I might finally be finished my Youth Work degree. I have completed all my assessments and submitted my recognition of prior learning application so now I cross my fingers till I get the last of my results back. It’s been great going back and getting it done but I sure am ready to take a break from studying, i’m certainly not a great student (this has been obvious for quite some time now) so I am pretty happy that i’ve made it through.

In other news i’ve stacked on about 5kg over xmas and have been a little slack in my exercise regime so am trying to get my ass back into shape, i’m signing up to do another run (8km this time) which is good as it gives me a goal to set my mind to. Also i’m taking a little time away from my good friend beer, we’ve been enjoying each others company quite a lot this last month and I think we both need a little space. No need for concern, i’m not inking up the ‘X’ any day soon, just a little detox is all.

All cliche resolutions aside, on with the show.
Happy 2010 everyone.

50km starting line

Half-way festivities

Looks pretty menacing from this angle

Marika conquers the Westgate

On the bridge with goofy grin.

50km ride this morn, the runkeeper route info from Marika‘s iPhone is here and a quick vdeo is here if yr interested.

Good fun.

The last thing I wanna be is one of those self-important bloggers who assumes that they need to alert their public to all the mundane reasons they haven’t blogged in a while.

Let it just be said i’ve been busy, in fact right now i’m feeling like ’09 was a pretty productive year. I may go into some detail in the future.

Around the bay is this Sunday, can’t wait. Photos to follow.

That annoys me.

Please enjoy some more humour.

Don’t worry, i’m not about to get all ‘critic’ on you. I’ll save my rating system for another time…

Places we ate and drank:

• Rue Bebelons
• Mecca Bah
• Cumulus Inc.
• Brother Baba Budan
• Corner Hotel
• Pudence
• Hellenic Republic

Yeah, not bad for just a few days.

It was great to have Gabe around, even if I do get a bit emotional sometimes. It’s just that i’m very proud of him and do enjoy hanging out together. He’s my bro!

Guess that means we’ll have to take that trip back to Japan again soon eh?

Gabe, special.

Best get back to packing for our NZ jaunt, off on Thursday morning.
Did I mentioned how freaking excited I am!

Sleep in? Drink some coffees? Read the paper?

Not today, we were determined to have an adventure.

Firstly we got up reasonably early and drove on down the highway to Geelong (sure are a lot of fast-food places there eh?), we parked the car and jumped on the bikes. We had our sights set on doing the ‘Bellarine Rail Trail‘, a 32km stretch of trail running from South Geelong down to Queenscliff. Strangely enough it follows the historic railway line, the first half of which is no longer there but when you make it down to Drysdale you can jump on an old steam-train and travel at a leisurely pace for the remaining portion of the journey.

After a relaxing train journey we adjourned for a spot of lunch and a couple of coffees before jumping back on the bikes for the return leg. Luckily for us we were blessed with a gusty head-wind for the first 15km which made it tough going indeed! We still were only 5 minutes behind the train though getting back to Drysdale. After a quick rest and and some more snacks we soldiered on with the last part of the ride, I think the thought of being on the finishing stretch gave us both a second burst of energy (that and the distinct lack of head-wind!) which pushed us through back to Geelong.

So in summing up, today we managed to:

• Drive 150km
• Ride 45km
• Train (steam variety) 16km

Not bad for a Sunday outing eh?

Well, as most of my blogs tend to, this one will also end with me drinking a beer.

I’m going to be sore tomorrow.

The Flaming Lips, still the most amazing live show i’ve seen by a long way.

The Fancy Boys, always makes me happy to see these guys live.

Ok, I need to be alone with my hangover now.