While I am yet to hear how my applications for the bigger degree pathway scholarships have fared (blogged about in very dodgy terms here), I've received a letter from RMIT advising me -- 'Congratulations!'

My application for a Student Support Scholarship has been successful!

The University is giving me $1,000.00 toward the expense of materials and general study costs while undertaking the Diploma in Music Industry (Technical Production).

This is great because the debt I've racked up studying so far this year is $1,010.00.

I actually don't expect to get the bigger scholarships, as I know without re-reading my applications, I hit some wrong notes. The structure of those submissions is a lot more confused. Maybe that has no bearing, but I just don't think it'll go through.

But "Yay!" for the Student Support Scholarship.

RMIT. What a contrast to the other place, huh?

Appropriated from theonebob


"You.
Can.
Only.
Type.
One.
Word.

Not as easy as you might think. Remember: one word answers."
-- theonebob (he wears a smile - everybody run!)

1. Where is your mobile phone? Charging
2. Your significant other? Young
3. Your hair? Big
4. Your mother? Dramatic
5. Your father? Driven
6. Your favorite thing? Air
7. Your dream last night? Submerged
8. Your favorite drink? No
9. Your dream/goal? Big
10. The room you're in? Cold
11. Your ex? Cunt
12. Your fear? Splat
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Rockin!
14. Where were you last night? Bed
15. What you're not? Crazy
16. Muffins? Buttocks
17. One of your wish list items? Monitors
18. Where you grew up? Burbs
19. The last thing you did? Publicity
20. What are you wearing? Black
21. Your TV? Abandoned
22. Your pets? Waggy
23. Your computer? Shiny
24. Your life? Improving
25. Your mood? Determined
26. Missing someone? Young
27. Your car? Damn
28. Something you're not wearing? Codpiece
29. Favorite Store? Book
30. Your summer? Sober
31. Like someone? Young
32. Your favorite color? Black
33. When is the last time you laughed? Yesterday
34. Last time you cried? Forgotten

Event Management is one of the (more sensibly named) subjects I'm taking this year at RMIT. In many ways, I could probably teach this class, but it's part of the diploma, so I'm doing my hours as a student must do.

We're putting on a fairly big gig in June - an album launch for Nicky Bomba and The Drummers Of Katoomba. As a precursor to that, we have two fundraiser events - and I've put my hand up to write the publicity materials, and get the info to the media. (I know a bit about that too.) I've already penned my share of professional Media Releases - but the one for this gig is kinda nice and shiny, so I thought I'd blog it here.

Bad publicity writing is really easy, and good publicity writing is really hard. It's supposed to be accessible, and punchy, not highbrow, yet not moronic. (The above is easily as good as anything I get in my in box as a journalist - a comparison by which I do myself a disservice, given the grammatical backyard abortion that is most metal press releases.)

One of the difficult things about the above PR is that the gig is one I'd try not to book (if I were working as a venue booker). Putting those styles together makes it hard to promote - the only thing the bands have in common is guitars and difference. I'm sure it'll be a fun night, but it's not an easy thing to plug. It's not about anything.

I couldn't resist sneaking in a literary horror reference, and thus it smacks of Lovecraft meets Absolutely Fabulous! Now those are two things that I never imagined I'd lump together... not even in the name of ROCK. Just goes to show, coffee is evil.

I just published a Press Release over at HorrorScope, regarding a new Australian horror feature film called Dying Breed. Looks quite good over at their website. Unfortunately the Cast & Crew section doesn't include who scored the film, although the flash website plays a fair whack of it. Lots of synths... which doesn't tell you much. You can't read the credits on the trailer either...

Some people who read this journal already know this - but I have a boyfriend. His name is Scott, and he plays guitar. He's not bad.

A guy in France has had a crack at working out some of Scott's guitar parts for the big single (bit of a misnomer, given it's metal) from the Alarum album Eventuality. The guy used it as a kind of online audition for another band in Australia (not Alarum), and posted the clip on YouTube. Well Scott had heard about it, but not seen it - so today (after he'd kindly  taken me to Officeworks to get printer cartridges), we sat down and looked up the clip.

It's interesting because he's not actually playing Scott's part, and he's not playing Mark Evans' part either - he's concocted a mish-mash of the two from listening to the song. It's understandable, since they tend to very much trade lead roles throughout the album. Some of what the guy is playing, is completely not from the song Velocity, he's just fluffed a part together out of thin air. And the solo - which is Scott's solo - the guy has made position choices that make it an extremely difficult solo. I wonder if that is ego? It's not how Scott wrote it or plays it, as he's actually not an especially tech-focused player (despite having done the tech metal thing). The guys right hand technique actually looks a bit like Evans picking.

Anyway, it is an interesting piece of imitation.

If you're interested in checking out the original song, this is the shiny video clip by director Jimmy Icon - who is also the creative powerhouse behind BeatTV, and plays drums in Bowelmouth. (It's all about the poo.)



Like I said, my boyfriend, he's not bad. Unfortunately, he doesn't really possess chameleon powers of camoflage. Or fortunately. 

Today I applied for two scholarships to go to unichversity.

I am applications #1953 and #1954. Rock'n'Roll.

So there are at least 1952 other wannabe unichs in line.

My applications were strong -

good grades
leadership roles
community activities
rah rah rah...

But I have no sense of expectation.

1952 is a lot of unichs.

Your Slogan Should Be

Talie. Not for Everyone.

Thank fuck, not everyone.

Illustration by Ben Brown.  It's in good condition, because like my metal shirts, they get handwashed to stop the print crazing and crackling and loosing that odd rubber smell. (Not very punk of me, I know.)

This is my fave punk t-shirt - actually, it is my only punk t-shirt. Why would I want or need another?

O, by the way MassAppeal have reformed, and have re-releases out or coming out on Chatterbox locally and Relapse internationally. They have a MySpace like every other band in the world, only cooler.

Ages ago - eons ago - morgan303 posted The Song Meme.

About the song that plays for that scene - you know, that scene -
that streetscape walk on a windy day
some perfect day
or that heavy day
that crystalline day
in the movie of your life.

And because I'm an introspective arsehole (nice image), I've been thinking about it for ages, eons...

This was the deal:

So, now it's your turn. What's your theme song, for that scene? It doesn't have to be your favourite song, or even the song that sums you up (because honestly, who has one of those?), but it's the song that plays while the camera pans alongside you as you saunter or stalk or swish. Why? And optional: what are you wearing? For extra points, give us some sort of Youtube link because I don't know shite about modern music and may never have heard of whatever it is you choose.:)

morgan303   

The song that gets to put a filmscore composer out of work  while I go just a-walking down the street?

I'm going with this...




Why? Once a Doom Princess, always a Doom Princess, I suppose. I don't think I'll ever 100% get away from that moribund romantic metal (although I'm not a conservative or exclusive metalhead, and neither am I a softcore one - my record collection would make those big tattooed oafs out there CRY, it is stocked with classics). I'm a sucker for the sad stuff, but I'm also a sucker for the cheeseball heroic stuff. And don't you just know I try to live like that, in those moments of black burst dashes toward brilliance. Between the grey heartbeats, and the silence, and the terrible knowing.

And more personally, as an artist/as a person (these are not separate things) I'm going through a process where somewhere in the hurricane hope is waiting - it isn't hopeless, but there's still a cold and burning road, and such wreckage to negotiate.

What am I wearing? Fuck. I have an insanely large wardrobe of fucking gorgeous outfits, and I rarely wear anything but low-key boring shit because I'm always rushing from one thing to the next. Perhaps something I'll balance one day. I'd like to trot out some more fun clothes, coz hey this is life... and I really ought to get more fashion conscious, because, fuck, it's a long song.

Did I even mention I don't have the shoes to go with the outfits, I'm often between shoes and limping with blisters, because shoes cannot be thrift-shopped if you have to wear two pairs of explorer socks over your stockings in a ladies size 5. (That's a UK size 36.) Out with mass production and bring back the cobblers, I say.

And thus ends Talie Takes A Crack At The Song Meme.

Your turn...

Haiku2 for taliehelene
doo pa doo pa doo pa doo pa doo pa doo pa bap ba bap pa ba
@ aboutmylife.netadvogato.orgblogger.comblogs.gnome.orgblogspot.comdeadjournal.comgreatestjournal.cominsanejournal.comlivejournal.commyspace.comspaces.msn.com
Created by Grahame

And I thought I was filling this journal up with self-censored bullshit...

The following digest of recent horror news is compiled from pieces published to HorrorScope and the Australian Horror Writers' Association website.

Submitting News

If you have news about Australian and New Zealand Horror publishing and film, or news of professional development opportunities in the field, feel free to submit news to Talie Helene, AHWA News Editor. Just visit HorrorScope, and click on the convenient email link. (International news is not unwelcome.)

For information on the Australian Horror Writers' Association, visit australianhorror.com

This digest has been compiled, written, and republished in select Australian Horror Haunts by Talie Helene.

The Australian Music Centre is hosting an e-forum tonight at Resonate Magazine online as part of the 2008 Aurora Festival's Music of the Spirit event. http://www.resonatemagazine.com.au.

On Saturday 19th April, The Basement Discs, Missing Link, Collectors Corner, The Last Record Store & Greville Records all plan to celebrate & join in the fun of International Record Store Day, where hundreds of independently owned & operated music stores around the world will celebrate the culture and unique place that they occupy in their community.

Basement Discs will be raising the roof all day!  From 12.00 midday, there will be a 'Round Robin' in-store performance, featuring LISA MILLER, CHRIS WILSON, JEFF LANG, ABBIE CARDWELL, CHARLES JENKINS, MIKE RUDD & BILL PUTT (Spectrum), & LIZ STRINGER, performing a couple of songs each & running through till around 2.00.

There will be a music themed Q & A quiz with prizes for correct answers  (packs of CD's, posters, t-shirts, bottles of bubbly, a six pack or 2, vouchers, free passes etcetera).  Hell, we may even give away some prizes for incorrect answers, if they're funny enough!!

And a set flat-rate discount across the board on everything in the store for that day only.

Very family friendly of course, cheese & biscuits and fruit juice...and so on.

The day is about raising consciousness, a day to remind people how exciting and interesting and fun it is to go into a REAL record store.  To hear some live music, have the opportunity to listen to recorded music in-store (of their choice, rather than designated "listening stations"!!), the tactile & visual feast that is so much a part of flipping through racks in really good music stores, and the joy of interacting with other music lovers, discussing new releases & re-issues with equal fervour. *koff*fervor*koff*

A day in which to think about and participate in the major contribution that indie stores (in general, not just music stores, of course)  actually make to the cultural fabric and personality of a Community/City/State/Country, and to remind us all that they are part of the "here & now" and not to be spoken of in nostalgic terms.  It's about getting out & supporting independent stores right now and ensuring that they continue to be a treasured part of our cultural landscape.

Come on in & join in the fun...it should be a great day!

For further info please go to...  www.basementdiscs.com.au or www.recodstoreday.com

Source: Michael Pollard
Teacher/Purchasing Officer
Music Industry (Technical Production)
RMIT University . School of Creative Media

I am no way going to be able to go to this seminar, but it looks fascinating - and possibly great for story-generating. The NGV has a really awesome fashion collection, so will make a point of getting to the exhibition before it closes.

As part of the Black in Fashion: Mourning to Night exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria, there will be a special seminar featuring NGV curators delivering in-depth discussion of the historic and contemporary significance and diversity of black in fashion.

Seminar
Saturday 19 April, 1.30-4.30
Cost $35 / $25 Concession / $17 Student
(includes afternoon tea)
Venue: Theatre, NGV Australia

Black in fashion is a perennial topic of discussion. Throughout history the wearing of black clothing has had multiple and often contradictory meanings. At times, it has signified death, power, elegance, urbanity, subversion and sex appeal. Black in Fashion: Mourning to Night explores the symbolism and enduring use of black in Australian and international fashion.

The exhibition draws upon garments and accessories from the mid-nineteenth century to the present from the National Gallery of Victoria’s Fashion and Textiles collections together with a number of public and private loans. Portraits dating from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, from the NGV’s collection of paintings, also feature.

Black in Fashion: Mourning to Night will be the first exhibition to be held across both NGV venues, NGV International, 180 St Kilda Road and The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Federation Square.

NGV International Level 2,
Myer Fashion and Textiles Gallery
29 February – 31 August 2008

The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia
Level 2, Myer Fashion and Textiles Gallery
8 February – 24 August 2008

Admission to the exhibition is free.

Source: NGV Media

X-post HorrorScope & melbournegoths

Not much LJ writing, or serious writing, or even practice this week. (Like I am doing serious writing.)

The 11-hour studio session (plus travel either way) on Monday,  while my uterus shook like a washing machine in need of a service  -- I am tired, and only catching up now. I begged off my vocal lesson on Wednesday, as I've just been really sore and zonked and cursed with the attractive and fun goreslick.

Was going to have a completely unproductive date night with Scott last night, but he bumped me for the footy! (Not even for the correct team. Heathen.)

If he thinks he can sweet talk his way into another night... no joy. I have to finish my radio ads and soft-synth modeling this weekend, so that's it for social contact.

The dates we were originally told for the radio and EMT assignments are weeks later than when we're actually expected to sub work. Since I had to submit a production schedule with all my processes charted to the launch date, it would have been really helpful if the tutor had actually read it and got me to move my launch date sooner.

Pain in the arse!
 
I have to write up my notes as a production journal for the Chilli Samba sesh, so I might inflict it on you all  journal it here.

On Thursday in class I was unconsciously typing with one hand, and the student beside me exclaimed really loudly - "Why are you typing with only one hand? It's heaps faster with two."

Like I was the dumbest fuck on the planet.

That was rude, he was loud, and it really fucked me off. I was tired and vague and of course high on Naprogeisic -- thus I was not there with witty rejoinders. I also hadn't thought about how or why I was still favoring my right  hand to give the left fingers some recovery time. I didn't know why I was typing one handed. Hadn't thought on it at all.

Universities give away books all the time. The libraries decommission them, exiting students leave them at the student union - homeless books, good books, are everywhere looking for a home.

I collected a stack of free biology books from the student union for Scott, as he's thinking about undertaking a degree, possibly in science - he really is too bright for where he is in manufacturing, and the chemicals are pretty toxic. He wouldn't be sorry to get away from the polish shop as far as the materials go, although I know he loves the social aspects of it.

I figured a stack of university level science books would not be bad for giving him an idea of what goes on in the [supposed] ivory towers. And there they were. These were great current books - so I grabbed them! I stashed them in a locker at the State Library, and took them home in the evening (after tracking Chilli Samba). But they were HEAVY. Not just "girl heavy" - these were big fucking door-stoppers. I still have sore fingers on my left hand, from when I held the bag of books one-handed, so I could put my train ticket through the robot mouth (and collect it from the robot slit). Not extremely painful, just a twinge from muscles that have that micro-tearing bizo that muscles get when you push them.

I have musician hands - playing builds up high density in slow twitch muscle fibres - so I'm better at long stints of finer movement, I'm not so suited to superman stints of GGGRRRROOOAAARRRGGGHHH!!! (Note the Official Berzerker Spelling. Luke Kenny might want five cents from me in royalties!)

I typed this entry one handed, warming my strained hand around a cup of tea. I also do one handed typing if the double bass bites me (this can happen on either end of the bass!) I type pretty fast one handed. If I wrote erotica I'd be free to - ah, nevermind...

The product demo night was quite entertaining, and I am really thrilled at how affordable the Apogee range is, and it looks just awesome. (If it's good enough for Hans Zimmer...)

But, I must say it put a [really unnecessary] damper on the evening when the Californian Apogee Demo Dude exclaimed --

"We've made it so simple, even the girls in accounting can learn to use it!"

Nowhere near cool, Dude.

After much rumination - or a little bit - I've decided to take the rest of this year off from playing with Maroondah Symphony.

When I joined, the deal was, "I'll come play bass for you, if you can get me and the tree a ride to rehearsals."

Which was fine initially, but for various reasons [peoples private lives] that isn't working out this year. I can get a ride, but so intermittently, I'm not getting the benefit to my playing out of the experience.

Scott offered to drive me to rehearsals - he lives two minutes from the space - but I don't want to rely on that. Last year I asked him to help me out getting to five rehearsals for the concert with Steve Reeves as soloist - he forgot (!) about two of those! Putting me in the fairly stressful sitch of playing a concert accompanying one of the most advanced orchestral double bassists in Australia, with only two rehearsals and a pre-gig warm up.

That sort of thing could very easily have done more damage than good, and I don't want to risk be stuck in that kind of situation again.

As it turned out, I did OK - actually, I was surprised how my reading held up. But I did not enjoy it very much, and I missed out on some good experience rehearsing with such a great player. (Steve is also on Faculty at Melbourne University, Monash University, the VCA - and private lessons with him are $100.00 an hour!)

It also caused a fair bit of tension in my relationship - although I am *not* cutting back on my artistic life for that reason (or at all). A relationship between two artists isn't easy.  We both have consuming dreams - yet each persons work needs to be important and mindfully supported. It's something I've been struggling with a lot, I don't feel we're at the greatest place in that regards - although more about that is so not getting blasted (or more importantly wasted) in a Livejournal entry...

I've since run into Maroondah players, and had the overwhelming response of, "O, Talie! - we miss you and your bass so much!"

Which is nice -- but if it isn't beneficial right now, then it's better to take a hiatus.

I recently ran into an oboist from Maroondah, and she said, "You can play in orchestras like that any time you want."

She's right. I have an open invitation from Stonnington Symphony sitting in my email. (And it's not like the world is exactly overpopulated with double bassists.) Right now getting through my current courses, getting my other music accreditation advanced, and keeping enough time for writing (so I can call myself a writer), that's enough.

I'll have to write Willem van der Vis a thank you note for his Direction, and request a reference from him (for future music study). I would be very happy to put in another stint with Maroondah Symphony down the road, but the road is the stumbling block right now.

Of course I need to get a car of my own that'll fit my bass, and the rest - but I'm still inching my way out of debt from my studies at Box Hill (Performing Arts). I can't fund everything at once, especially not on primarily an arts income, while studying as well. It's a lot to juggle on a little.

Hopefully I'll be able to afford double bass lessons again soon, and can really start developing my next AMEB/Trinity Guildhall level.

I've been in a withdrawn funk  --  still processing a lot of headgunk from the corruption/sleazy/sexist education disillusion-burn-out, and of course I HAVE to process it because I'm a thoughtful person, I need to understand those experiences, and I don't want to be like those horrible, immature, dysfunctional artists, so there's a lot of poor teaching and negative influence to ditch  --  but be that as it may, I really need to get back on form with basic polite things like that. (Told you this isn't a publicity blog.)

Shelfari won't load magazines - and a lot of these are zines with no ISSN. It is (I am quite sure) not the most comprehensive zine collection around, but I thought it's a kinda fun list. Australian metal is an abiding interest of mine, and a lot of these are local.

The really early Australian zines have been kindly donated.

I decided to blog this after David told me his ex once explained to him -

"Talie only pretends to like metal to impress boys!"

(She is a genius, and with such insight should get into practicing psychoanalysis right away!)

I'm home all weekend - which doesn't happen that often. But I'm tired - I have a 9am-2pm session of classes in the computer LAB on Friday, without a break, which invariably gives me a headache. Great to be getting a catch-up in Pro Tools - but - ouchies!

The homework load has just gone WHOOSH! HERE I AM! - and I have to get enough work done ahead of due dates to accommodate an interstate work jaunt.... I'm not seeing Scott this weekend - on Monday I have a twelve hour studio booking to track and mix Chilli Samba, a Brazilian folk ensemble, as an assessment for Apply Music Knowledge & Artistic Judgement - so the day that's usually my day, that is taken over by a long session. So staying home this weekend is a good idea.

So I'm going to post a few bits to this journal over the weekend, since I'll have the opportunity.


This will become a list of tasks tackled:

• Create Weekend Tasks List (what a bullshit first item)
• Get fireplace fired up!
• Add recent(ish) book acquisitions [sitting in a big messy pile on the couch] to Bookpedia & Shelfari - then shelve 'em! (I'd add them to Library Thing, but I cannot afford to the extra indulgence of buying a membership right now... Rock'n'roll!)
• Barry Smith - Peter Warlock: The Life Of Philip Heseltine
• Theodor Adorno - Sound Figures
• Stephen Jones (ed) - The Giant Book Of Horror [which shares the ISBN 1-86309-172-6 with a completely different book -  The Giant Book Of Golden Age SF - how can that be?]
• Mike Ashley (ed) - The Mammoth Book of Short Horror Novels
  
• Dennis Etchinson (ed) - Cutting Edge
• Charles L.Grant (ed) - A Gallery Of Horror: Portraits in Terror by the Modern Masters
• Algernon Blackwood - The Best Supernatural Tales of Algernon Blackwood
• Stephen King - Duma Key
• Joe Hill - 20th Century Ghosts
• Kate Grenville - Dark Places
• Clive Barker - Visions Of Heaven And Hell
  
• David Miles Huber & Robert E. Runstein - Modern Recording Techniques (Sixth Edition)
• Zero Tolerance Magazine #22 [How did I work that in so seamlessly? I'm a marketing genius!]
  
• Put ZTs in order, and blog Bookpedia Metal Mag List for a lark 
• ZT Covermount Double CD #22 in Double Hardcase
• Vocal Practice

SATURDAY

• Renew PO Box
• Grocery shoppin' (wow!)
• Untangle very big hair (tangled by 80kph wind!) while watching No Country For Old Men (excellent!)
  
• Bring in boxes displaced in the storm; find some place for them

SUNDAY

• Find source for Firewire Drive for Production Session Back-up
• Review & Complete latest Zero Tolerance Contributor Contract
• Draft 2: Press Release for May 8th gig
• Draft 1: Funding thing
• Draft 1: Placement ideas and CV and PR samples for Jill Shelton
• Vocal practice
• Move other various messy boxes into storage area
• AHWA News Updates
• Emails
• Call for AHWA Members Sales & Wins!

MONDAY

• Post ZT 2008 Contract
• Studio Session: track and mix Chilli Samba
• Get Firewire Drive for Production Session Back-up
  
• Drop off funding application to RMIT Arts Council