Back by popular demand

Here is a poster on the front door of that Saturday night gig we have about 6 mins from our house. Its a grand gig, and they now have included a $75 bar tab for us. Ah the rock'n'roll lifestyle....

Jarrahdale Tavern

Here is an ad in the local irish community magazine for our gig on sundays. Its out in the middle of nowhere, about an hour out of perth. Its a nice and easy gig, laid back, with the best guinness this side of the equator! 

Home Cinema...

Its almost complete. A few more jobs to do, mainly cosmetic just to tidy it all up, and a big screen to install (at the moment we are using a big white sheet) but its working away fine! We watched Die Hard on it last night and it was an incredible experience! I'll never be satisfied watching a regular telly again! Here is my selection of remote controls: Projector, Xbox, Surround Sound and of course, like all great cinema, Air Conditioning. Ill have a spare PDA so I can use that as a universal remote control and cut down on the clutter.

Here is the sheet. A 100" remote control motorized screen will be going in there next week, then we will build a pelmet around that to conceal it. Also, you can see the front set of the surround sound speakers. The system can play music also, from the xbox (plays CD's or any stored music on a USB enabled mp3 player or thumb drive) so there is no need for the projector to be on if you just want to relax there and listen to music whilst enjoying a fine wine from the drinks cabinet. Thats all thats in the room right now, a couch suite and a 6 foot tall drinks cabinet!

Rear right speaker and the AC unit. You can see the wires runing from the picture rail (7 feet high) and into a piece of conduit in the corner. Still have to tidy it up but its ok for now.

A bit blurred, but you can see where the projector is. Its hard to tell from this picture, but that couch is MASSIVE. I have to get more conduit today and disguise those wires, and I have to find a way of making the shelf a little less noticable. Any suggestions are welcome. 

Saturday Night Fever....

Well, got a letter in the post today. The Bee Gees have cancelled their tour of Australia. They have delayed it until next year. Ah well, ya win some ya loose some. On average I seem to get one really odd/unusual gig per year, but usually not till closer to the end of the year. Ill keep looking..... 

Finn-Watch: Day 2...

Here is Fin, 24 hours old and looking like the michelin man.
 

Welcome to Earth Finn Harper Morris!

He has arrived. Perths most talked about celebrity baby. The son of Nadine & Adam (Janes brother & wife) arrived on the planet last night at just under 8 pounds (thats about 12 Euros) and complete with all fingers & toes. The photos are all camera-phone so apologies for the quality. He was very quiet last night and all the parents & grand-parents are delighted!

Mother & son doing well.

Auntie Jane, delighted, and first in line for all baby-sitting duties.

He looks like a viola player!

Pygmy Bananas

As some of you may know, banana prices here SOARED due to a cyclone taking out the entire crop a few months ago. Now that the new crop is “ripe” they are rushing them back to the shops to meet the demand. Look at the size of this specimen, the apple next to it is a fairly small apple too!!!! Certainly wouldn’t pass EU standards. 

Monday night gig

Hi Guys. Another gig for the band. That’s 4 nights a week now. We also made an achievement this week of fitting all our gear, speakers, mixer, monitor, stands, big box of wires, guitar, back-up guitar and ALL of us into the back of a Mazda 121 (which for the record is SMALLER than my old Punto)

This Monday night gig is pretty good. As soon as we arrived, Adam got presented with a $100 limit bar-tab card. I usually treat budgets as a limit, not as a challenge, but this time seeing as how it was not my night to drive, I set it as my mission to meet that budget so we get the same quota next week!

Also, on another note, I got the surround sound hooked up to the projector last night (a little bit tipsy, after the gig) Its EXACTLY like being at the cinema! Popcorn machine is on order.... 

BBQ, Irish-style

We went for 2 great BBQ breakfasts at the weekend in a nearby park for dogs. Its a huge green area, near a river, plenty of trees and a cycling track all around it. Its fantastic for Reilly (spelled correctly this time Owen) to go playing with all her friends while we bask in the sun. For those who have visited/lived here, you'll know how hard it is to get decent sausages, this is the best you can get locally, I'm looking forward to my first REAL fry when I get back for christmas!!!

Lights...Camera....ACTION

Well, we finally saved up enough cash and got a projector! I have wanted one of these yokes for years! I have it mounted on the rear wall of the front room and it casts an image equivalent to a 120inch (thats 3 meters) widescreen television. Its fairly small and portable too (about the size of a shoebox) so its perfect for those warm summer evenings out the back in the bar for some post BBQ outdoor cinema action! I am hooking in the surround sound tonight and should be able to get a good screen sorted out during the week (at the moment its projecting onto a white sheet). Now all we need is a popcorn machine! 

The travellers return home

Here we all are at the airport last week (sorry for robbing another one of your photos Mom) The lads arrived in Ireland safe and sound, slight jet lagged, but well. Looking forward to having you over here again soon! 

Pictures from our last gig.....

On Saturday nights we play in a really rough/seedy bar in one of the suburbs. Its called The Pen. Its actually not a bad place, its just got a lot of odd customers. You know the way every bar has a few regulars and one really odd guy who everyone knows and nobody really knows much about him except that he is part of the furniture and is a lunatic? Well ALL the customers in this place are like that.

Heres Jane, Adam and me up the front. I just noticed that we are right in front of the dart boards, musical moving targets!

Here is one of my fans. Really old, dodgy charachter, no teeth and cant understand a word he says. Lovely chap! 

Lifes Glorious Landmarks

You know, the things that really hit you as core moments in lifes progression. Your first trip to the shops without your mom, your first pint, farting in front of the in-laws, your first gig with the beegees etc. A guy here at work just asked me for mortgage advice! Wow, that really sunk in. Mortgage! Whats next? 

Ah ah ah ah stayin alive, stayin alive.....

Soooooooooooo, I was minding my own business at work, eating an apple, and got booked to do a gig with the Bee Gees. Apparently they are short a viola player. Who isnt? So its on the 11th of November in a stadium with an 40,000 person capacity (seated) and another few thousand standing. With all the amplification and speakers invloved, this will officially be the loudest I will have ever played my viola. Beat that Yuri Bashmet! 

Weekly Rielly Photo

Another image of the worlds most photographed dog. 

Valley of the Giants

Just to give you an idea of the size of the trees in that forrest we went to (see below) here is me INSIDE one of the older ones. 

Im gunning for ya Moby Dick

Here I am on the bow of the whaling vessel in that whaleworld place. These guns were ruthless! The whales didnt have a chance! Grenade mounted at the top, exploded internally, then they pumped air into the carcass so it would float long enough for the ship to drop back its load of whales and come back for that one. Unbelievable cruelty and it only stopped over here in 1987! Unreal. 

Wheres Tarazan?

Here is Mom and me on a gantry suspended 60 feet in the air in a Kauri tree forrest near Albany. These trees were MASSIVE and it was incredible being up in the branches! 

FORE

Here is another one from a few weeks ago. We all went out golfing in Mandurah. Right on the coast. Lovely course. 

Transformers

Not sure if you guys are interested the new transformers film (7th April 2007) but apparrantly this is what Megatron is gonna look like...