Wednesday, December 24, 2008

'Twas the night before Christmas,
And all round the flat
Nothing was stirring -
Well how about that!

Well Chrimbo is indeed upon us. This year has flown, and the last few days I've had a chance to reflect on some of the stuff that has happened. I'll put some thoughts up on here over the next few days, to lead nicely into 2009.

For the moment though, merry Christmas to one and all. :)

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Almost a month since I last blogged. Not a huge amount to report - school, school, school.

Good news is I've had my contract extended another year at the school I've been working at so another year of Kindy for me. Yay! I'm looking forward to having the chance to consolidate all that I learned this year - and it means I can relax a bit over the holidays knowing I've got another year up my sleeve.

Very much looking forward to the holidays - only 3 more weeks. I'm going to spend that time exercising, eating and sleeping well and remembering how to relax, whilst working on my program for school for next year. If anyone wants to play tennis I'd love to play during that time... :)

I'll also do a full page with all the mixes and track listings etc. And hopefully do at least one other mix... Stay tuned!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

OK boys and girls. Here's another mix. The last one was number 6, this is number 4. Upon listening to it again it seems pretty fresh. It was of its time in 2004, but other than the last 3 tracks which to me seem a little bolted on, it's pretty good (if I do say so myself!).

The mixes are a lot shorter, and some of them have hardly any overlap. However I'd still be very happy to be out dancing to this, and some of the tracks are real crackers. Hope you enjoy. Comments please...

Oh, and I'll put up the track listing once you've had a chance to listen. I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise... :) Oh, and I do think one of the tracks does skip ever so slightly David... but I remember that being on the original mix and I never changed it so you'll have to deal with it.

http://www.filefactory.com/file/3e5541/n/MinkeredMix4_mp3
Just a quickie. Some good news but a dull story. A while back when I updated my PC I lost the master files of the older mixes I've done. Or so I thought. The versions that were left were the not quite final edits and as such I wasn't so happy about sharing them.

Having a squizz through my PC this week I made a discovery - I do have the final versions, but saved as individual tracks rather than a whole mix. Yay! But it's almost impossible to butt them up in my mixing program to make them, in the words of Atomic Kitten, whole again.

However I think I've found a way using iTunes to sort it, and so I'll be trying that over the next few days. Get ready for more minkered mixes!
Now, off for brekky. :)

Saturday, October 18, 2008

The mix is still going down well. However, one person noticed a skip during Kylie so I've deleted the original file and uploaded it again. Hopefully this will solve any problems. Please note the different link address:

http://www.filefactory.com/file/03c87d/n/sometingnew_mp3

Enjoy. I might put some older mixes up soon too...

Sunday, October 12, 2008

So. The mix has been released to varying responses... mostly the UK people love it, and the Aussie peeps haven't really said much...

Here's what some people have said...

"Fab. Tooks few minutes to download. Listening to it as we speak/type. Cheering up a boring Friday afternoon no end. x"

"I've got to say, this is one of the best dance mixes I've ever heard."

"Dave, I love the mix"

So, there you go. Please give it a whirl as it is pretty fab :)

Here's the track listing for those who asked:

The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name (LA Riots Remix)
The Presets - Talk Like That (Miami Horror Remix)
Cut Copy - Hearts On Fire (Calvin Harris Remix)
Ladyhawke - Paris Is Burning (Cut Copy Remix)
Kylie Minogue - The One (Freemasons Vocal Club Mix)
Cyndi Lauper - Into The Nightlife (Soulseekerz Club Mix)
Tiffany - Just Another Day (Dave Aude Club Mix)
The Ting Tings - Shut Up And Let Me Go (Tocadisco Mix)
Freeform Five - No More Conversations (Richard X Mix)
Metro Station - Shake It (Lenny B X-Mix)
Miley Cyrus - See you again (Aaron Paetsch Club Mix)
September - Cry For You (Spencer & Hill Remix)
The Ting Tings - Great DJ (7th Heaven Remix)

These tracks are on mostly high rotation in Sydney at the moment, except the Ting Tingss, and Freeform Five, and Tiffany - which is a new single at 37 years old and I love it :)
Actually I haven't really heard the Presets out, or that particular Cut Copy remix, or Ladyhawke. But there were getting high rotation on my iTunes and they all just seemed to be what I would love to dance to in an ideal world if out in a club. Enjoy. I'll post some of the older mixes up in the near future :)

Thursday, October 09, 2008

I'm going to try something different here and see what happens. Some of you may know that over the last few years I've experiented with doing some music mixing at home. My output has hardly been prolific - it kind of depends on if I've been going out to hear what music is current.

I've tried not to just beat mix the tracks and step away - I've tried more to think about the songs, the mood, the key, and for want of a better cliché, the journey. Here's the latest mix - hopefully the file hosting site that I've uploaded it to will be reliable and not fall over. Not sure how long this will take to download as it's about 100MB, but hopefully it'll get people dancing.

Given my current obsession with The Ting Tings, I'd like to call this one "All kinds of everyting". If people like this I'll upload some of the older mixes too. Enjoy - and feel free to share!

http://www.filefactory.com/file/d60714/n/sometingnew_mp3

Click on the link; scroll down to download with the basic option; enter in the security code and the download will begin! Thanks for your patience...

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Sometimes life royally sucks.

But always better to have a definitive answer than to be kept dangling.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Short and sweet.

Things are a bit more settled in Dave world. Kind of. Getting ready for two week's holiday and I can't wait. This time I have nothing at all that I have to do. Looking forward to doing some things because I'd like to.
Julia left. Adrian goes tomorrow. Muz'll go in a month or so. Those bits still hurt.
We had a mad weekend just gone. I mean really... Which for the most part was great. A few little pangs for opportunities lost, a little jealousy, some anxiety and losses of self-confidence. But mostly it was fun. Which is progress.
Ran the 9K race on Sunday with Muz and we did 51'58" - which considering we'd done no preparation and been out all night the night before we did a great job.
So more soon, from a hopefully more chilled out Davie.

Friday, September 12, 2008


Two things that have either amused or perplexed me.






First the amusement - maybe for the girl that loves to feel the wind in her hair.













Secondly, the perplexer. Christmas tree daleks. In William Street. In September. Why ho why ho why?

Sunday, August 31, 2008

A brief update. It's going to be short as I'm not in the best frame of mind and don't want to whinge on too much...

A year ago I was very excited and happy. New career, new man, new place to live. Twelve months on... another new place. The place itself is great, but part of the reason for moving here was to be nearer to mates, and in particular Adrian and Muz. So it's a bit of a shame that both of them are now moving on - Adrian up to Brisbane next month and Muz to Manly a month later. I appreciate why they're going and hope things work out for them in their respective places, but selfishly I'm really going to miss them.
New career - we're over halfway through term three and I'm ready for a holiday to be honest. Kindergarten is great but so exhausting. I wouldn't be doing anything else though, but it does sometimes seem relentless. However I'm not sure my contract will be renewed next year - not due to me but to people returning from maternity leave and long service leave etc. I'll not find out for a while but may possibly have to start applying for jobs. The thought of that on top of everything else doesn't really fill me with joy right now.
New man - well as I've mentioned previously that ended and we're now just mates. Still finding it hard but I guess it is for the best. Don't seem to have any enthusiasm for going out much either right now. Hopefully I can channel that into the gym and get fit whilst not drinking very much! I still haven't been to the gym even though I joined 2 weeks ago, so I'm definitely missing some get up and go at the mo. I have signed up for the 9km Bridge Run in three weeks so I'll have to get my act together soon.
Also Julia finally leaves to head back to the UK this coming week, which is really sad. I'm sure she'll be back as soon as she can but I'll miss her such a lot.

I wish I'd bottled that feeling I had a year ago when I was so full of optimism for everything. It would be great to be able to feel that again right now.

Monday, August 25, 2008

My love life is that of a Doctor Who assistant...

I love that as a title of a blog post, and am wondering if I could make it into a book title. But in essence it's true. I've recently finished watching Doctor Who Series 4 (new series that is) and as the series progressed it makes a point of highlighting what it is like to be a Doctor Who assistant. As these points were either stressed or alluded to I realised that it seems a lot like the last relationship of mine that recently ended.

1) Future assistants meet the Doctor and are usually amazed, entranced and often left wanting more.
2) Once the Doctor/assistant relationship starts, the whole thing is amazing for both of them. They have incredible adventures together and laugh and they become closer and closer. There is lots of running.
3) The Doctor, though very happy, usually starts to have misgivings of some sort. Often it's due to the fact that he won't ever be able to grow old with the new assistant and so lets them down gently so that they can be happy with someone else.
4) The assistant, heartbroken, tries to return to normal life but doesn't cope well as normal life becomes completely pedestrian compared to life with the Doctor.
5) The assistant often spends time trying to get back to/with the Doctor again - usually without success
6) The assistant gets a bit part role in future adventures of the Doctor and his new assistant.


I know that's a little contrived, but when it's fresh in the assistant's (my) mind then it's possible to make it work. That and the fact that the series is fantastic and I spent a few episodes crying over lost Doctor/assistant interraction.

This isn't meant to be a dig at anyone (!), just an observation twisted to fit a blog post idea. The Doctor who I was the potential assistant to I hope will realise this. And besides, the assistants always come out of the relationships as better people in the end...

Thanks Doctor... Who?

N.B. Here's a better working title... "Not sure if I'm Captain Jack or Martha..." :o)

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Grrr. Still coughing and the doc says antibiotics won't help. Guess I've just got to ride it out.

Grrr 2. Apparently the problem with my internet connection is with the building, not my provider. Am now waiting to hear from the building management to get a technician to check the line in. God only know how long that'll take.

Grrr 3. Had lovely beers with Gary last night (that's not the grrr). After nattering away over a few bevvies and finishing our Vietnamese, the bill came with some Minties. Gary said he maybe shouldn't have his as he lost a crown on a toffee recently and it cost him a fortune. So I chewed into mine and lo and behold, part of one of my fillings came out. Although it doesn't hurt all the time I've just found out it's sensitive to hot and cold and so needs to be sorted out soonest. Hopefully it can be done whilst I'm still on holiday.

Aww... Whilst moving out of the old house on Monday I left a bookcase and a desk with a note saying 'Free to good home, enjoy!'. I went back yesterday just to check everything over one last time before handing back the keys and the same note was pushed back in the letter box. Hand written at the bottom was
"Thank you very much. I hope the good karma comes back to you. Will come in handy as I've just moved to the city and I'm lacking any cash for furniture. Cheers Jeremy"
So that makes me feel good. In fact I feel karma already...
Arf arf.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Well, well, well.

What's to say? Lots and nothing seem to have happened all at once. Discounting the last iTunes post, it's been about six weeks since I posted proper. I'm currently half way through the school holidays (which is great), but battling a cough and cold (which isn't).

So. Although alluded to I didn't actually say that Muz and me are now just mates. It's been really hard - in some ways more so in that we're still hanging out a lot. However the way I figure it is that he's a great bloke and should be in my life. I think some people think I should distance myself but...

School. Reports are finished, though we've got parent/teacher interviews coming up next term. The school year is half way through and at times I still feel like I've no idea what I'm doing! Still it is my first full year and I'm very much in learning mode. At the end of this term I may well have to start looking for full time work as I'm on a year's contract at my current school and not sure yet whether my contract will be renewed - it's maternity leave cover and I know the teacher is returning. It'll depend also on the numbers of intakes for the school etc. I've told the new head that I'd love to stay, so let's see what happens...

In other news, I've gone east (wonder if life isn't peaceful there?). Lately I've not been enjoying living around Newtown so started to think about moving elsewhere. I can't buy just yet as I've not been working full time long enough to get a mortgage easily, so I looked around at renting again. Some of my disatisfaction with Newtown is that 1) the pubs have gone and 2) it feels sleazy and seedy in a not good way. It's hard to qualify that I know, but that's how it feels. Much as I often hated the Newtown Hotel it was a place to congregate and have beer, play pinball or pool and occasionally watch the awful shows. Now it's gone, and the Imperial too, no one seems to know what to do or where to go. The Bank tries its best, but it's not the same.

Anyhoo, I digress. Most of the people I tend to hang out with live east and so it seemed the natural choice. I'm now in Potts Point, right down near the naval base (!) in a lovely one bedroom apartment that already feels more homely than the place in Alice Street. I loved sharing a place with Julia, my niece. I am going to miss her very much when she leaves to go back to the UK and hope as much as she does that she manages to get back here pronto.

It is a bit weird saying that I'm moving out of Newtown because it feels sleazy and then essentially moving to Kings Cross, but the sleaze factor here seems healthier somehow. Or more fun. Or something. But it really feels good to be back here. I've lived here before and when I first moved to Sydney some 10 years ago now, I lived just down the road in Darlinghurst. This feels like my "hood". I'm looking forward to more nights in; healthier home cooking; DVD nights with mates (I've already started Twin Peaks with Bobby); Wii-ing with Muz; running down by Woolloomooloo, into the Domain and round to the Opera House - how spectacular to have that on my doorstep; and generally just settling down again. I've taken a 9 month lease on the apartment and will look to buy a place after that assuming I've got a job. Watch this space.

OK. Think it's time to sign off and go and enjoy the winter sunshine. It's currently only about 8C, but with Sydney's blue sky and bright sunshine it's still a joy to live on this side of the planet.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Another iTunes meme...

Simple rules: Open iTunes, turn on shuffle, press forward for each question and use the song title as the answer.

What does next year have in store for me? Labelled with love - Squeeze

What’s my love life like? Lover come back to me – Dead or Alive

What do I say when life gets hard? Saturday night – Whigfield (yes I know!)

What do I think of on waking up? I breathe again – Adam Rickitt

What song will I dance to at my wedding? Cry Boy Cry – Blue Zoo

What do I want as a career? Toxic – Britney Spears

My favorite saying? Double Dutch – Malcolm McLaren

Favorite place? Face to face – Daft Punk

What do I think of my parents? Filthy/Gorgeous – Scissor Sisters (um…?!)

What’s my porn star name? You make it easy – Air or would that be Hugh Makeiteasy?

Where would I go on a first date? The land of make believe – Bucks Fizz

Drug of choice? Feeling for you - Cassius

Describe myself. Feel the love – Cut Copy

What is the thing I like doing most? Not afraid of romance - MGF

What is my state of mind like at the moment? Dangerous game – Kylie Minogue

How will I die? Somebody else’s business – Pet Shop boys.

Not sure how to react to some of those as they're a little too accurate for comfort! iTunes - are you watching me?
(thanks to Muz)

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Haiku

First day of winter
Outside the pale sunshine warms
Inside I'm frozen.

Saturday, May 31, 2008

It's a couple of weeks since the half marathon, but I can't say that I'm settled back into any sort of routine. It's halfway through term 2 at school, and I should be working on my term 2 program and/or reports. However I'm having an afternoon and now night when I'm feeling very sorry for myself and thinking a lot about what might have been. I know it's not productive, and that I have a lot to be thankful for, but I currently seem to feel like everything's against me and that there must be something about me that makes sure that people don't hang around too long in relationships. Normally these sort of moods don't last too long, so I'll be back to normal probably by tomorrow. I had a really good weekend last weekend, going out and about on the scene and having a good time. It's on days like these though that I realise that last weekend wasn't reality... and reality isn't half as much fun. Although it's great for some escapism, we all have to get back to living our everyday lives eventually. It's on days like these that it feels like I don't like my everyday life too much.

Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Running record...


My half marathon history is as follows:

2003 - trained hard, torrential rain, Time 1'50"49
2004 - didn't train as hard, beautiful weather. Time 1'50"01
2005 - intended to run again, got shin splints and sore knees.
2006 - got fat :o(
2007 - was finishing up Masters and not exercising
2008 - late entry, attempted to kick start myself into exercise. Gorgeous day. Time 1'59"10

I was very happy with the run given I hadn't really trained properly, and best of all I really enjoyed myself. I'm seriously considering the full marathon in September. First though, a week off to let my sore legs recover :o)

Saturday, May 10, 2008

It's the middle of May. Somehow since the last post the holidays have ended and two weeks of term 2 have already passed...

I did go into school after I left you last and rearranged the furniture in the classroom and it has been working much better for me. I have been running again, and managed almost 15k on Tuesday which should leave me able to finish next week's half marathon - I'm not really going for a PB time-wise as my preparation was scant at best. I'm going to do another 15k tomorrow morning, before Bad Dog.

Today's been a bit of a write-off. Nursing a hang-over I've spent the day feeling listless, sorry for myself and a bit lonely. I had big plans for school stuff and I've done none of it. I need to snap out of it and get going. There are some reasons for my mood and I guess I'm just going to have to get used to feeling like this for a while. More soon.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

So. A week on.

I do feel a lot better - still not sure what was going on for most of last week, but I think it was either a cold or an allergy. Eye drops and antihistamines did help and I've not had anything since Friday. Maybe it was just me relaxing after the first term of teaching...

Had a good night with Muz Thursday on his return, and caught up with Anna off my uni course on Friday which was great as we swapped Kindy stories. The weekend was chilled with beers, brekkies and bonding. One of the many UK David's was in town and great to catch up with him...

I'm both restarting running action tomorrow and going into school - these holidays will be over before I know it.

Still, there's always Anzac Day to get up to some mischief... :o)

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

I'm feeling very listless.

It should be a good time - day 4 of school holidays should find me relaxed, playful and full of the joys of spring. Or at least autumn. But no. Unable to shake some sort of sickness - cold? Hayfever? Allergy? Lethargy? I feel like I'm not quite up for anything. Add to that Muz being away in QLD and Dave is not a happy bunny right now.

Don't seem to have the energy/desire for gym/running/cooking. Too restless for tv/DVD/movie/computer stuff/reading/museums. Feels like I've got ADD. My eyes itch and I go from being coldy/fluey to being ready to take on the world. Bi-polar anyone?

Hmph. Not happy Jan.

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Numbers...

Well I turned 43 today. It was a lovely day. I was at school teaching, then at a picture book workshop, then had dinner and beer with Jules and Bill. Noice. Here are some other numbers for the day...

17 - kids that sang to me this morning
12 - SMS birthday salutations (8 Oz; 4 UK)
9 - Facebook happy birthday messages (including one from Facebook itself)
3 - actual birthday cards
3 - beers tonight
3 - phone calls in (one sleepy; one cheery; one wishing they could be here)
2 - phone calls out (one to the UK; one to QLD)
2- birthday emails
1 - cake from a parent

Happy birthday to me (and Stevie P in the UK)!

Sunday, March 30, 2008

A few years ago I offered to look after a friend's dog whilst he went away for the weekend. Since then I have been lucky enough to be asked to look after George a number of times whilst Peter and his partner Gary have had weekends away. All those years ago Peter lived in Surry Hills - since then home is now Tamarama and George has a playmate Monkey who also needs looking after.


And so this weekend I've spent a wonderful time (so far) by the beach with the dogs enjoying the gorgeous autumn sunshine. I took some time yesterday to just go and sit on the beach in the late afternoon; and then this morning was a little more ambitious and ran from Tama to North Bondi, back to Bronte and then back to the apartment to a breakfast of fresh fruit and coffee. It feels like I'm on holiday!

I always enjoy my time by the beach - being near the water always seems to lift my spirits whether I'm feeling good or bad beforehand. There is also a lovely cafe nearby where I went and people-watched yesterday, and the intention today is to spend my time split between doing some planning for the next week at school, taking in the lovely scenery around here and eating fruit, fresh turkish bread, cheese and dips. The dogs will need another walk of course later when it's cooler and then I'll finally head home early evening feeling energised and ennervated.

It really has felt like I'm miles away from my place in Newtown, and it'll help me get through the last two weeks of term one of school before I get some holiday time.

Monday, March 03, 2008

A post. Quick and dirty as it's time for early bed as I'm fighting a cold.

School is great, but really exhausting. My kids are great (mostly!) and it's fun spending time with them at school. Days are quite long and there's always too much to do but... :o)

Having fun at the circus course too - it's my time to escape completely from thoughts of school. February has flown by and Mardi Gras came and went - spent the night with my sister who had arrived that morning from the UK and honestly didn't feel like I was missing out on anything. Sue's here til Easter which is great - looking forward to catching up on everything with her.

Don't seem to have much time for other stuff right now. Except Muz ;o)

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

And lo, it came to pass that another month went by and I verily did not blog...

Bugger. Happy New Year, and it now seems too late to review 2007. Let's just say it started badly; plateaued in the middle and somehow became incredible in the last 4-5 months :o)

January consisted mostly of watching tennis and it being too hot to do much else. I resisted the gym, but did end up eating more healthily. I had 4 days in Melbourne staying with my mate Rich which was great, and went to see the tennis live which was very cool. Then it's been back to Muz's birthday celebrations leading straight into work.

Day 3 of term tomorrow, the second with kids. So far my class seems pretty cool though we've not finalised final numbers yet. I'm actually heading to bed as I'm tired - it's pretty tough having to be 'on' for the entire school day - particularly kindergarten when they need help and instruction with absolutely everything. Fun and rewarding though...

More soon. Really. No, really.
:o)