T-Shirt of the day #4

Vans "The Original"

Purchased at the Vancouver Warped Tour for approximately $6.50, this shirt is one of 3 Vans shirts I own. These 3 Vans shirts are the only shirts with a brand name on the front in my collection. Vans is one company I feel I can proudly wear, they've always supported the things I dig, skateboarding, punk bands etc. This whole exercise is already making me think of throwing some shirts away...this one was mighty close....

T-Shirt of the day #3

A Death in the Family "This Microscopic War" shirt

Today I sport the first of a few ADITF shirts I own. Jess thinks my reasons for keeping shirts are so far not good enough so I gotta step it up!

As a T-Shirt wearing individual, you are advertising what you wear. I believe it's important that if you're wearing a shirt of a band or company, that you really support what that company or band is doing. A Death in the Family are one of my favorite bands and I feel, one of the most under-rated bands in Australia. The design of this one is the cover of their first album "This Microscopic War". I've always been a huge fan of the design AND the album and thats why this shirt stays in my collection!

Up There

A beautiful documentary about hand painted billboards

UP THERE from Jon on Vimeo.

Heaven is Whenever

Finally got the new Hold Steady album, Heaven is Whenever.

After hearing a couple of songs which were streamed before the albums release I wasn't really convinced of this new direction. The production is a little less live, a little more polished. Where the last few records have been pretty straight forward in terms of sounds, this time they have mixed it up quite a bit. From lush reverbs to heavier distortions, we hear a lot variety from song to song.

Songs seem generally slower, there is a slightly sombre feel about a lot of the album but I'm relieved to hear some classic rockin' Hold Steady jams too. Listening through the record as a whole, any songs which seemed to stray from the regular Hold Steady sound, seem to fit now. Stand out track for me so far, The Smidge (Track 4), ballsy and rockin, but a bit different from the Hold Steady we've all been used to.

Where the previous albums have made for the perfect summer albums, suitable for cruising with windows down in full sun and 35 degrees, this one could be more of a winter album. Our backwards Australian seasons mean the album was released as we were going into winter and so far, that suits me just fine.

A few more listens and I think I will be officially sold on this one.

Graffito in Sydney

Despite the fact that this is a Sydney video and not a Melbourne video, it's pretty freakin' amazing. Found on Yimmy's Yayo

Scratching the Surface from [weAREtheIMAGEmakers] on Vimeo.

A good feeling

What I've been noticing lately when I get in/out of the shower in the morning is my lack of man-boobs these days.

All through my adolescence I've been, not quite a fat guy, but a chubby guy. This has been something that I've never really worked hard to change so it has inevitably stayed that way. Lately however, my diet has improved, we cook most of our meals and use a great deal of fresh vegetables from the Saturday morning Gleadell st Market. For the first time, I'm noticing a change in my general shape and would now be less hesitant to take my shirt off in public.

The train of thought that this new realisation encourages, is getting more tattoos. I've always been interested in getting more chest tattoos but have never really been happy with the man boobs already occupying that space. Now it's a case of deciding what I want and fitting the cost into my financial situation which, at the moment puts it....somewhere towards the middle of 2035 (by which point the man boobs will almost certainly have reclaimed their original space and the venture will become pointless again).

T-Shirt of the day #2

The ORIGINAL "Mind the Gap" Shirt

This shirt dates back to circa 2002, don't be fooled by the "faux vintage" "Jay Jay's" appearance. This shirt is the real deal. It will most likely be present in almost the majority of photos of me between 2002 and 2005. Purchased for me in London by my sister Cait on her inauguaral European tour, I've since had 2 other shirts of the same design, one purchased by me at Heathrow earlier this year. When new, the print on the front is like having a piece of cardboard taped to your chest. By now however, this guy is well worn and feels like its about to disintegrate in a stiff breeze.

How many is a normal amount of T-Shirts?

Today is laundry day. When one doesn't have a washing machine, this seems like much more of an occasion that it otherwise would. Unloading the clean stuff back into the cupboard, I'm struck by the amount of T-Shirts I have. It feels like an endless pile being folded and shoved on the shelf, a quick count says I have 40 T-Shirts. Is this a normal amount of T-Shirts to have or am I somewhat of a hoarder? Just last week I gave a whole pile of old shirts to my cousin, finally being on the other end of the hand-me-down food chain. I can't be a hoarder, right?

What I'm going to try and do, is take a photo of each T-Shirt I own, 1 a day for the next 40 or so days, and explain why that shirt is important to me, too important to give away.

T-Shirt No. 1

Lungs "digital watch" shirt

Purchased at the Arthouse circa 2008, this was one of the 7 chosen ones for the Canada trip. Although it's not obvious what the shirt represents, it says punk rock on the front which is totally badass.