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Why is my music so small when music is so big to me?
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November 2019
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12 Good Bars and True - Rewrite and feedback
12 Good Bars and True - NSAI Feedback Red Hot - NSAI feedback Home Free - Be Free re-write - NSAI feedback Somebody Else's Skin - NSAI feedback Simplicity - NSAI feedback When It's Over - NSAI feedback She Don't Want Your Love - NSAI feedback Angels - NSAI feedback Baby I Need Your Soul - NSAI feedback |
November 6, 2019
12 Good Bars and True - Rewrite and feedback
OK, so this is great but a little confusing. As discused, I re-wrote 12 Good Bars and True and re-mixed it using a different DAW and a new understanding of sound production. Sent this version to NSAI for feedback: I... More Posted by Hughie at 5:19 PM
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July 18, 2019
12 Good Bars and True - NSAI Feedback
Having put all of my "Alive and Alone" songs up for evaluation I had one more free evaluation left. In a rush-of-blood moment I decided to put 12 Good Bars and True into the system to see where it sits... More Posted by Hughie at 1:57 AM
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July 15, 2019
Red Hot - NSAI feedback
I co-wrote Red Hot with Shanon Watkins. He came over one afternoon and we explored a guitar riff that I had in my head. He came up with a melody and some placeholder lyrics. He left it with me to... More Posted by Hughie at 3:23 PM
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July 13, 2019
Home Free - Be Free re-write - NSAI feedback
Home Free is one that I have already re-written plenty of times. It has evolved a long way but I still feel it could be much better. However, I really think it has great potential if I can get it... More Posted by Hughie at 2:38 PM
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July 11, 2019
Somebody Else's Skin - NSAI feedback
Somebody Else's Skin was an attempt at being silly and catchy and not particularly anything. I've just realised that I never posted it when I first wrote it - probably because I was never happy with it until I recorded... More Posted by Hughie at 10:26 AM
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July 10, 2019
Simplicity - NSAI feedback
Simplicity is one of the first songs I wrote. I've been dragging it around for decades (literally) knowing that it's weird and not likely to mean anything to anyone apart from me and a few very close friends who love... More Posted by Hughie at 8:14 AM
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July 8, 2019
When It's Over - NSAI feedback
When It's Over is, to me, a novelty song. It came from mucking about with a guitar and trying to be catchy and groovy. That said, it is, according to some people, one of the catchiest darn things ever so... More Posted by Hughie at 8:01 PM
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July 5, 2019
She Don't Want Your Love - NSAI feedback
Next song I received feedback for was She Don't Want Your Love.This one is a very personal song to me, which I also had critiqued by Jason Blume some time ago. I thought I had improved it a lot ...... More Posted by Hughie at 3:35 PM
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July 3, 2019
Angels - NSAI feedback
Next song to be critiqued was Angels. Remember that this was not originally my song - it's my re-write of Ann Leung's song. Here's the version I submitted, as distribute to YouTube by CDBaby: I enterd this in the "Gospel"... More Posted by Hughie at 3:05 PM
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June 30, 2019
Baby I Need Your Soul - NSAI feedback
OK, so at the start of this year I decided to get value for my NSAI membership and throw as many songs in for feedback as possible. It's been a long time since I got the feedback, and I ended... More Posted by Hughie at 2:01 PM
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September 15, 2018
TEDxQUT - Thanks everyone
TEDxQUT ... WOW! What an experience. I must thank so many people: Caitlin and Emily, a wonderful organisation team and a very smooth event. Well done. Karyn and Jan, writing and performance coaches, this would have been an incoherent ramble... More Posted by Hughie at 8:08 PM
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September 3, 2018
Week 9 update - getting places at last
Got to spend lots of time on music this week - but not enough, still ... Most of this was reworking "Forever Mine" for the Tetrafasi demo, but a little was on writing another idea that came to me. I... More Posted by Huge at 10:17 AM
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August 30, 2018
Forever Mine - vox and strings (Mon, Wed, Thurs)
Got nothing done on the weekend due to family and other commitments. This is a good thing, because I have a bad habit of over-working and disappearing up my own butt about these things. Down time is essential! (Gotta keep... More Posted by Huge at 7:48 PM
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August 29, 2018
Recording Forever Mine and arranging strings - Friday
Just finished the third version of the string arrangement, based around a reasonable guitar take and a placeholder vocal. Thought I'd better document the entire process from a technical and musical point of view: Recording device: 2011 Macbook Pro running... More Posted by Huge at 7:58 PM
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August 27, 2018
Week 8 update - ready for action
This week marked the end of my commitment to work at the office on Wednesday and Thursday. My load there has now reduced to something I can manage from home by checking in each day. That will change back again... More Posted by Hughie at 10:59 AM
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August 24, 2018
Forever Mine - Three's Company version for Tetrafasi
I have decided to direct my creative efforts towards making a demo of the Tetrafasi concept focusing on making four versions of just one song: Forever Mine. I do this in the hope that the concept and its practical reality... More Posted by Huge at 8:28 AM
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August 23, 2018
Forever Mine - Vital Signs rewrite
Submitting Forever Mine to the NSAI for feedback made me realise how out of date some of my song posts are. I almost never play these songs now as they are reported on this site. So, since it's the most... More Posted by Huge at 1:14 PM
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Forever Mine - NSAI feedback
I decided to continue seeking feedback from the Nashville Songwriters Association International about my songs. After the last two I thought perhaps I'd go back to the drawing board on all of them before wasting my precious feedback opportunities on... More Posted by Hughie at 10:06 AM
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August 20, 2018
Week 7 update - sigh ...
At least the pattern is becoming increasingly clear - what I'm planning to do its largely getting lost behind day jobs and distractions (there's a song in that!). Feels like I have barely done a musical thing since this began... More Posted by Hughie at 6:58 PM
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August 17, 2018
R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
Vale Aretha! One of the greatest voices ever and an artist of class and integrity. You will be missed but never forgotten, Queen of Soul. And your contributions to the Blues Brothers were awesome and made the movies even more... More Posted by Huge at 9:36 AM
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August 15, 2018
Week 6 update - TEDxQUT time ...
You might have noticed that a fair bit of my time has been taken up with an "other" activity. It's not actually part of my musical or day job roles, but it's very important to me and will hopefully gain... More Posted by Hughie at 12:31 PM
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August 8, 2018
Week 5 update - not happy, Jan!
Lots of Day Job activity this week. Serious amounts of marking and so on. Plus a little family time due to a funeral and more footy. Also had a big chunk taken up on my special "Other" project, which I... More Posted by Huge at 7:05 PM
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July 31, 2018
Proud dad moment
I usually try to keep my family out of this blog and focus on the music industry stuff that matters - but I just have to gush for a minute. Last Sunday my son Eddie played for the wonderful West... More Posted by Hughie at 8:24 AM
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July 30, 2018
Week 4 - day job blues
This week the day job requirements started in earnest. Tutorials to attend, marking to do already ... dominant. This was, of course, exected, but it's still mildly annoying. Far too much blue in this picture: Still, that's what's paying the... More Posted by Huge at 12:05 PM
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July 23, 2018
Week 3 update - slow but steady
Last week went a little better from the point of view of my ability to predit what would happen and manage my time accordingly. Tuesday was nearly spot on, Thursday pretty close ... the rest not even: Of course, the... More Posted by Huge at 11:46 AM
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July 16, 2018
Week 2 update
Week 2 went a lot like week 1 - lots of intended things didn't happen. Hope this doesn't become a pattern, though perhaps it tells a story ... Here's what the week looked like: Lots of hours on day job... More Posted by Huge at 7:47 PM
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July 15, 2018
Week 1 of the new enterprise - mixed results
One of the key complaints among independent musicians is the lack of time they have to do what needs to be done. I was pondering this - and the counter-argument that there's plenty of time but people don't manage it... More Posted by Huge at 12:51 PM
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July 3, 2018
Maccas' Drive Through Blues
It's a wonderful exercise for an artist to deconstruct the works of the great artists. It's also a dangerous practice to re-write them into a modern scenario - it can leave to some completely inappropriate outcomes. Nonetheless, this is what... More Posted by Huge at 2:11 PM
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July 2, 2018
Having a proper go at this music career thing.
"The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure is to not try. Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it." Debbi Fields Things haven't been working... More Posted by Huge at 1:09 PM
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May 10, 2018
Heart's With You - NSAI feedback
Following my feedback from the Nashville Songwriters Association about Whiskey and History I thought I'd get more straight away. This time I thought I'd try my most obviously hooky song - went with Heart's With You from I am Leaving!... More Posted by Huge at 4:44 PM
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May 3, 2018
Whiskey and History - NSAI feedback.
OK, so I joined the Nashville Songwriters Association. It seemed a logical step if I want to be serious about developing my chops as a songwriter. I love the Australian Songwriters Association and will keep being involved locally when I... More Posted by Huge at 8:17 PM
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January 23, 2018
Grant funding - knockbacks and new tracks ...
OK, so I applied for some government grants to support the Tetrafasi Project late last year. I asked for about $40k each from Arts Queensland and The Australia Council. That's a lot to ask for straight up! The AQ grant... More Posted by Huge at 4:39 PM
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January 15, 2018
Donnie's Black Dog - the full story
I was mowing my parents' lawn last week ... in the Queensland heat and humidity ... when a flash of inspiration popped into my head. Now, my head usually reverts to playing music when the rest of me is doing... More Posted by Huge at 4:07 PM
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December 10, 2017
CD Launch today!
OK, so "Alive and Alone" has been written, recorded, mixed, mastered, duplicated, and promoted. Today is the big launch party at Bellbowrie Tavern! Here's the flyer I bashed together to promote it: Cute, huh! I came up with that hook... More Posted by Huge at 11:08 AM
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December 8, 2017
At last! Marriage equality ...
Congratualations to the Australan Parliament for finally doing what we all knew the a majority of the Australian people have wanted for some time - allowing Same Sex Marriage. This is wonderful development that will improve the mental health of... More Posted by Hughie at 9:42 AM
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November 4, 2017
Whoops! Missed this one, too ...
So, while I wasn't really paying attention (actually, I looked every day but didn't find it), Youtube released "Alive and Alone": Apparently this happened 6 days ago, but when I searched for "The Genre Benders" in Youtube and saw the... More Posted by Hughie at 2:49 PM
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November 2, 2017
Whoops! Big opportunity for support missed ...
Some time ago I entered Dad Joke Blues into AMRAP's Airit program, which connects radio broadcaster to new music. It is an essential step for self-published musicians - several radio stations have played the songs off the back of this... More Posted by Hughie at 5:48 PM
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October 31, 2017
Alive and Alone radio host feedback
Came into contact via Facebook with Anita Monk, who hosts a radio program in Victoria that is part of a radio segment called Wrokdown. Her target audience is dscribed as follows: "The older audience are very particular in their choice... More Posted by Hughie at 3:08 PM
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October 6, 2017
Dad Joke Blues gets some recognition!
You could have knocked me down with a feather last night when I received a notice that Dad Joke Blues has been shortlisted for the Australian Songwriters Association Songwriting Contest! The acoustic version is in the Folk/Acoustic catgory. This, of... More Posted by Hughie at 10:55 AM
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October 3, 2017
Funding Tetrafasi in future
OK, so "Alive and Alone" is done and distributed via CDBaby. Happy with that - I did it all myself and it cost me nothing but my time. Trouble is, the next one is gonna need more people to play... More Posted by Hughie at 7:01 PM
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October 2, 2017
Well done Tigers and Storm, bad luck Wobblies
Footy season is over ... give or take the end of the Rugby Championship and October's Rugby League World Cup. The Tigers' story is a great one. My good mate Simon Smith is a die-hard Tigers fan who's been telling... More Posted by Hughie at 10:11 AM
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September 14, 2017
Alive and Alone is in iTunes!!
Well, it took a week, but 7 days after being sent to Tunes (according to CDBaby) here it is: https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/alive-and-alone/id1300393014 That took longer than I had hoped, but goves you some idea of the realities of preparing for a launch.... More Posted by Hughie at 10:29 AM
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September 10, 2017
Alive and Alone has made it onto Spotify!
Only took a few days and it's there, just as CDBaby promised: Not bad at all ... in Spotify thre days after approval by the CDBaby minions ... happy with that service. Now ... iTunes, where are you?... More Posted by Hughie at 6:33 PM
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September 7, 2017
Distribution approved - we're off to the races (so to speak)
Approved! Alive and Alone is on its way through the digital realm to the major digital music retailers! CDBaby sent it to 24 retailers on the first day - including iTunes and Spotify, which are by far the biggest and... More Posted by Hughie at 10:13 AM
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September 4, 2017
Tetrafasi launched ... sort of.
OK, so two important things have happened recently. First, I created a logo for the Tetrafasi project: Pretty cool, hey? Only a full day of work last Friday ... and acoupe of days reflection and refinement ... I had the... More Posted by Hughie at 10:03 AM
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August 20, 2017
Release stuffups - Or, I should have known better by now ...
Confession - when I released Alive and Alone via CDBaby last week, I entered the meta data late at night after a few celebratory drinks. That was a mistake - you should ALWAYS be professional and do your best work.... More Posted by Hughie at 9:28 PM
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August 13, 2017
Well done, those ladies ...
Thinking especially of Sally Pearson, world 100m hurdles champion again after an awful run with injuries - that takes belief and soul - and the Matildas, beating Brazil in a final is never easy, so 6-1 in an international tournament... More Posted by Huge at 12:33 PM
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August 7, 2017
Alive and Alone distribution
Right! Album is in the can. As happy as I am prepared to fight for with the performances, mixing and mastering. Artwork done, based on the Tetrafasi artwork: Note that this is simply the first panel of the Tetrafasi artwork,... More Posted by Hughie at 1:55 PM
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August 5, 2017
Mixing Alive and Alone - Day 2: Mastering
Hmmmm ... not as bad as it could have been in the cold light of day. Pretty happy with most of the tracks. Suzie and I listened to the whole album at bedtime and I noticed three thigns I wanted... More Posted by Hughie at 6:23 PM
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August 4, 2017
Mixing Alive and Alone - Day 1
Wow! So that went better than expected - got a first mix of all ten tracks in one day! I put this down to the consistency of the recordings, the use of a mix template, and the simplicity of the... More Posted by Hughie at 7:02 PM
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August 3, 2017
Mixing Alive and Alone - setup
Right! The time has come to mix this thing ... need to just get it out. I have a bad habit of agonising over the imperfections and wanting to fix things, but after watching Macklemore on the subject, I have... More Posted by Hughie at 6:18 PM
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July 13, 2017
Unsigned Only song contest entry
Just found out that Dad Joke Blues did not make the cut for UO this year. To be fair, this was a long shot entry in the Folk Singer-Songwriter category so it's not really surprising ... still entereed in two... More Posted by Hughie at 10:38 AM
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April 29, 2017
Entered Dad Joke Blues in the ASA song contest
At long last I've entered a song in the Australian Songwriters Association Songwriting Contest. I've been the Brisbane Regional Coordinator for several years now, but have never entered a song until now - mainly bcause until recently, RCs were not... More Posted by Hughie at 10:30 AM
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February 17, 2017
Entered USA Songwriting Contest
Today I entered Dad Joke Blues into the USA Song Contest. Cost me US$35 for the version below to enter the "Comedy/Novelty" category. Winners will be determined by November 15, 2017.... More Posted by Hughie at 8:02 PM
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February 8, 2017
Entered Unsigned Only song contest
OK, so the Dad Joke Blues just got entered into the Unsigned Only Music Competition for US$35. The version posted below was entered into the Folk/Singer-songwriter category, which seemed the most appropriate ... Winners for the 2017 competition will... More Posted by Hughie at 7:47 PM
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August 5, 2016
Australian Songwriters Conference review
In June I attended the Australian Songwriters Conference at Ettalong Beach. It would be an expensive exercise and I knew nothing about the conference but I am trying to develop as a songwriter so I felt the "not inexpensive" fee... More Posted by Huge at 5:57 PM
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July 6, 2016
Australian Songwriting Conference - song feedback
Well!! A while ago I wrote about the idea of taking my songs and pitching some of them to publishers at the Australian Songwriting Conference. Will write a full review about that experience later (short version: awaesome!) ... but wanted... More Posted by Hughie at 11:25 AM
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April 30, 2016
Dad Joke Blues
Last weekend the family went up to the farm. We had a stack of fun patting Dopey the steer and generally chilling, and in a moment of intense craziness we came up with a future project idea: the Huge Family... More Posted by Huge at 12:53 PM
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February 2, 2016
Found me a producer ... and got the Dad Joke Blues
Recorded the Dad Joke Blues for a fun home project - two versions. Gumby and Mike came over a while back and we jammed on it for an afternoon and recorded some stuff. One version is electric - that's how... More Posted by Hughie at 7:22 PM
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January 23, 2016
Australian Songwriting Conference - opportunity for feedback
A while ago I signed up to attend the Australian Songwriting Conference in Ettalong Beach, NSW in June. I wanted to expand my networks and find new influences and opportunities. It's gonna cost a heap (I'm paying it off) but... More Posted by Hughie at 2:00 PM
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January 10, 2016
Think I need one more stage ...
Been thinking about the three stages of album development in the multi-album project. Three is good, but I think it sells the process short. Now that I have all the guitars down and most of the vocals down, I've been... More Posted by Hughie at 6:07 PM
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October 7, 2015
Recording setup
Wanted to share the technical aspects of my recording process ... just for all you nerds and gear sluts. It's not very impressive, I'm afraid ... I'm using Pro Tools 9 on a 2011 Macbook Pro. I have an M-Audio... More Posted by Hughie at 11:22 AM
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September 6, 2015
What's been happening?
OK, so it's been far too long since I updated this site about general things. Much has happened that will be detailed in following posts, but here's a quick run-down on the status quo: I have a girlfriend. Sue. She's... More Posted by Hughie at 1:25 PM
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September 3, 2015
War and peace ... and other stuff
Just posted this as a comment on Dave Rowlands' Facebook post. Thought it was meme-worthy so I'll create a meme for it soon and see what happens: "The sooner we stop thinking that killing our opponents ends the argument, the... More Posted by Huge at 1:17 PM
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September 1, 2015
Recording Alive and Alone - Day 7
Spent most of today figuring out how to play "She Don't Want Your Love". Came up with something completely different to everything I'd play on it before. Rather proud of that ... especially since the song has always been cowboy... More Posted by Hughie at 4:31 PM
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August 29, 2015
Recording Alive and Alone - Day 6
Right! Got "Angels" down ... eventually. Still not happy with the ending, but at least it's in the can at close to what I want it to sound and feel like. Gonna take a break for a few days and... More Posted by Hughie at 6:17 PM
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August 28, 2015
Recording Alive and Alone - Day 5
More completed today. Lots more? Well, actually, it felt like a lot but today was compromised by other activities with kids and work and so on. Not as many hours put in, so not as much accomplished. Managed to get... More Posted by Hughie at 7:53 PM
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August 27, 2015
Recording Alive and Alone - day 4
Better progress today. Took yesterday off to think about it (and do some work that pays for my house) and then ripped in today. Got the following in the can: The rest of Simplicity Home Free Raindrops (that took a... More Posted by Hughie at 7:39 PM
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August 25, 2015
Recording Alive and Alone - day 3
Today I started again, recording just the guitar parts. Took longer then expected because I was able to pay more attention to the nuances of what I was doing and didn't like some of what was happening. I used exactly... More Posted by Hughie at 6:26 PM
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August 24, 2015
Recording Alive and Alone - day 2
Got the remaining songs in the can as single-take roughs today. Total of 12 down now. Still not happy with this approach, tho. Cry to Heaven, Simplicity, and When the Angels Came are in the can along with the 9... More Posted by Hughie at 6:32 PM
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August 21, 2015
Recording Alive and Alone - day 1
OK, so I got most of the songs down as guide tracks to pick them apart. Don't think this was a very useful thing to do - I'm not happy with the results and it took me all day due... More Posted by Hughie at 5:08 PM
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May 12, 2015
Collaborators ...
Been thinking about who to work with on this multi-album project. Quality producers in Brisbane are few and far between. Magoo mixed my last single, "Budget Crisis" and I learned a heap from him. Great bloke to work with ...... More Posted by Hughie at 6:30 PM
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April 5, 2015
Stages of album development
Right! Riffing on this concept some more: what are the stages of development that I would have to cover? Seems to me there are a bunch of ways songs get made ... and they all involve collaboration - even among... More Posted by Hughie at 2:45 PM
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April 1, 2015
Multi-album project - how?
OK, so I got a lofty ambition and launched into a crazy idea and now I have no idea how I'm going to do this. It's just sunk in to me how much work is going to be involved in... More Posted by Hughie at 5:35 PM
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March 4, 2015
Multi-album setlist
Riffing on this a lot lately. Thinking the setlist will look something like this: Red Hot Simplicity She Don't Want Your Love Raindrops Cry to Heaven When It's Over Forever Mine Home Free Whiskey and History Also wanna get some... More Posted by Hughie at 10:01 PM
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March 1, 2015
Multi-album project update
OK, so been thinking about this idea a lot. I reckon I can do four versions of the same songs ... start with a worktape and finish with a full production, anything goes sort of thing. About a dozen songs... More Posted by Hughie at 4:26 PM
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February 25, 2015
Got me an idea ...
Been thinking about the things that songwriters ask me at Wax Lyricals and other events. There's a theme emerging that I think I can help with ... but it's gonna take some doing. :-) People keep asking me about getting... More Posted by Hughie at 9:11 PM
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November 13, 2014
The trouble with Spotify ....
There's been a stack of discussion about Spotify and its effect on the music industry lately, mainly driven by Taylor Swift's label's decision to withdraw her entire catalog from Spotify, which adds her to the list of acts who want... More Posted by Huge at 12:34 PM
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Budget Crisis
As readers of this blog will know, I have some fairly clear and strong political leanings. I've never been a member of any party but I know what I think is a good way to run the country: full equality... More Posted by Huge at 10:45 AM
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November 10, 2014
I'm wearing my breakfast
Many years ago, when my kids were babies, I wrote this silly ditty for my son, Edward, who was looking very proud of himself for finishing his breakfast - except that he was wearing a lot of it. I used... More Posted by Huge at 2:31 PM
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April 29, 2014
Turning attention into traction - Mouthzoff column
This is my ninth column for Mouthzoff magazine. It was published in December. While a network fo highly skilled and motivated people in the indutry is vital, so is the attention of fans. Only they can form a foundation for... More Posted by DrHuge at 2:21 PM
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March 28, 2014
Independence - the power is in the network - Mouthzoff column
This is my eigth column for Mouthzoff magazine. It was published in November. This one concerns an essential skill that any business owner - especially an independent artist - needs to develop: networking. You can't do it all yourself, so... More Posted by DrHuge at 12:05 PM
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February 25, 2014
The art of making enough good art - Mouthzoff column
This is my seventh column for Mouthzoff magazine. It was published in October. This one aims to help reassure artists that they are already good enough and that they simply need to get there stuff out into the market, seek... More Posted by DrHuge at 10:53 AM
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January 27, 2014
Beware the trap of fixed ongoing service fees - Mouthzoff column
This is my sixth column for Mouthzoff magazine. It was published in September. This topic doesn't seem important to a lot of Indies, who just want as much cash as they can get quickly. But it's vital to make smart... More Posted by DrHuge at 1:42 PM
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January 13, 2014
Woodford Folk Festival 2013/14 review
This year I had the great honour and priviledge to gain a spot as a Stage Manager at the Woodford Folk Festival, one of the biggest live music events in the world. I was initially appointed to Bill's Bar, which... More Posted by Hughie at 2:49 PM
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January 11, 2014
New year, new perspectives, renewed focus
I'm not one for new years resolutions. I take the view that there's no resolution I can make on new years day that I couldn't have made on any earlier day. Life and success are about strategic evolution and constant... More Posted by Hughie at 1:12 PM
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December 1, 2013
The technology trap - Mouthzoff column
This is my fifth column for Mouthzoff magazine. It was published in August. The topic is one that many Indies find confusing and upsetting: technology. If it's all so easy and helpful, why isn't it working for me? Last edition's... More Posted by DrHuge at 11:18 AM
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November 1, 2013
Your fan base wants a relationship - Mouthzoff column
This is my fourth column for Mouthzoff magazine. It was published in July. The topic is one of vital importance to anyone building a career using new music models - because in this environment, he who dies with the largest... More Posted by DrHuge at 11:08 AM
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October 15, 2013
Review: Jason Blume songwriting workshop - Mouthzoff column
As readers know, I'm a keen songwriter and heavily involved in helping Brisbane songwriters develop and grow. So when the opportunity came up for me to attend this workshop by one of the best, Jason Blume, I jumped at it.... More Posted by Huge at 11:42 AM
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October 1, 2013
You need fans before you can ask for fan funding - Mouthzoff column
This is my second column for Mouthzoff magazine. It was published in June. The topic is one that causes a lot of confusion among Indie - fan funding - because they can see it work for others and don't understand... More Posted by DrHuge at 10:55 AM
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September 1, 2013
You can't lose sales you would never have had - Mouthzoff column
This is my first column for Mouthzoff magazine. It was published in May. The topic is one that I get asked all the time by Independent Musos: should I protect my copyrights and if so, HOW?In 1999 global record sales... More Posted by DrHuge at 10:41 AM
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August 5, 2013
Writing for Mouthzoff Mag
OK, so some time ago I started writing a monthly column for my good friend Randy G's monthly e-zine. It's a brand new publication aimed at the south-east Qld music scene and I like to support anything that supports local... More Posted by DrHuge at 5:12 PM
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February 25, 2013
Step 10: Regularly take time to review your goals and efforts
(Photo credit: Wikipedia) You can't connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards.- Steve Jobs Sometimes, if all you're doing is focusing on your next goal, its very easy to forget how far you've come... More Posted by DrHuge at 10:46 AM
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February 24, 2013
Step 9: PLAN each step of your development
I have not failed 10,000 times. I have successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.- Thomas Edison It's a cliché that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. As we discussed in the intro, just by... More Posted by DrHuge at 10:44 AM
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February 23, 2013
Step 8: Design each step according to 5 principles
(Photo credit: Engineering at Cambridge) You usually find that what works is better than what looks good. You know, the looks good can change, but what works, works. - Ray Eames New technologies have made the life of a... More Posted by DrHuge at 10:43 AM
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February 22, 2013
Step 7: Work hard to maintain those relationships
(Photo credit: Career Attraction) The most important ingredient we put into any relationship is not what we say or what we do, but what we are. - Stephen R. Covey Most musicians think that their job is to get... More Posted by DrHuge at 10:42 AM
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February 21, 2013
Step 6: Look to build relationships
(Photo credit: Burns!) Artists, of all people, understand that the more information we all share, the better it is for our business and for ourselves.− Janis Ian Business, and the music business in particular, is built on relationships. To... More Posted by DrHuge at 10:41 AM
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February 20, 2013
Step 5: Use your abundant musical assets as gifts
(Photo credit: Wikipedia) You're far more likely to have a song that is not heard than a song that is heard and stolen.- David Hooper Digital stuff is "non-rivalrous", which is fancy economist-speak for "me having it doesn't stop... More Posted by DrHuge at 10:39 AM
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February 19, 2013
Step 4: Work hardest on creating the best art you can
(Photo credit: A.Davey) The key is in not spending time, but in investing it. - Stephen R. Covey Successful people are very good time managers who maintain a healthy work/play balance. Of course, that's much easier when you regard... More Posted by DrHuge at 10:38 AM
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February 18, 2013
Step 3: Understand your art
Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.- Frank Zappa Your art starts with your music but goes way beyond it. Every show you put on, every video, every interview, every album cover, every T-shirt, every class you teach, every... More Posted by DrHuge at 10:36 AM
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February 17, 2013
Step 2: Create something remarkable
All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they... More Posted by DrHuge at 10:33 AM
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February 16, 2013
Alive and Alone - and slow
You might have noticed by now that I've stopped posting about the Alive and Alone recordings. That's because I burned out badly (literally) trying to record in my house in the heat, then turn up to work feeling refreshed. Also,... More Posted by Huge at 5:12 PM
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Step 1: Define your musical goals clearly
Don't die with the music in you.− Wayne Bennett Take time to know who you are, what you are good at, and what you are prepared to do to build your career. Be realistic about how you are best... More Posted by DrHuge at 10:24 AM
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February 15, 2013
Introduction
The Way that can be expressed is not the eternal Way. - Lao Tsu Thanks for reading this workbook. It aims to help you define and achieve your musical life goals and by doing so you are helping me... More Posted by DrHuge at 10:22 AM
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January 11, 2013
Alive and Alone - percussion permission
This week I've been mucking about with the percussion parts. Not every song has one, but since that's my strong suit I thought I'd start there. As you may have noticed, I have a heap of percussion toys to play... More Posted by Huge at 7:45 AM
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January 7, 2013
Alive and Alone - better than expected ...
Tonight, after a hard day back at the office I say down and listened back to the guides I recorded yesterday. I had feared that, given my fatigue levels and lack of concentration, some of them would be incredibly sloppy... More Posted by Huge at 8:19 PM
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January 6, 2013
Alive and Alone - stage 1 accomplished
Recorded all the guide tracks today. Happy with that but it's not as much as I'd hoped to achieve. I was hoping to have some of the main guitars down as well.There were several reasons for delays - one was... More Posted by Huge at 5:00 PM
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January 5, 2013
Alive and Alone - the plan
In 2007 I released I am Leaving! I am Leaving! and toured the USA and Canada, playing some solo acoustic shows on my way to interview people and attend the Independent Music Conference in Philadelphia, at which I played more... More Posted by Huge at 5:32 PM
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December 16, 2012
This space left deliberately blank
For the victims of the Guangshan stabbings and the Sandy Hook shootings.... More Posted by Hughie at 1:01 PM
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December 5, 2012
Whiskey and History
In recent years I've spent many nights contemplating my life and future by the fire in my back yard. This has been an important part of my recovery from my divorce and associated trauma, and has all too frequently been... More Posted by Huge at 4:44 PM
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October 5, 2012
Red Hot
I have always loved what John Butler does. I'm not a big fan of his songs as a general rule, but some of them are awesome and his playing is always incredible. Ditto Keith Urban, so when I saw their... More Posted by Huge at 3:49 PM
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July 22, 2012
Where have I been?
OK, so it's been a long time since I blogged.Quite frankly, it's been because I have been working too hard for other people and because I have been quite depressed and unable to find the energy for any of this... More Posted by Hughie at 1:09 PM
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September 30, 2011
If I Had Stew - The major label response
Well, I'm gobsmacked! No wonder the major labels are in so much trouble. A complete contrast in the response from two publishers in my pursuit of a simple clearance to record my parody.First things first - credit where it's due.... More Posted by Hughie at 7:59 PM
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September 25, 2011
If I Had Stew - Update 3
OK, still no word from Sony but I got lovely emails from Stephan at Kobalt UK and Alicia at EMI Australia with forms to fill out in order for me to get a "quote" on the price of my parody.... More Posted by Hughie at 10:13 AM
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September 24, 2011
Well done, Broncos.
OK, so Manly's first try was a blatant double movement and the Broncos couldn't buy a break in the first half, but the fightback was inspirational and the season result extraordinary. Be proud, boys. In some senses it's a sad... More Posted by Hughie at 9:31 AM
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September 19, 2011
If I had Stew - Update 2
Still no word from Sony, despite me following their advice. However, I did get a response from tomas at Maratone on 14 Sept. He very kindly told me that I need to get in touch with Kobalt Music Publishing, who... More Posted by Hughie at 8:31 PM
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September 7, 2011
If I had stew - update
Not good so far. In response to my emails to Maratone and Sony all I have to show is an auto-response from Maratone saying they are "out of the studio, back in mid September"; and a one-liner from Sony telling... More Posted by Hughie at 7:22 AM
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September 3, 2011
If I had stew
I like to think I'm a pretty funny kinda guy with an ear for satire, so since I first heard Adam Lambert's "If I had you" I've known it would be dead easy to rip off. I've been playing with... More Posted by Hughie at 2:26 PM
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August 21, 2011
You Gotta Dance
I generally try to keep my family out of this blog but this was a bit special. Some time ago my 9-year-old daughter, who's been trying everything get my attention post-divorce (how does a 40-year-old man relate to a 9-year-old... More Posted by Hughie at 2:57 PM
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August 14, 2011
Technical difficulties
OK, so I bought this really expensive PC because the salesman assured me that his company only used the best quality components and it came with a great warranty. Most expensive upgrade EVER and the ONLY one that has ever... More Posted by Hughie at 5:45 PM
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July 3, 2011
Next chapter
Well, I've been absent from this blog for far too long. What I've been doing, however, has (hopefully) set up the next chapter of my life, which will see a lot more action around here. At long last, the PhD... More Posted by Hughie at 1:01 PM
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How to succeed at anything
"Champions just work harder, practice longer; they are tougher, more resilient and more focused than the average performers; and they are relentless in pursuing their dreams." - Phil "Gus" Gould. Taken from this article about Darren Lockyer. He's talking about... More Posted by Hughie at 11:58 AM
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June 17, 2011
Free is just one form of convenient
Lately I've read several articles providing "the artist's side of the story" as to why music "can't be free". These include: Mark Mulligan's Why Music Can't Just Be Free: The Artists' Side Of The Story, Rick Chazan's On Music Piracy,... More Posted by DrHuge at 10:53 AM
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February 18, 2011
The Musician's Third Leg - extended ...
It's nice to see the concepts I created enter the thinking of others - or at least, appear in their writings. Over at Music Think Tank (for whom I aspire to write), Bruce Warila (whose work I respect and admire... More Posted by DrHuge at 7:00 AM
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February 8, 2011
Don't Make Me Steal ... please
Just found the Don't Make Me Steal project via Hypebot. It's an appeal from movie fans to movie makers, setting out a manifesto for the conditions under which they promise not to illegally download movie online. Great idea ... Of... More Posted by Hughie at 6:36 PM
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February 6, 2011
The Most Popular Music Websites In 2010 - hypebot
This map is a really freaky depiction of the relative amounts of US traffic for each of the major websites where music is streamed or downloaded (websites with less than 100,000 monthly visits are omitted): The article around it explains... More Posted by DrHuge at 8:29 AM
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February 3, 2011
Huge's January Review
Well, 2011 is not off to the start I had expected! Floods, cyclones, dead websites, lost mobile phones ... still no PhD ... can we start again, please? :-) Special thoughts go out to Tah Phrum Duh Bush, who came... More Posted by Huge at 5:50 PM
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February 1, 2011
It's all about engagement ...
This morning there are some great articles in various other publication that point to something I've been thinking about for a while now: building a career as an Indie is all about directly engaging with people who like what you... More Posted by DrHuge at 11:49 AM
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January 30, 2011
I'm back!
Right! I'm now back on the Blog ... Had a few problems with my host over the past few months, but those are now sorted, thanks to the awesome Mihai. Thanks, dude ... Lots to discuss, lots to fix, lots... More Posted by Hughie at 9:50 AM
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October 14, 2010
Who was that masked surgeon?
This Dr is part of the team that saved my father's life from a malicious and malignant tumour. This incident and interview are further evidence of her composure and unassuming nature. Possibly the greatest tribute a surgeon can be given... More Posted by Hughie at 9:24 AM
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September 19, 2010
I hate to say I told you so ...
But I just found this Techdirt report, which says that uncle Rupert's paywalls are causing him a lot more trouble than they're worth. Now, I'm hardly the only one to have predicted that paywalls would be unhelpful to newspaper publishers,... More Posted by Hughie at 12:58 PM
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September 10, 2010
The definition of damn fine music
All you art-wankers and Alt/Indie activists can kiss my arse. There's no substitute for a shit-hot performance of a great tune. If this don't get your pulse racing then you're a corpse. Timeless! Eternal! Blessed music, thy name is this... More Posted by Hughie at 11:11 AM
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August 13, 2010
She Don't Want Your Love
I have a friend about whom I care for very deeply. This friend held my life together after the end of my marriage. She turned up on my door every morning and listened to my drivel. She took me for... More Posted by Huge at 2:21 PM
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August 12, 2010
The decline in professional musicians
In recent times I have come across several mentions of the complaint that the number of professional musicians in declining. This is usually followed by some declaration or lament that without professional status, less or worse music will be made.... More Posted by Hughie at 3:59 PM
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August 4, 2010
Responding to a reviewer
Found this review of my E-book. So happy that someone has engaged with the ideas!! Actually, I'm honoured that although Jillian disagrees with the central premise of Part 1, she still wants to read Parts 2 and 3. Working on... More Posted by DrHuge at 1:00 PM
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August 2, 2010
Review of Music Xray's S2O service
I read about Music Xray's S2O service in a LinkedIn forum and thought "what a great idea" so I signed up and entered The Genre Benders' album into the system (free). The "matches" the S2O system produces are based on... More Posted by Huge at 12:57 PM
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July 29, 2010
The best New Music approach is holistic
Mike Masnick makes a lot of sense when he points out that big concerts are only a fraction of the live concerts staged,and in some ways they are more difficult to run profitably than smaller concerts. He's also right that... More Posted by DrHuge at 10:25 AM
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July 28, 2010
How the record industry got it so wrong (and how their mistakes point to your glorious musical future).
OK, well the E-book is out. I have completed Part 1 with the assistance of the incredible art of Mr Darren Fisher. The blog version is here and free but a more convenient version can be downloaded for free... More Posted by DrHuge at 4:04 PM
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July 20, 2010
How NOT to impress music-business decision makers
Just read this blog from my colleague Rick Goetz. Rick advises musos to do three things at music industry conferences: Find like-minded peers Make sure you and your product present well Have a plan He's spot on, but I'd take... More Posted by Hughie at 12:40 PM
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June 28, 2010
What a great weekend ...
Woke up this morning back home after the NTRA State of Origin 2010. Had a great weekend but, just like last year, came down with a head cold immediately after. What is with that? We won all three of our... More Posted by Hughie at 11:26 AM
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June 15, 2010
Sports update
Haven't mentioned my one true vice for a while so I thought I'd post a coupla quick thoughts I've had on the sporting world. First, well done The Matildas. Awesome effort, girls, to become the first Australian soccer team to... More Posted by Hughie at 9:00 AM
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June 6, 2010
Never a truer word spoken ...
Just read this rant from Street Carnage, which points out the brutal reality of playing in bands and advises people not to. Can't say I disagree, ironically. Life on the road can be boring, but it's also an opportunity to... More Posted by Hughie at 6:00 PM
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June 3, 2010
16 Answers from an Entrepreneur and Freelancer
Just read Seth Godin's latest. As always, brilliant in its insight and thought-provoking in its focus. He posed some questions that seemed highly pertinent to the space I'm about to enter, so I thought I'd answer them with respect to... More Posted by Hughie at 2:00 PM
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May 18, 2010
Breaking an act ...
Just read this post from Mike McCready. I like the way Mike thinks about a bunch of things, but I think he's on slightly the wrong track with this one. To start with, the whole notion of "breaking" and act... More Posted by Hughie at 9:00 AM
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May 10, 2010
Things Indies can learn from Idol ...
Found this article via Bob Baker. It's pitched at writers but it's also very true for Independent musos. No matter what people think of American Idol, or any other variant of the Idol franchise, the performers on it are coached... More Posted by Hughie at 1:57 PM
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April 27, 2010
The Melbourne Storm fiasco cont ...
Following on from my original post on this subject, back to Melbourne for a minute more ... The second issue is that the current NRL administration has been shown to be completely incompetent at policing its own rules. That's taking... More Posted by Hughie at 9:42 AM
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April 25, 2010
The Melbourne Storm fiasco
I'm kinda over this already. It makes me sick to think about it - so totally against everything sport stands for. It's a bureaucrat's issue, not a sporting issue ... Despite my hatred of his Blues heart, I find myself... More Posted by Hughie at 9:59 AM
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February 27, 2010
How to make a viny record - from 1956
Willy sent me this incredible short film by RCA Victor detailing the process of making a vinyl record. It's quite long but it goes through the recording process (no multi-tracking!), then the molding and then the pressing and distribution. It's... More Posted by Hughie at 2:02 PM
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February 23, 2010
It's better to reliquish control; Kulash gets it. Why doesn't EMI?
Interesting op-ed in the New York Times by OK Go singer Damian Kulash. Kulash notes that his band acted in violation of their record contract when they posted their famous treadmills video on YouTube and he gets stuck into EMI... More Posted by Hughie at 7:59 AM
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January 31, 2010
New Merch store
Hey there ... long time no see ... I've been playing with ReverbNation and have made this funky online store. It's got all the GBs tracks in it, plus some t-shirts and ringtones and other stuff. It would mean a... More Posted by Huge at 10:24 AM
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January 30, 2010
Another attempt to control digital rights?
Just found this article outlining a new audio file format that is supposed to replace MP3s. It essentially uses a downloaded MP3 as a Trojan Horse - ostensibly to allow users to download lyrics, artwork, etc to their player. Users... More Posted by Hughie at 5:33 PM
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January 27, 2010
I'm back!
Now that I have successfully negotiated the post-Christmas holidays with my beautiful kids, I can announce that I'm back! The other news is that I have completed two drafts of my PhD and hope to present it to the University... More Posted by Hughie at 10:40 AM
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January 26, 2010
Federal government: don't be stupid enough to try to censor the Internet ...
... please ... ??? http://www.internetblackout.com.au/ Join the protest!!... More Posted by Hughie at 5:14 PM
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January 14, 2010
This space left deliberately blank ...
... for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti and their families.... More Posted by Hughie at 8:45 PM
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December 9, 2009
Music as a visual artform
One of my immediate thoughts on the death of Michael Jackson was that his legacy is his contribution to making music a visual artform. Michael's songwriting was OK but fairly forgettable, his musicianship was also marginal ... but to way... More Posted by Hughie at 7:58 AM
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November 16, 2009
Newspaper have always been filters ...
What media organisations have not yet come to terms with is that their business model has always been about filtering available news, not generating content. By their own admission, they don't create the news, they report it. News has always... More Posted by Hughie at 4:25 PM
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October 13, 2009
The nature of love
Great quote from an interview with my buddy Derek Sivers: If you think love needs to look like “Romeo and Juliet”, you’ll overlook a great relationship that grows slowly. This is so true, and particularly pertinent to my own recent... More Posted by Hughie at 8:34 AM
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October 2, 2009
This space left deliberately blank ...
... for the victims of the Samoan tsunami and their families. And for those affected by the earthquakes in Sumatra.... More Posted by Hughie at 12:50 PM
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September 16, 2009
Nigel Tufnel on Joe Satriani ...
"You can't really be jealous of something you can't fathom." Love it! Nigel Tufnel talks about Joe Satriani and how they got on together in this classic clip. No idea where it came from or what it's doing but it's... More Posted by Hughie at 8:25 AM
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September 14, 2009
Wombats Anthem
This is a silly song I made up for the NTRA Over35s team when I played for Australia the first time in 2006. I originally wrote this main bit and a few verses for some of the players, including Beardy,... More Posted by Hughie at 3:35 PM
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August 14, 2009
The world's biggest jam and recording session ...
Musicians and bands who have performed original music in Brisbane are being invited to participate in a Guinness World Record attempt for the longest recording session with multiple artists, possibly the world’s longest jam. This is a unique opportunity for... More Posted by Hughie at 5:46 PM
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August 12, 2009
This space left deliberately blank ...
... for the victims of the typhoon in Japan and Taiwan.... More Posted by Hughie at 9:09 AM
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August 2, 2009
Seth Godin on the value of social networking
The lessons of Tila Teqila in 2 minutes … http://www.brandinfection.com/2009/08/01/seth-godin-on-social-networking/ Great stuff and so important for indie musos to understand. Seth's talking about business, and Indies need to understand that that's what they are if they want to make a... More Posted by Hughie at 11:04 AM
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July 17, 2009
Reznor's latest advice ... another beauty
Techdirt has another gem from Trent Reznor. Advice for indies on how to run their business. It's fairly general advice, but pretty good. Some of the comments provide interesting additional advice and so on. Rather than just report this, I... More Posted by Hughie at 4:44 PM
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July 16, 2009
Well done, the Blues
They wanted it more, they got the rub of the green, they earned it ... They salvaged some pride and showed they NSW do think that contesting the State of Origin means something. Well done. We'll take the last 4... More Posted by Hughie at 9:48 AM
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June 25, 2009
Queenslander!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a sensational period for us ... Personally, I won my two games (there was no need for a third) 9-1 and 8-1. QLD won the NTRA tournament 13 divisions to 3. Tonight QLD SOO wins a record 4th straight... More Posted by Hughie at 12:53 AM
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June 22, 2009
Goal 1 down. Goal 2 just beginning ...
Well, last weekend I played touch for NTRA QLD over-35s against NSW in Coffs Harbour. This was the achievement of the first physical goal I set myself at the start of the year. Actually, we smashed NSW in both games:... More Posted by Hughie at 10:53 AM
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June 13, 2009
Sweet Freedom
In the past 6 months or so I've started doing some work for a social-justice oriented, not-for-profit record label called Sweet Freedom. they've been around for a while with considerable success but they realised that they knew little about online... More Posted by Hughie at 10:44 AM
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June 10, 2009
Maintaining relationships ...
Just caught Techdirt's coverage of Shaun Groves' pontifications on the importance of fan relationships (got it via CDBaby on Facebook - how networked it THAT!!) Shaun discusses the changing nature of relationship-building for indies - about how the only important... More Posted by Hughie at 10:32 AM
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June 1, 2009
Not really a model ... yet
Just read Mike Masnick's take on U2 manager Paul McGuinness's rather tiresome whinge about the online music environment. I generally agree with Mike but I wanted to pick up on one thing he said that I think is misleading. Mike... More Posted by Hughie at 2:10 PM
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May 25, 2009
Brian Eno's spot on ... sort of
Found Hypebot's extract from an interview with Brian Eno, in which he outlines a "Recipe For New Music Business Success". He makes is sound very simple when he talks up the virtues of monetising the aspects of music that are... More Posted by Hughie at 2:36 PM
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May 22, 2009
I'll say it again: "Idol" is not about music ...
I*'m not sure why people bother writing this crap any more, since it's pretty much self-evident, but the New York Times has, once again published a destruction of the American Idol final result. Predictably, this article complains that the winner... More Posted by Hughie at 7:35 PM
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May 18, 2009
Go, Danger Mouse ...
Just found the great news via Techdirt (via Dubber): Danger Mouse is releasing his new album without any music on it. Of course, this was done before by Green Day, but DM has put a whole new spin on it.... More Posted by Hughie at 12:07 PM
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May 15, 2009
New Music I've discovered
For my birthday a short while ago I was given a copy of Preston Reed's Handwritten Notes. It's an interesting album with some really cool stuff, but ... sigh ... I just find it hard to get into this solo... More Posted by Hughie at 1:26 PM
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May 13, 2009
New toys
In order to make these new recordings, I have invested in a new electric guitar. It's a Michael Kelly Valor Custom T (Amber), which is sweet as. I wanted something with twin humbuckers to complement my fat Strat (which is... More Posted by Hughie at 10:15 AM
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May 12, 2009
Re-Bending of the Genres
OK, well, after a long absence I have decided that the best way to rekindle my interest in music and music studies is to start doing musical things once more. For this reason I have re-entered the studio and resumed... More Posted by Hughie at 5:01 PM
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April 8, 2009
This space left deliberately blank ...
for the victims of the Italian earthquakes and their families.... More Posted by Hughie at 9:47 PM
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March 31, 2009
Accurate sarcasm ...
Just read this little snippet from Techdirt, which notes that since the German School shooting a lot of people, including a Police Chief, have called for a ban on violent video games - citing a link between them and school... More Posted by Hughie at 1:53 PM
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March 2, 2009
Killng the music industry - Torrentfreak style
Great article on Torrentfreak about the factors affecting recorded music sales. It lists 8 changes since the advent of Napster that would have had a major impact, and it's not wrong. Of course, it's a little self-serving in denying that... More Posted by Hughie at 2:00 PM
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February 9, 2009
This space left deliberately blank ...
... for the victims of the bushfires in Victoria and their families.... More Posted by Hughie at 9:28 AM
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February 5, 2009
Another one down
I have just submitted my third article to First Monday for review. This gives me three submissions, which is the minimum for my PhD. My first has been accepted and is due for publication in the middle of this year;... More Posted by Hughie at 10:46 AM
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January 30, 2009
American Idol Discriminates
American Idol Discriminates from TJR on Vimeo. This is TJR's song about how American Idol only allows contestants under the age of 29. The original video was pulled by Youtube because Fremantle Media claimed breach of Copyright. So TJR made... More Posted by Hughie at 8:01 AM
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January 22, 2009
eMusic data supports the Long Tail
Some time ago there was a study showing that of 13million tracks available on the Internet, 10 million hadn't sold at all. This, it was claimed, proved that the Long Tail theory was bunkum. Chris Anderson, proud daddy of the... More Posted by Hughie at 4:34 PM
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Support critical reflection!!!
My [MusicThoughts] buddy TJR made a really great song about American Idol. He made a video for it using clips from the show and posted it to YouTube. The Video was a huge hit, getting 20,000 views in a week.... More Posted by Hughie at 9:35 AM
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January 21, 2009
Congratulations, President Obama - now the world is watching
It's great to see a Black Man in the White House. Long overdue and hopefully will set the tone for a fresh perspective on life all over the world. Congratulations to Barack Obama and his team - it's an extraordinary... More Posted by Hughie at 8:27 AM
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Inside Midem
A wonderful and revealing article in Techdirt about what's happening at annual music industry conference Midemnet. It clearly shows the state of the industry in one little snippet - new experiments that show new possibilities and much confusion among the... More Posted by Hughie at 8:17 AM
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January 11, 2009
Understanding women
"Hellboy: When a woman’s mad about something but she’s really mad about something else – you can’t ask because then they get angry 'cause you had to ask." I watched Hellboy II last night and this quote is particularly pertinent... More Posted by Hughie at 8:04 AM
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January 1, 2009
Happy new year
I hope 2009 brings you much success, joy and fulfillment. It has to be an improvement on 2008.... More Posted by Hughie at 7:55 AM
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December 25, 2008
Season's best wishes to all
Wishing you the best of your season, whatever your race, colour or creed. May your life be filled with joy and wonder now and into 2009.... More Posted by Hughie at 9:05 AM
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December 21, 2008
10,000 hours = 3 years?
Chris Anderson, always a guy who can be counted on for an interesting thought, has just suggested people need to change jobs every 3 years. He then equates this, through some fairly tendentious maths, to Malcolm Gladwell's "it takes 10,000... More Posted by Hughie at 7:39 AM
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December 11, 2008
Hypebot's top Music 2.0 posts
Hypebot has posted a summary of their best Music 2.0 posts of 2008. It's got some really good stuff in it. Very important in years to come, I'm sure. Check it out, read their literature and get into the resources... More Posted by Hughie at 7:36 AM
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December 9, 2008
Musowiki update
Right! Need to get back into updating regularly. Sorry about that. News: I have submitted the Musowiki paper for my thesis. It's been submitted to the International Journal of Community Music, who will hopefully find it enlightening enough to publish.... More Posted by Hughie at 12:37 PM
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December 2, 2008
Myspace is dead. Repeat after me: MySpace is dead.
Just got this ripper of a story about MySpace taking over the URL of a band called Mobile just because they wanted www.myspace.com/mobile as part of their strategy for entry into the mobile music marketplace. This is a classic demonstration... More Posted by Hughie at 7:46 AM
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November 28, 2008
This space left deliberately blank ...
for the victims of the violence in Mumbai. All of them.... More Posted by Hughie at 10:56 AM
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November 26, 2008
"Debunking the Long Tail"?
The Register published an article some time back about new research that claims to "debunk the Long Tail". It takes a critical mathematical approach mainly to the precise shape of the curve - is it a Pareto curve, as Chris... More Posted by Hughie at 10:26 AM
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November 23, 2008
Damn!
Well done, the Kiwis. Proved that they are genuine contenders and World Champions. Wayne Bennett is a genius. The Aussies just lacked that passion for the win, which the Kiwis clearly possessed, and couldn't produce the game-breaker when they needed... More Posted by Hughie at 9:23 AM
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November 4, 2008
Diabolical neglect
Rugby League, Rugby League World Cup, channel nine, Rugby League on tv, tv coverage, sport coverage, international rugby league, Kangaroos More Posted by Hughie at 7:26 AM
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October 29, 2008
On albums
[Musicthoughts] recently had an interesting discussion about the value of albums, inspired by a Lefsetz rant. I thought this might provide a slightly different take on the idea: For the record, I agree with Stephan's thinking completely: "I don't think... More Posted by Hughie at 11:35 AM
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October 5, 2008
I HATE daylight saving!
I heard the game was on at 5.30 ... I arranged to be home by 5.30 to watch the game ... I turned on the TV to watch the Grand Final of the NRL ... I got half an hour... More Posted by Hughie at 7:14 PM
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September 27, 2008
MySpace Music
So, MySpace Music has finally launched in a most unexpected manner ... how predictable. All I know for sure is that since the launch I have not been able to listen to any music on MySpace. I click on the... More Posted by Hughie at 8:11 AM
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September 25, 2008
What it means to do it the hard way
John Watson had a lot of gems at the Big Sound conference, but on the "big industry" panel he addressed the issue of getting signed and whether that meant anything in the new environment. He and the others gave several... More Posted by Hughie at 3:24 PM
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September 23, 2008
The most important ingredient for success
One of the most compelling, thoughtful and thought-provoking panellists at Big Sound 2008 was John Watson of John Watson Management. He's the guy who signed Silverchair, among others. John was the most aware and articulate person I've ever seen at... More Posted by Hughie at 10:05 AM
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September 20, 2008
Where we come from
At the "Managing your own release" panel at Big Sound 2008, Danny Rogers, manager of Gotye, Clare Bowditch, Litlte Red and Temper trap, among other things, was discussing how artists can build networks and find other people to help them... More Posted by Hughie at 2:55 PM
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September 18, 2008
Making a pitch to the punters ...
At one of the final session of the Big Sound 2008 conference, entitled "Managing Your Own Release", Carlo Santone from Blue King Brown made a great point about the way entertainers should think about their interactions with the music-buying public.... More Posted by Hughie at 2:40 PM
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September 16, 2008
OK, So I've been missing a lot recently ...
That's for a bunch of reasons, mostly to do with the end of my marriage and resulting stresses on my family, but also to do with my PhD (lack of progress) and other work things. I'll save the details for... More Posted by Hughie at 2:33 PM
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August 17, 2008
Can you feel it?
The return of an asinine TV show called "Australian Idol"? Actually, no, I can't feel it. I have far more important and ugly things to think about right now and in any case I'm having trouble raising any interest in... More Posted by Hughie at 8:25 AM
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July 27, 2008
Well done, Wallabies.
Not often you put four tries on the All Blacks. Playing with an enthusiasm and commitment I've not seen for a while, the boys proved they deserved all the hype and nonsense that led up to the game. Robbie Deans... More Posted by Hughie at 8:42 PM
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July 22, 2008
Musowiki turns 200
This morning I posted the 200th entry in Musowiki.net -- not counting redirect entries and a couple of odds and sods that are in there for ... dunno why. Anyway, this is a nifty milestone to reach at this point... More Posted by Hughie at 3:30 PM
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July 9, 2008
Vanessa Amorosi live
One of the things Dec Cluskey recommends is to get out regularly and see charting artists at work. Dec says if you want to perform like a star you need to study the way stars perform - reasonable point! So... More Posted by Hughie at 4:30 PM
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July 3, 2008
QUEENSLANDER!!!
Well, done, boys! What a great win! Backs-to-the-wall, tight and tense. Great stuff - what Origin is made of. And well done to the Blues, too. They looked the better team for much of the game and the second half... More Posted by Hughie at 9:40 AM
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June 24, 2008
Musowiki turns 100
Yesterday I put the 100th entry into Musowiki.net. There are now 114 entries. This is wonderful progress and I am so happy about it ... but there's a long way to go before it becomes a really useful resource. The... More Posted by Hughie at 2:24 PM
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June 22, 2008
Fete de la Musique
What an amazing musical experience I had yesterday! It pretty much covered everything that is great and awful about life as a musician. If only everyone could share something like this ... It started with the Brisbane Fete de la... More Posted by Hughie at 8:02 AM
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June 8, 2008
MiTunes
I have to say that I was quite disappointed with SBS's exploration of the impact of file sharing on the music industry. It was shallow and unilluminating. It presented far too many stock lines from self-interested parties (APRA, ARIA, IIA)... More Posted by Hughie at 11:39 AM
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June 6, 2008
Harry Potter ...
Last night, at about 2am, I finished reading the last of the seven books in the Harry Potter series. Much to my surprise, I had started it at 9am and found it impossible to stop reading. This, unfortunately, followed on... More Posted by Hughie at 11:11 AM
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May 30, 2008
My version of a Free Song Strategy
I've not been an avid reader of Bruce Warila - but I like what I do read. Now Bruce has enunciated (almost) exactly my thinking on the best way to "give away" your music. This is a brilliant and very... More Posted by Hughie at 9:49 AM
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May 28, 2008
10 Best Practices of Online Music Promotion
Just found this list by Nancy Baym of 10 best practices for online promotion. Nancy is a professor at Kansas U and has been studying fans culture and fan behaviour for a while now. She has some great ideas and... More Posted by Hughie at 9:22 AM
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May 27, 2008
The power of radio
Anyone who doubts the importance of radio airplay in establishing your value as a musical performer needs to take a long, hard look at the APRA awards. The nominees for Song of the Year are all big radio hits, as... More Posted by Hughie at 12:26 PM
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May 25, 2008
Meeting the millenials
Interesting report released by Music Tank last week called "Meet the Millennials". It's written, at least in part, by Nettwerk's Terry McBride, so it's certainly worth reading. Now, I'm always highly skeptical of anything that makes broad claims about the... More Posted by Hughie at 11:32 AM
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May 23, 2008
The best advice you don't have to buy
Derek Sivers has just released his manifesto for being heard. Derek has long agreed with the view, which I believe was first expressed by Cory Doctorrow, that the enemy of the unsigned artists is not piracy, but obscurity. This is... More Posted by Hughie at 11:09 AM
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May 22, 2008
Bugger!
Not good enough, Maroons! What is it about that stadium? Whenever the Maroons play down there they just seem to be drained of all energy and enthusiasm. Last the night the Blues were fired up, enthusiastic, passionate ... and Qld... More Posted by Hughie at 11:18 AM
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May 15, 2008
It's Origin Time!!
Love this time of year! Both side look really good but I think The Mighty Maroons have a slight advantage in the halves ... QUEENSLANDER!!!... More Posted by Hughie at 10:32 AM
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May 14, 2008
This space left deliberately blank ...
... for the victims of the earthquake in China.... More Posted by Hughie at 9:10 PM
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May 12, 2008
Myspace has very little to do with it ...
The other day I read this interview with Ingrid Michaelson, which is billed as revealing how MySpace can help musos "make it" on the same scale as Ingrid has. Since I found the article via Myspace For Musicians, I think... More Posted by Hughie at 9:35 AM
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May 9, 2008
20 Biggest Record Company Screw-Ups of All Time
I love a good list and I love a good story of stupidity, so this list of acts of stupidity in Blender is right up my alley. Hard to disagree with number 1, though I think some of the others... More Posted by Hughie at 11:35 AM
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Well, that blew out some cobwebs ...
Played at the Kenmore Tavern last night for Fretfest. A little 6-song solo acoustic set: Be Free Vital Signs When It's Over Mighty Fine Day Heart's With You Simplicity I was reminded the hard way that you play how you... More Posted by Hughie at 9:55 AM
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May 7, 2008
This space deliberately left blank ...
For the victims of Cyclone Nargis.... More Posted by Hughie at 11:20 AM
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May 6, 2008
This space deliberately left blank ...
For the victims of Cyclone Nargis.... More Posted by Hughie at 9:20 PM
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The predictable response
Well, it was always going to happen and here it is (thanks, Rachel!). A response from some New Media-savvy people pointing out how stupid the in-tune campaign is. It's a slightly over-done reaction (I basically just yawned) but, well, this... More Posted by Hughie at 5:51 PM
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April 30, 2008
Australian Music In Tune?
Puh-lease! Will someone wake the major music industry bodies up?? This is getting ridiculous. How out-of-touch do they ant to seem? This initiative is pathetic, and a PR disaster. It's the sort of idea you'd expect a bunch of pissed... More Posted by Hughie at 1:31 PM
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April 25, 2008
The demise of Sonific
It's sad to see that another experiment in approaches to independent music has gone the way of the dodo. Sonific, like a lot of Gerd Leonhard's stuff, was a great idea cruelled by harsh reality. Gerd bills himself as a... More Posted by Hughie at 9:39 AM
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April 11, 2008
MusoWiki stage 1 is complete!
One of the reasons I have not been posting much lately is because of the amount of time I been spending building www.musowiki.net. I'm pleased to announce that the Global component of the site is now complete and ready for... More Posted by Hughie at 3:57 PM
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Literacy in Vanuatu
Just got word of this worthy cause. It's raising funds for Vision Generation Qld, this year specifically to improve literacy in Vanuatu. Unfortunately, I'll be at Gumby's wedding, so I can't get there ... Come on all you crazy Queenslanders!... More Posted by Hughie at 3:28 PM
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March 28, 2008
Support Earth Hour 2008
Lately I haven't been able to do much but here's something that is pretty effortless for everyone: join Earth Hour and turn off your lights for an hour. Tomorrow night at 8pm, just turn off all the lights and appliances... More Posted by Hughie at 8:19 AM
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February 23, 2008
Missing in action
I apologise for my significant absence recently. Things here have been very ugly with regard to my family, so I have made this blog, my study and my music a fairly low priority. However, things should pick up again soon,... More Posted by Hughie at 6:44 AM
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February 13, 2008February 5, 2008
We'll miss you Jackie
Just read about the death of Jackie Orszaczky. I never met him personally but I read his name on so many album credits and spoke to so many people who played with him that I feel like I knew his... More Posted by Hughie at 9:11 AM
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January 26, 2008
How to form and run a rock band
Just found this resource via an e-mail list. It looks like a pretty cool heads-up for the muso who wants to get started in playing in a band, or whose wondering (as we all do) what went wrong in their... More Posted by Hughie at 9:19 AM
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January 23, 2008
Fergie/The Police
Caught this show at Suncorp Stadium last night. WOW! Unfortunately, the guys I went with were more interested in boozing it up than catching the show so I missed the first act and the start of Fergie's set. Also, we... More Posted by Hughie at 8:45 AM
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Music Market=share market for labels
I apologise for my absence - been busy. This morning I fielded a question from Jon David Francys via MySpace mail. He asked a very good question about the future for independent labels in the new environment and I thought... More Posted by Hughie at 8:29 AM
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January 9, 2008
The "musical middle class"
Over at Hypebot there's been an interesting discussion going on about the idea of a musical middle class. This is the idea that more acts, bands and/or artists are now making a living from music than ever before. They may... More Posted by Hughie at 12:38 PM
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January 8, 2008
Another great summary
Seth Godin has been raking over the entrails of the music industry figures from 2007 and has come up with some lessons from recent experience. I'm not convinced about some of them or the order in which they're placed ...... More Posted by Hughie at 8:14 AM
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January 7, 2008
A great summary ...
Just found this post by Ian Rogers about how new technologies have changed the music industry. It's a fantastic summary of the impact (or not) of the new environment. Complete, thoughtful, insightful. You have to read it and understand it... More Posted by Hughie at 9:46 AM
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December 30, 2007
Someone agrees!
For some time now I've been working on what I've called my "tentacle theory" of business for indies. This is basically the idea that you need to extend your reach as far as you can into the rest of the... More Posted by Hughie at 2:46 PM
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December 28, 2007
Being not boring
I was at the Art of Record Production conference at QUT last week and listened to Hank Shocklee talk about the creation of Public Enemy. It's an amazing story and Hank was very open, frank and forthcoming about the music... More Posted by Hughie at 7:02 AM
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December 24, 2007
Season's Greetings
Whoever you are and wherever you come from; whatever you believe and however you may appear, we wish you all the best for this time of year. We hope 2007 was great and may 2008 be even better.... More Posted by Hughie at 7:59 AM
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December 21, 2007
Playing with Demands
Just trying this out. But it will work if you click on it ...... More Posted by Hughie at 4:23 PM
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Coke or Moonshine?
David Byrne, formerly of Talking of Talking Heads, had a great piece published in Wired, in which he examines the future of the music industry and maps out some strategies for independent artists. Packed with real data and analysis, it... More Posted by Hughie at 8:59 AM
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December 14, 2007
Be Free
I've had this acoustic guitar-runny lick bit in my head for quite some time and was having a nap one afternoon after playing with it, wondering where it might lead, when this idea popped into my head, which I immediately... More Posted by Huge at 12:22 PM
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December 13, 2007
The Genre Benders go Live! Twice!
At long last, The Genre Benders go live with a splash this weekend at The Alley Bar, 2 Frew St, Milton! We're on Friday night at 7pm with Yield, Triplickit, A Date with Apathy and Lord Byron. Doors open 5.30.... More Posted by Huge at 9:06 AM
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November 28, 2007
Playing to 20,000 people
The other night I went to see Kaki King play at the Powerhouse in Brisbane. She was interesting, though a little wet for my taste. The girl can certainly play guitar ... Anyway, in the midst of a huge name-dropping... More Posted by Hughie at 9:46 AM
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November 26, 2007
Vale, Matt Price.
It's a sad time for Australian politics and journalism. One of the most entertaining, fair-minded and insightful political commentators died of brain tumours on the weekend. Matt price was the beacon of reason in a sea of right-wing nonsense in... More Posted by Hughie at 9:14 AM
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November 22, 2007
Awesome Olyroos!
Great to see the Olyroos have qualified for the 2008 Olympics with a draw over Korea. Keep it up boys, and bring home the big prize ...... More Posted by Hughie at 9:25 AM
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Go Tah! Go Tah! Go Tah!
Just heard that my best Brooklyn Buddy, Tah Phrum Duh Bush was voted "Favorite Male Hip Hop Performer" at the first Annual Upper States Awards at the Palace Theater in Syracuse, NY. Excellent and well deserved - Tah's a legend.... More Posted by Huge at 9:12 AM
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November 21, 2007
Radiohead's "success"?
Comscore have issued a report that estimates the rate of paid downloads from Radiohead's pay-what-you-like experiment. In a nutshell, they found that in the first 29 days of October, the album was downloaded about 1.2 million times and paid for... More Posted by Hughie at 11:30 AM
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November 20, 2007
This space left deliberately blank ...
for the victims of the Bangladesh cyclonic floods, their families and their communities.... More Posted by Hughie at 5:12 PM
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November 19, 2007
Wot an awesome weekend!
The Netball girls are World Champs, the Socceroos had a win V Nigeria and the Olyroos had a win over Iraq. Also, the Aussie cricket team are slowly massacring Sri Lanka and the Volleyballers have started well in their World... More Posted by Hughie at 8:57 AM
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November 12, 2007
This space left deliberately blank ...
... for the victims of the Jokela high school shooting in Finland and their families.... More Posted by Hughie at 8:05 AM
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November 9, 2007
What we'd be like if we were monkeys
My darling showed me this really cool video. I think it needs no comment. Pretty much says it all. Well said, Ernest Klein!... More Posted by Hughie at 12:45 PM
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November 8, 2007
Vinyl and MP3 vs CDs
Occasionally I come across articles like this one, which talk about the return of vinyl as a force for music sales and another "nail in the coffin" of the much-criticised CD. Oh, come on! It's a crock! Look at all... More Posted by Hughie at 9:36 AM
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November 6, 2007
Giving music away or making it available??
An interesting point came up on the MusicThoughts list yesterday and it peaked my interest - especially in light of an article from Andrew Dubber that I'd read earlier. Here's the original meme and my response: >> When you give... More Posted by Hughie at 10:05 AM
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October 29, 2007
Podcasting
I just spent today listing my podcast in as many places as possible, including this one, which asked me to publish this bit of code here: My Odeo Channel (odeo/a0359c902d0ff2f1) Of course, there are lots of other sites that list... More Posted by Hughie at 4:49 PM
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Most predictable ARIAs ever ...
Well, I predicted the winners of all but two ARIAS last night. I missed Gotye, mainly because I knew nothing about him - never heard his music and had only heard his name in connection with his nomination; and Sarah... More Posted by Hughie at 10:34 AM
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October 28, 2007
Music files may be abundant, but listener value and attention are still scarce.
Just came across this Techdirt article, in which Mike discusses the economics of abundance and therefore the virtues for an artist/band of making music available for free. This is an example of slightly muddled and mistaken thinking but before I... More Posted by Hughie at 10:17 AM
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October 26, 2007
Some sense from the other side
I am often amazed at the one-sidedness of discussion about free music. It always seems to reflect the view that bands, artists or record companies have been ripping consumers off for so long that therefore any steps taken to obtain... More Posted by Hughie at 10:29 AM
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October 25, 2007
7 Stupid Mistakes
I found this yesterday. The e-book is not bad and you can get it free if you tell four other people about it. It's called "The 7 Stupid Mistakes People Make Trying To Get Into The Music Business" and it... More Posted by Hughie at 9:50 AM
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October 23, 2007
Song contests
Coupla years ago a friend of mine won a major songwriting contest in Australia but, much to his frustration, told me that success didn't translate into better fortunes as a performer. Since I heard that story I have been wondering... More Posted by Hughie at 10:09 AM
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October 22, 2007
Well done, Springboks.
At least the Webb Ellis Trophy is back in the southern Hemisphere where it belongs - albeit on the wrong side of the Indian Ocean ... After Sunday morning's bore-fest I'd be surprised if the tournament won any new fans... More Posted by Hughie at 9:41 AM
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October 19, 2007
Awesome election rap battle
A friend of mine posted this to Facebook, and I thought it was so brilliant I'd have to share it. Have to find out more about these guys: The Axis of Awesome.But first, here's their election rap:... More Posted by Hughie at 11:22 AM
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October 18, 2007
The murky aspects of life ...
Last night I caught an episode of House and then half of Life on Channel 10. I love House because most of the time it deals with those murky areas of life where what is good and pure and right... More Posted by Hughie at 9:18 AM
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October 15, 2007
OK, OK, I now have Sonicbids ...
Despite my own better judgement, I have finally got around to signing up for a Sonicbids account for The Genre Benders. I have resisted this for a long time because I could not see the value proposition in it as... More Posted by Hughie at 12:26 PM
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October 14, 2007
Hypebot's 100 Free & Affordable High & Low Tech Music Promotion Tips
I've been following this for a while now and there's some really good stuff in here. Handy, simple and cheap. Of course, not all of them will work for everyone and some of them will not work at all once... More Posted by Hughie at 7:41 PM
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October 12, 2007
Jmag's best advice ...
Jmag, Triple J radio's print extension, has started publishing its "How to ... " section on a blog. I've not read many of these, but they seem to be packed with a bunch of great advice for indies on various... More Posted by Hughie at 12:59 PM
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October 11, 2007
Not Radiohead, Regurgitator!
Like the sheep I can sometimes be, I defied my track record of finding Radiohead's music boring and art-wanky and downloaded the free new album. I paid nothing for it, on the promise that I'd send them something if it... More Posted by Hughie at 12:02 PM
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Me at fRETfEST
My mate Graham came to see me play at fRETfEST last Saturday night and used his mobile phone to record my performance. It's been uploaded to YouTube, and here it is: The picture quality is awful but the sound is... More Posted by Huge at 9:21 AM
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October 9, 2007
Darn! Fell at the last hurdle.
Missed out on the fRETfEST final. I can't really argue with the people who made it in - they're all interesting - but there are a couple that I wonder what the judges see in them. I take comfort in... More Posted by Hughie at 10:13 AM
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Radiohead wrap
This came out of a discussion on MusicThoughts. There's heap of commentary about the new Radiohead approach to releasing albums but I think a lot of people are reading far too much into this. The strategy is transparent and ...... More Posted by Hughie at 10:04 AM
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October 8, 2007
More of me in Philly
Again, from Rachel Rocks, a review and another photo ... "HUGE came all the way from Australia to check out the IMC. When he performed, he came out wearing these funky pants, that made you think he’s a little crazy,... More Posted by Huge at 2:41 PM
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Vital Signs
This song came to me in two separate parts. The chorus woke me up about 2am one morning while I was enjoying a cuddle with my beloved wife and I starting thinking about how lucky I am to be in... More Posted by Huge at 10:29 AM
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October 7, 2007
Well done, England.
It pains me to say it, but the Poms played very well last night and deserved their win. They wanted it more and played accordingly - the Wallabies were disjointed, distracted and never really in the match. They played too... More Posted by Hughie at 6:10 PM
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October 2, 2007
Well done, Melbourne!!
Never thought I'd cheers a Melbourne sporting success but I love it when anyone beats Manly. Awesome, boys - comprehensive and clinical. They had to work for it, but they got there in the end and deserved their win. Now,... More Posted by Hughie at 12:41 PM
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Through to the Semis!
Wow! I'm in the final 20 performers in fRETfEST. Given the competition I saw last Saturday, I'm blown away by that. They were all so good ... some amazing songs and great performances. Honoured to be in that company. This... More Posted by Huge at 9:13 AM
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September 28, 2007
Keeping fans' interest
At IMC, one of the more unexpectedly interesting perspectives came from David Cooper, who's an accountant. He specialises in making stuff to help artists at the back end - the accounting and management jobs that most artists struggle with. We... More Posted by Hughie at 1:46 PM
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September 27, 2007
How to stand out in the crowd
Jim Fetzer was great for a quote at the Independent Music Conference. At one stage we were discussing the difficult issue of how a band can get people to notice them in this world that is flooded with acts doing... More Posted by Hughie at 10:15 AM
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September 26, 2007
Have the confidence to be rejected
Got this one from Derek Sivers' website. Derek's an incredible guy who I had the honour to meet a couple of Big Sound Conferences ago. He knows what it takes to be in independent artist and delights in helping indies... More Posted by Hughie at 11:46 AM
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September 25, 2007
Keep your eyes on the prize ...
James Fetzer, fetzer music management, covers, covers bands, covers songs, originals bands, original songs, covering songs, playing covers, independent music, independent artists, independent musicians, original music More Posted by Hughie at 2:12 PM
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Made it into Fretfest!
Got an e-mail last night confirming that I passed the audition and made it into the first heat of Fretfest in the Middle-age Farts category. I played my latest song, "When it's Over" (slightly reworked after IMC07), and got some... More Posted by Huge at 10:46 AM
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September 24, 2007
Confidence to be rejected
Got this one from Derek Sivers' website. Derek's an incredible guy who I had the honour to meet a couple of Big Sound Conferences ago. He knows what it takes to be in independent artist and delights in helping indies... More Posted by Hughie at 5:46 PM
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So, Melbourne V Manly?
The two best teams all year end up in the Grand Final! Very appropriate and just what I wanted to see ... Go the Storm! I don't care who beats Manly or by how much ...... More Posted by Hughie at 11:39 AM
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Why should people care??
Jim Fetzer has a unique approach to managing Indie bands ... or any band, for that matter. He has an interesting take on life. But in one of the IMC07 panels, he made the point that for all the new... More Posted by Hughie at 11:21 AM
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September 23, 2007
Words you will never hear ...
At the IMC07 I attended a session on song arrangement run by Lawrence "Gelboni" Gelburd. It was very informative. He basically just showed us how he had re-worked a song by a band he was helping. The song was already... More Posted by Hughie at 5:00 PM
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September 21, 2007
Music discovery
Just found this post from Hype Machine. They asked readers "How do you discover music?" and, not surprisingly, the top answer was from online editorials, followed by friends' recommendations. The lowest rating was given to "Online Mechanical", which means via... More Posted by Hughie at 11:31 AM
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September 20, 2007
Me in Philly!
Thanks to Rachel Rocks at the Pennsylvania Musician magazine, here's a photo of me in action at the Independent Music conference in Philadelphia on August 30. It's always interesting to see yourself as others see you .. not that you... More Posted by Huge at 3:34 PM
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September 18, 2007
The Big Picture
Independent music conference, IMC07, independent music, tips for musicians, tips for artists, tips for independent musicians, tips for independent artists, help for artists, help for musicians, how to become an independent artist, independent music career, music business, music industry, independent music business, independent music career More Posted by Hughie at 1:46 PM
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September 10, 2007
This space left blank ...
for Hannah Ethel Bonfield and Lydia Mae McLeish-Edwards who were victims of a house fire last night. And for their parents, Claire and Chard, who are shattered. Such beautiful children, close friends, lost so tragically. But for the grace of... More Posted by Hughie at 4:56 AM
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September 6, 2007
Now in Canada
Since I last posted I have had my mind blown by the IMC at Philly, been driven to New York (unexpectedly) by Mike "Lapdance" Lapke (thanks, maaate) and am now at Ottawa International Airport, Canada. This trip has been a... More Posted by Hughie at 2:51 AM
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September 1, 2007
Greatly relieved
Popped the cherry last night at the IMC07 peer-assessment show. I was on very late and very tired, but the crowd seemed appreciative and I got some valuable feedback. This conference is great value and I'm learning a lot and... More Posted by Hughie at 3:30 AM
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August 30, 2007
In Philadelphia now
and attending the IMC07. Last night was the pre-conference party and setup thing, which was fairly low-key. Not many people there and we had a good jam at the sound-check. Met a heap of really nice people and song a... More Posted by Hughie at 11:55 PM
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August 29, 2007
Nashville via LA
Well, I'm in Nashville right now. Arrived yesterday via LA the day before and am struggling somewhat with a lack of sleep ... But Nashville is an amazing place. The people are so friendly (especially compared to LA) and the... More Posted by Hughie at 3:36 AM
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August 27, 2007
I'm in L.A.!
Over here for a series of interviews with prominent and not-so-prominent independent musicians. Just one night here (hoping to catch up with Winjow) and then off to Nashville for two days and then Philadelphia for the IMC07 ... Stay tuned... More Posted by Hughie at 10:46 AM
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August 22, 2007
The slow decay of MySpace?
Just read an interesting but revealing article about the different fortunes of MySpace and Facebook. Now, the article is framed as a discussion of how the two sites compare from the point of view of growth and total numbers, but... More Posted by Hughie at 10:04 AM
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August 20, 2007
This space left deliberately blank ...
... for the victims of the Peru earthquake, their families and their communities.... More Posted by Hughie at 10:57 AM
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August 17, 2007
When It's Over
This song is testimony to how hard it is to occupy two headspaces at once. For the past two weeks I have been trying to write a theory paper for my PhD, which is quite complex and difficult to get... More Posted by Huge at 10:46 AM
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August 16, 2007
The value of your brand
Found a great article about the David Lee Roth reunion with Van Halen. Gotta say I'm a huge Van Halen fan and all three singers worked for me - although the Cherone things is not my favourite album. Perhaps that's... More Posted by Hughie at 11:00 AM
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August 15, 2007
Business approaches for indies
This post arose out of a discussion on the [MusicThoughts] e-mail list. We were pulling apart the benefits and weaknesses of using Tunecore or CDBaby as your service of choice to digitally distribute your music - at least that's roughly... More Posted by Hughie at 10:45 AM
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August 13, 2007
What I would have written
The other day I bought Ty Cohen's book "The New Music Industry: How to Use the Power of the Internet to Multiply Your Industry Exposure, Fan Base and Income Potential Online!" Despite its technical flaws and marketing-at-all-cost philosophy, I have... More Posted by Hughie at 10:04 AM
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August 9, 2007
BTW - all clear
Got the results of my mole scan yesterday and all's well. No cancer in the bit they cut out ... next checkup in about a year ...... More Posted by Hughie at 9:06 PM
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The GBs on iTunes
The Genre Benders' I am leaving! I am leaving!" is now available on iTunes: Enjoy!... More Posted by Hughie at 12:18 PM
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August 6, 2007
Technical difficulties
I'm offline right now because I bought a new PC (the old one was bought in 2001) and for some reason it won't connect via ethernet to my old router ... though the laptop still connects wirelessly. Weird. Back soon... More Posted by Hughie at 8:12 AM
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August 1, 2007
Congratulations, Iraq!
It's a stupendous achievement to win any international sporting event, but to win an intenational football event is one of the toughest, and to come from the mess that is Iraq and win the Asia cup is even more extraordinary.... More Posted by Hughie at 10:01 AM
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July 31, 2007
Songwriting as expression
Just found Patti Witten's nifty story about her experience at a songwriting workshop run by Rosanne Cash (Johnny's daughter, among other things). I've never been much of a one for these sorts of workshoppy gigs - I recognise the lonliness... More Posted by Hughie at 12:51 PM
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July 30, 2007
Recommendations and fans!
The Genre Benders' debut is now available for sale from CDBaby and I've uploaded it to Last.fm and Amie Street, where the opening track has been recommended - how cool is that! I'm working on getting it to Garageband.com, but... More Posted by Hughie at 12:45 PM
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July 27, 2007
Well, there you go ...
Since I finished "I am leaving! I am leaving", I've sent it out to a lot of people and places. Some of them have completely ignored me, but to date all of the feedback has been positive. Until today ...... More Posted by Hughie at 7:05 PM
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July 25, 2007
Well done, Netballers
Always good to beat the Kiwis and especially good to exact revenge on them for previous losses :-) Also, the manner of the series win - big first win, narrow loss, then tight but solid final win - bodes well... More Posted by Hughie at 5:24 PM
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July 24, 2007
Sensational weekend ...
Last weekend I went away for our 10th wedding anniversary to Treehouses of Montville. We had the most wonderful, indulgent weekend we could have asked for ... Totally recommend them to anyone who wants to get away from the rat... More Posted by Hughie at 12:40 PM
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July 18, 2007
Bureaucrats
One of my pet hates in this life is bureaucrats who see their existsnce and jobs as an end in themsleves. I have no problem with the need for bureaucrats - someone needs to take responsibility for delivering administration services... More Posted by Hughie at 1:47 PM
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The Album is up on Last.fm
OK, I've uploaded it to http://www.last.fm/music/The+Genre+Benders/I+am+leaving%21+I+am+leaving%21 - that's the album page. I've embedded it it here: table.lfmWidget20070718023725 td {margin:0 !important;padding:0 !important;border:0 !important;}table.lfmWidget20070718023725 tr.lfmHead a:hover {background:url(http://panther1.last.fm/widgets/images/en/header/radio/regular_red.png) no-repeat 0 0 !important;}table.lfmWidget20070718023725 tr.lfmEmbed object {float:left;}table.lfmWidget20070718023725 tr.lfmFoot td.lfmConfig a:hover {background:url(http://panther1.last.fm/widgets/images/en/footer/red.png) no-repeat 0px 0 !important;;}table.lfmWidget20070718023725... More Posted by Hughie at 1:34 PM
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July 16, 2007
Music and dancing ...
Got this one from my supervisor, Steve Dillon, the other day. He's not sure where it came from but it's a beaut. Perfectly captures the futility of most forms of cultural critique: "Writing about music is like dancing architecture" Damn... More Posted by Hughie at 1:44 PM
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July 15, 2007
Vale, Mark Gillett
Got the saddest news yesterday. My good friend Mark Gillett, writer of Dancing With the Stones and many other great tunes, died last April of cancer. He is sorely missed in the folk music community of the Sunshine Coast hinterland.... More Posted by Hughie at 1:32 PM
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July 12, 2007
Got an international gig!
Just got confirmed as performing at the Independent Music Conference in Philadelphia in August/Sept. Not sure of the exact dates yet. I'm hoping this will be an accoustic set of about 1/2 hour as a "showcase" (IMC hates that word... More Posted by Hughie at 11:03 AM
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July 11, 2007
Genre Benders album is nearly here
OK, it's being replicated, so if you want to pre-order the CD, please do so here using the PayPal shopping facility. If you'd like to hear it before you buy, go to The Genre Benders' website. For people ordering the... More Posted by Hughie at 10:22 AM
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July 7, 2007
Another WOFTAM
Apparently I got nowhere in the QSong awards. The finalists have been announced and none of my three entries is present. The finalists list looks like the usual suspects ... Still, I comfort myself with the knowledge that the greatest... More Posted by Hughie at 5:50 PM
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July 6, 2007
Oh, well ....
So close, but nobbled at the last hurdle. The mighty Maroons should have won that one but didn't stand a chance once the injuries depleted them. 14 men just can't beat 17 in the modern game. Mind you, the Blues... More Posted by Hughie at 12:30 PM
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July 4, 2007
Go Maroons!
Make it 3/3 boys! We wanna Maroon-wash of this State of Origin series - especially at home. But beware the Blues. They'll come out hard and fast like they always do - and might last a bit longer this time,... More Posted by Hughie at 5:51 PM
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June 29, 2007
Great advice, Brian
Just got Brian Austin Whitney's latest e-newsletter, and it's a beaut! Personally, I've gone through some pretty life-changing stuff lately and it can be very intimidating at times so it's great to get some sage advice from a guy who's... More Posted by Hughie at 9:56 AM
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June 28, 2007
Thank God It's Nearly Here
Channel Ten obviously think they're onto a thing with this blanket promotion of upcoming shows. No sooner did I whinge about the promos for Pirate Master than they started giving Thank God You're Here the same treatment. I saw promos... More Posted by Hughie at 5:50 PM
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June 21, 2007
Over Pirate Master already
When will the morons in charge of TV marketing learn? Channel Ten's new show "Pirate Master" has been promoted and hyped so much in the past few weeks that, although it starts tonight, I'm not going to watch it ...... More Posted by Hughie at 9:08 AM
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June 14, 2007
How good was Guy Sebastian??
Update: Guy's official site is here. Thanks to Nessa for reminding me to include it. One of the absolute highlights of last night's Origin game had to be Guy Sebastian's version of the national anthem ... Now, I object to... More Posted by Hughie at 12:47 PM
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Happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy ...
Happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy,... More Posted by Hughie at 8:54 AM
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June 13, 2007
My studio
Thought I'd take some pics of the studio to show you ... it's pretty primitive. Here's the mixing setup, which is what I'm doing most the time at them moment: It's in one half of my garage ... and cannot... More Posted by Hughie at 10:05 AM
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Queenslander!!
Go Maroons! Win at Telstra! Win the series! Bring it home for us, boys ... Show the cocky Cockies how the game's played ...... More Posted by Hughie at 9:20 AM
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June 11, 2007
A Working Class Hero?
Great to hear that politics is back on the musical agenda via this song and Green Day. It's one of my favourite songs - has everything that a great song needs. I also really dig Green Day - they're a... More Posted by Hughie at 4:38 PM
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June 7, 2007
Damn in French = rien!
Just got a letter from France saying that Bun' Ber E's French distribution company, Jam Label, has gone into liquidation. This is a bummer, but they never actually earned us anything ... at least, they never paid us anything. We... More Posted by Hughie at 9:23 AM
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June 4, 2007
A bootleg?
UPDATE: the finished product is now available and can be ordered from here. If you want to listen before you buy, the songs are available here. OK, my engineer just presented me with a bunch of quick mixes of the... More Posted by Huge at 10:50 AM
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June 2, 2007
Hardware malfunction!
My PC died this afternoon! I am writing this on my son's PC. I'll have to replace my old PC, which had been misbehaving for some time, as soon as possible. Hopefully I haven't lost any of the info on... More Posted by Hughie at 6:34 PM
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June 1, 2007
Astral Traveller
Another of the riffs Tristan came up with turned into this funky number. It's a bit of a nonsense song, really. At the time I wrote (most of) the lyrics I was interested in what my darling and I called... More Posted by Huge at 3:56 PM
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May 31, 2007
Entered Songwriting contest
OK, I've just driven to the Valley and lodged a three-song entry in the QSong awards 2007. I entered the bootleg mixes of "Heart's With You" (Country category), "12 Good Bars and True" (Blues/Roots category) and "Dirty" (Pop category). I'm... More Posted by Hughie at 3:28 PM
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May 30, 2007
Dirty
Several years ago (~1995) I was in an unsuccessful 3-piece band called 'Lifta". The band came and went nowhere but the guitarist, Tristan Rogers, had a real flair for making up interesting guitar riffs. Tristan is the brother of Adam,... More Posted by Huge at 3:53 PM
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Keeping it all in perspective
I've had quite a frustrating and disappointing week but it has all been brought into stark relief this morning with the news that my kids' school's Deputy Principal, Monica Reid, died last night. Only a few weeks ago she was... More Posted by Hughie at 9:58 AM
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May 23, 2007
Happy happy happy happy ...
Love it when Qld wins!!! But there's a long way to go in the series ... and the Blues weren't far off the mark. They'll be back for more in Sydney next time. Go you Maroons!!!... More Posted by Hughie at 11:03 PM
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Go Maroon!
State of Origin time again!! Love it! Go you Maroons!! Queenslander!!... More Posted by Hughie at 9:24 AM
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May 22, 2007
IT IS DONE!!
The album is in the can! (except for a sax part ...) I still have to edit things a bit and choose which take to use in a few places. But it is all recorded except for the sax part... More Posted by Huge at 9:06 AM
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May 21, 2007
Welcome back, Casey ...
Heard an interview with Casey Donovan on the radio this morning. That's the Australian singer, not gay the porn star. She was talking about her life since Idol and her new music. Interesting listening to her new music ... she's... More Posted by Hughie at 7:58 PM
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May 18, 2007
So Far Away
In about 1993 I broke up with a girlfriend of 3 years: Erin. I found this profoundly upsetting but ultimately life-changing as it pulled me out of a rut and got me looking to the rest of my life. Just... More Posted by Huge at 3:58 PM
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Predictable dreams
Sometimes my brain works in such predictable ways. Had a shocking case of insomnia last night following the dream that always haunts periods of near-achievement. In this case, I dreamt I was called in to play bass for the Police... More Posted by Huge at 10:25 AM
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May 17, 2007
Nope, not quite ...
I just went and checked, and I have two bits to add to the music: "Mighty Fine Day" needs an accoustic guitar and "So Far Away" needs a triangle. And, of course, there's the sax part on "Long for the... More Posted by Huge at 11:16 PM
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Dare I breathe it? The music is done ... at last???
As of about an hour ago, I think ... well, I'm pretty sure ... as sure as I can be ... although tomorrow might tell a different story ... the music for the first album is in the can. That... More Posted by Huge at 8:04 PM
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May 9, 2007
Missy Higgins ... musical chick lit
The other day my darling and I were driving along discussing why I don't get Missy Higgins. Don't get me wrong, I think she's a great peformer, always immaculately produced with obviously great material ... but her songs just don't... More Posted by Hughie at 10:26 AM
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May 7, 2007
Manifesto for New Music Strategies
Just found this. It's brilliant summary of the New Music environment. These are the principles by which I operate and into which I am conducting further research (as is its author, Andrew Dubber). I won't summaries it because it's a... More Posted by Hughie at 2:37 PM
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May 3, 2007
I taught Zoran!
Last night, while waiting patiently for a new Simpsons, as advertised in the TV guide but which never appeared, I caught half an hour of Big Brother.I was rather purprised to note that Zoran was one of my former students,... More Posted by Hughie at 10:17 AM
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May 2, 2007
Having some fun ...
Went out to the Lounge Room Gallery in Red Hill last Saturday night for an Open Mic ... There was some real talent on display, though the venue was a little cramped, and it was good fun. I played three... More Posted by Hughie at 10:32 AM
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May 1, 2007
Peter Costello
Brilliant quote I heard that was attributed to Paul Keating, who's notorious for his creative insults: "The thing about poor old Costello is he is all tip and no iceberg." I heard it had been used at the ALP National... More Posted by Hughie at 10:21 AM
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April 30, 2007
Well done, cricketers!!
Excellent result, boys! Shame about the end of the game, but umpires do that sort of thing sometimes ... I felt very sorry for the Sri Lankans having to endure that agony twice. It must have been awful to know... More Posted by Hughie at 8:54 AM
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April 27, 2007
Come on Aussie, Come on! Come On!
Let's go, boys! One game to the World Cup. We've played some awesome cricket so far and really dominated the tournament ... don't drop the bundle now. We want another trophy and three in a row ... Go hard, boys!!!... More Posted by Hughie at 8:31 AM
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April 23, 2007
Well done, Broncos
Good to see the second win for the season last night - pity it spoiled Joey Johns's night. Andrew Johns is an absolute champion and it would have been nice for him to go out in better style, but I'd... More Posted by Hughie at 10:00 AM
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April 22, 2007
Live vs virtual music ...
Here's a great expression attributed to Warner Music Group's Lyor Cohen in Forbes magazine. He's talking about the A&R process adopted by the major labels and how online connectivity can be faked by bands wanting a deal. As much as... More Posted by Hughie at 1:35 PM
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April 18, 2007
Well said, Bernard!
I was reading an interview with Powderfinger from last weekend's Australian about their new album, Lost and Running, this morning, and there's this quote in it from Bernard Fanning (he was talking about writing his solo album, Tea and Symphony):... More Posted by Hughie at 9:03 AM
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April 17, 2007
This space left blank ...
For the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting and their families, friends and community.... More Posted by Hughie at 5:52 PM
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April 10, 2007
Thanks, Joey!!
Just got the news that Andrew Johns has retired. The game and all its fans are gonna miss him. Even though he was a Blue, he was one of those players who you loved to watch whether he was on... More Posted by Hughie at 5:44 PM
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April 6, 2007
Best wishes for the season
Whether Easter is a holy occasion or just an excuse for a holiday to you, I wish you and those you love all the best for the season. May this time meet your expectations and fulfill your needs with love,... More Posted by Huge at 9:55 AM
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April 5, 2007
Songwriting emotions
Found this one via a Blogging Muses post that quoted Ananova.com. It's from Bono and about songwriting: "Feelings are stronger than ideas or words in a song. You can have 1000 ideas, but unless you capture an emotion, it's an... More Posted by Hughie at 10:21 PM
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Conversations with Lefsetz
Had a recent exchange with Bob Lefsetz about the phenomenon I noticed in iTunes. Now that I've had a few days to think about it, I thought I'd blog on the subject ... First of all I have to say... More Posted by Hughie at 5:20 PM
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April 4, 2007
Sony wakes up!?
Good to see one of the major record companies has finally found a good use for the web. Shame it's not one that works to the advantage of everybody else ... But it makes perfect sense to them and doesn't... More Posted by Hughie at 3:46 PM
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April 3, 2007
Can Apple manipulate the digital music market?
I just sent this e-mail to Chris Anderson, Bob Lefsetz and the [Musicthoughts] e-mail list: Hi Chris and Bob. Thought you might be interested in this phenomenon, as observed via the [MusicThoughts] e-mail list. Its members are mostly independent artists... More Posted by Hughie at 12:17 PM
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April 2, 2007
King Konker ...
We watched the Peter Jackson remake of King Kong on Saturday night. Or rather, I watched the start and then gave up and went to bed ... What a shocker! To start with, Jack Black was the worst casting in... More Posted by Hughie at 10:39 AM
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March 30, 2007
Giving the music away?
music business, music industry, music business models, giving music away, giving recordings away, free music, legitimate free downloads, Barenaked Ladies, MC Lars, More Posted by Hughie at 1:16 PM
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March 28, 2007
Haaapyyy birth-day to meeeee ...
I was hoping that if I ignored this day it would be cancelled but apparently that's not gonna happen. My lovely family gave me an Aretha Franklin 3-CD set (yaaaay!), a pair of Homer Simpson PJ pants ("You'll have to... More Posted by Hughie at 9:52 AM
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March 26, 2007
How good is synchronised swimming?
Surprise packet of my weekend: Synchronised swimming rocks!! I was watching the Friday night NRL at the Club and had to finish my beer before going home at the end of the game, so I tuned in to the World... More Posted by Hughie at 10:09 AM
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March 24, 2007
Getting closer
OK, the album is slowly getting closer. I'm really happy with the way So far Away is coming up, though I'm perplexed about the chorus - it needs something to lift it a bit. Perhaps some backing vocals, or another... More Posted by Huge at 10:19 AM
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March 23, 2007
Gonna try again
OK, after a few weeks of resting my foot (sort of), I'm going to try playing footy again tonight - very gently. I'll probably have a short run and not try to do anything very enthusiastic. Of course, it will... More Posted by Hughie at 10:10 AM
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March 19, 2007
Life returns to normal
Great to see the NRl back on TV. I've missed it over summer. I was disappointed that the Broncos and Titans lost but they both went well, showed glimses of what they're capable of and have plenty of improvment in... More Posted by Hughie at 9:26 AM
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March 13, 2007
Producing the Genre Benders
Getting ever closer slowly. I now have drum parts down for 6 tracks (two don't need drums) and keyboards for two, thanks to Kathy Hirche. The guitars are getting closer to final parts and the vocals are still guides. I've... More Posted by Huge at 10:16 AM
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March 12, 2007
No Van Halen at their own show??
Distubing news at the pinnacle of the industry: Van Halen will not be performing at their own induction into the Hall of Fame. Not with DLR, not with Sammy, not at all. That's ridiculous!! Apparently, it's not uncommon for R&... More Posted by Hughie at 8:54 AM
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February 28, 2007
Bye, Bye, Billy
Awful news this morning about the passing of Billly Thorpe. The world is a lesser place without this great performer and character. I wasn't into his music much but I enjoyed what I knew of it and respect anyone who... More Posted by Hughie at 1:39 PM
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February 20, 2007
One step closer
Played at the Casuarina Cup again last Saturday. Came second in the Over-30s (again). Beaten by the same mob. At least it was only by 1 this time ... we let them get to 3-0, pegged them back to 3-3... More Posted by Hughie at 9:48 AM
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February 19, 2007
Onya Ricky!
There's not enough politics in music these days, so it's great to see that Ricky Martin got into trouble for making a political statement about George W Bush while performing in Puerto Rico. Even better, he had the balls to... More Posted by Hughie at 6:31 PM
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February 16, 2007
Thanks, Dec!
Amazing what a difference a bit of professional advice makes. For the past little while I've been re-working and re-recording the song for my first solo album based on the advice (mainly) of Dec Cluskey. He's been spot on about... More Posted by Huge at 10:37 AM
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February 14, 2007
Happy Valentine's Day all
Had a lovely (if brief) lie in a cuddle this moring. Hope you did too ... That's what it's all about - buying presents and other material things are optional.... More Posted by Hughie at 8:49 AM
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February 6, 2007
Taking a break from footy
Last night I played the grand final of the Unitouch Chapel Hill competition. We came second after leading 2-1 at half time. Never mind. That will be the last game I'll play in that comp for a while. My foot... More Posted by Hughie at 3:45 PM
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Congratulations, Your Majesty
Queen Elizabeth II has been in that position for 55 years today. I reckon 55 years in any position is a noteworthy acheivement and she should be given full credit for eaching the milestone. She has aquitted herself with integrity... More Posted by Hughie at 9:58 AM
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February 5, 2007
Easier Typing
Typing this on my new keyboard. Same old computer and other stuff, but my darling persuaded me to invest a new I/O on the grounds that the old one had a dysfunctional F9 and a sticky K - which was... More Posted by Hughie at 6:03 PM
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February 1, 2007
Crime TV? It's ART
I've noticed that the new series of the Commercial TV Networks' prime time dramas is about to begin. I noticed some time ago that they all feature excessive amounts of lettering in their names - this seems to be a... More Posted by Hughie at 3:57 PM
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January 30, 2007
Microsoft not copying Mac? What's new?
This is classic. A NYT columnist shows why the Microsoft have NOT blatantly ripped off Mac OS X ideas in making their new Windows Vista system: I'm glad he says it's "much more secure" than previous Windows releases. It needed... More Posted by Hughie at 10:48 AM
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January 26, 2007
12 Good Bars and True
Just yesterday I was listening to ZZTop and thinking about how over-complicated music can get - as opposed to their predominantly simple but effective take on it. Today I am going down to the local club to jam with the... More Posted by Huge at 9:53 AM
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January 22, 2007
The day of many Kates
Saturday was interesting. We went into the City for a bit of a day out. First we had a great feed at the Pancake Manor in Charlotte Street - always good value. Then we walked down the hill to Archive's... More Posted by Hughie at 8:00 AM
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January 16, 2007
Van Halen gets a gong!
Just got the news that Van Halen are to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Now, I'm not a fan of the Hall of Fame - too much cronyism and wankery associated with it - but if ever there... More Posted by Hughie at 3:36 PM
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January 15, 2007
Could Koopa be the first?
In my thesis research so far I have been at pains to distinguish between music that has become popular of its own - via the network of fans and so on - and music that has become popular because a... More Posted by Hughie at 11:20 AM
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January 11, 2007
Great stuff!
Wish I'd known about these guys before. Bob Lefsetz used this song to make a point in one of his diatribes, and it's a ripper! Have to try and find the video and/or DVD. There are some other Three Dog... More Posted by Hughie at 2:32 PM
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January 10, 2007
An unhappy withdrawal.
Just had to pull out of the NTRA tour to NZ. Bummer! The problem is mainly with my knee, which is just not healing fast enough to allow me to go. I also have Plantar Fasciitis in both feet, which... More Posted by Hughie at 10:13 AM
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January 9, 2007
Ten things losers do on MySpace
My MySpace friend Rosie sent me this rant, which I thought very apt and quite funny. She said I could republish it, in fact requested that it be repubished, so here it is: TEN THINGS LOSERS DO ON MY SPACE!!!!... More Posted by Hughie at 12:02 PM
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January 6, 2007
Well done, thanks, seeya
Warnie, Pidgeon, JL, Marto, thanks! It's been a pleasure to watch you compete on the international stage and I wish you all the best for your respective futures. To the cricket team re the whitewash of England: well done, boys.... More Posted by Hughie at 5:04 PM
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December 30, 2006
More awesome stuff
Also via the Digital Music Weblog, found Andy McKee - accoustic finger-style guitarist beyond belief. Check out this, for example: These are the kinds of amazing artists that ought to be receiving major publicity and airplay from the major labels... More Posted by Hughie at 10:59 AM
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December 29, 2006
Amazing stuff
On the Digital Music Weblog, they give props to this performance: Awesome, yeah? Not a new idea but an excellent way to use it. Must have a go at something similar myself. I wonder what the words are??... More Posted by Hughie at 10:35 AM
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December 25, 2006
Season's greetings ...
... to all. Whatever your location, creed or beliefs, may this time of year bring you peace, happiness and joy. May the New Year bring you success as well ...... More Posted by Hughie at 7:03 PM
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December 18, 2006
Welcome back, Ashes
Well done, boys. Superb effort, not just in winning the Urn but in the way you did it: three from three and some awesome, electrifying results among them! Now, there's still two games to go in the series - give... More Posted by Hughie at 3:27 PM
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December 14, 2006
Comparison of digital distributors
Just found this comparison via a roundabout way. It's a table of the costs, processes and other aspects of some digital distribution companies that I knew nothing about. In fact, I knew nothing about some of these companies! But that's... More Posted by Hughie at 4:30 PM
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Gotta gig!
Went to see Jess at Bar Soma last night and she tentatively booked me for a 45 minute set, Wednesday, Feb 14 2007. Valentine's day. All originals - the beginning of something? Let's hope so. Think I'll play my standard... More Posted by Huge at 10:41 AM
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December 12, 2006
This is cool ...
Just found this via MySpace this morning. A woman called Mary wanted to b a friend of Bun' Ber E and she had it playing on her site. TSO describe themselves as "classical" but this is a very heavy-metal version... More Posted by Hughie at 8:28 AM
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December 8, 2006
Is MySpace dying?
There's an interesting assessment in the Washington Post, which argues that MySpace may be yesterday's place to meet and therefore a business in trouble. Now, I've argued before that MySpace was "dead in the water" but for different reasons. I've... More Posted by Hughie at 1:11 PM
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December 6, 2006
Well done, the cricketers ...
What an incredible win! What an incredible game! Who would have picked any result, let alone THAT result with a day to play. I guess this demonstrates the power of positivity. After the Poms were unable to bowl Australia out... More Posted by Hughie at 10:12 AM
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December 5, 2006
The Amazon Advantage?
A question was posted to the Musicthoughts list about Amazon and how to best get sales through it. I have kept my eye on this for some time but have never considered it viable. The perfect solution for Bun' Ber... More Posted by Hughie at 10:49 AM
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December 4, 2006
Dungiggin'
Bun' Ber E played our last gig for 2006 yesterday at Dicey Reilly's. It was a load of fun but I'm sort of glad the playing commitments are over for the year. Frees me up to concentrate on The Genre... More Posted by Hughie at 9:02 AM
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December 1, 2006
Don't often agree with the Pope but ...
I read this morning that on his visit to Turkey he called on all religious leaders to "utterly refuse to support any form of violence in the name of faith". That's a great leap forward and long overdue - especially... More Posted by Hughie at 8:44 AM
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November 27, 2006
As long as WWII? That's too long
I read yesterday and this morning that today marks the day that the US has spent as long in the War in Iraq as it did in World War II. That's a tragedy for all concerned. Of course, Michael Moore... More Posted by Hughie at 9:55 AM
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The Show must go on
Sir Elton, well done. That performance demonstrates well and truly that the show can always go on - especially when you have Davey Johnstone on your side. I would have loved to have seen that show but ... well ...... More Posted by Hughie at 9:20 AM
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November 22, 2006
Opportunity and power
This one came up in a conversation today. Dr Terry Flew and I were discussing the future appointment of a colleague to QUT and I was interested in how negotiations had panned out over a couple of sticking points in... More Posted by Hughie at 8:48 PM
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November 17, 2006
So, Dean Geyer's gone ...
And there's just Damien Leith and Jessica Mauboy left. Well, they're both fine performers so it really doesn't matter who wins - the world is a better place for having heard these two. That said, I'm cheering loudest for Jessica... More Posted by Hughie at 9:20 AM
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November 13, 2006
Lullabye
I started writing this in Alameida, CA (USA) in 1994 when I learned of the creation of my first son. This was a truly moving experience and an unusually emotional time for me. I got to put my own desires... More Posted by Huge at 2:45 PM
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Coming second
Played in the Pan Pacific Masters Games touch football tournament at Southport last week. Came second out of six teams in our division. Considering that we're a ragtag bunch who play together only occasionally, that's a pretty good effort. I... More Posted by Hughie at 9:12 AM
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November 9, 2006
All that way for nothing ...
Yesterady wa supposed to be the start of the Pan Pacific Masters Games touch competition 2006. I drove all the way to Southport in the rain. The traffic was horrendous and when I was almost there I got a call... More Posted by Hughie at 10:53 AM
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November 7, 2006
Enough said ...
http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/73821-print.shtml Saddam must face justice, not a judicial farce that subjects him to the very punishment for which he was reviled. In supporting this sentence we reveal ourselves to be no morally better than the accused.... More Posted by Hughie at 3:27 PM
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What next?
Well, since I last posted about Australian Idol, Ricky's gone and now Chris has gone, leaving Jessica, Dean and Damien. So, who's going to the final? No idea, but my head says Dean and Jessica ... I think. Those two... More Posted by Hughie at 2:57 PM
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November 2, 2006
We got bubby possum!
I was in the studio yesterday afternoon when the female possum who lives in my garage wandered down to introduce me to her baby ... very cute. Now I understand why she's been so touchy lately. The baby is about... More Posted by Hughie at 10:14 AM
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October 31, 2006
About time, guys ...
Just read about R.E.M and Van Halen making the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame nominations. Why has this not happened earlier? Van Halen are one of my all-time favourite bands (though perhaps not personally inspiring ...) and I think... More Posted by Hughie at 12:15 PM
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October 30, 2006
Lovely stuff, Tracey
A couple of weeks ago, at the Big Sound conference, I met the lovely Tracey Saxby and have been playing her CD, "Barefoot Accoustic" regularly ever since. She's an interesting girl - grew up in Bundaberg but based in westen... More Posted by Hughie at 8:45 AM
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October 27, 2006
Lisa's gone?
Well, there you go ... how wrong can I be? I guess that's what I get for not really paying attention - only tuning in occasionally. Still, it's all the more pity becuase I thought the last two times I... More Posted by Hughie at 9:44 AM
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October 24, 2006
Huey's cooking show
I've noticed in my server logs that people are finding my site by looking for "Hughie's cooking show". I apologise for disappointing those people, but my cooking is not worth eating, let alone making a TV show about. What you... More Posted by Hughie at 10:30 AM
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Happy birthday, iPod
Just read that it was five years ago today that Steve Jobs launched the iPod, which well and truly changed the digital media landscape and set the standard for digital music. Apple's iPod, and the iTunes store that came shortly... More Posted by Hughie at 10:18 AM
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October 16, 2006
Good to have a win
Played in the NTRA State of Origin touch tournament in Coff's Harbour on Saturday. The day was hot and windy, very tough conditions for the players, and we played three games, at 8.40, 10.40 and 13.20. Queensland lost overall, but... More Posted by Hughie at 8:21 AM
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October 11, 2006
Lavina Fan Club
Can't believe the best voice in the competition has been voted off already. So much for Idol being a singing contest. Still, Lavina's shown what she's got on the national stage and should be proud of what she's done. You... More Posted by Hughie at 11:59 AM
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October 9, 2006
So close, Hockeyroos ...
For the Hockeyroos to lose the World Cup final is a harsh way to exit - though there's only one good way to exit a tournament like that :-) Still, it's a great comeback from fifth at the Champions Trophy... More Posted by Hughie at 1:25 PM
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October 2, 2006
Go Broncos! Go Broncos! Go Broncos!
Isn't it nice to have a win! And what a win. As Wayne Bennett said, it wasn't pretty but it was effective. A great Grand Final - plenty of back and forth, plenty of opportunities for both sides, gritty and... More Posted by Hughie at 9:50 AM
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September 29, 2006
Go Broncos!
Wanna see the boys get up on Sunday.For the club's sake as well as Shane Webke's. Webby's a champion and deserves to go out a winner, but it would be great to see the club come good after a few... More Posted by Hughie at 9:24 AM
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September 26, 2006
Klancie? You're kidding!
Once again I am reminded that Australian Idol is not a singing contest. To have the bottom three we had last night after the performances of Sunday night was ridiculous. Dean Geyer's fans have only themselves to blame - we... More Posted by Hughie at 10:21 AM
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September 24, 2006
Well done, ladies!
Excellent work, the Opals! World Basketball Champs after a couple of thirds is a superb effort and you should all be proud of yourselves. Even better, they had to beat the Yanks, who've been the basketball benchmark for years, to... More Posted by Hughie at 3:36 PM
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September 22, 2006
How to play guitar
Just found this guitar-playing resource. How cool! Has everything you could possibly need to learn to play guitar and then some. Even better, it has links to more advanced things and a store that sells instrumnts, amps, strings, and so... More Posted by Hughie at 10:29 AM
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September 20, 2006
The competition is that weak??
Interesting to read about the field for honours at the "American Music Awards" this year. I can't believe there was so little high-quality music this year that so many of the usual suspects were nominated multimple times. I can think... More Posted by Hughie at 11:15 AM
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September 18, 2006
Lavina fan club
What a voice! She was one of only two Idols to really rock it up on the "rock" show last night - is there anything she can't do?? That was, as Kyle said, disappointing - especially Mutto. (Coldplay on a... More Posted by Hughie at 9:37 AM
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September 15, 2006
The Genre Benders are born
Well, after a long time discussing, planning and figuring stuff out, The Genre Benders had their first rehearsal/bash in a live setting two nights ago. Of course, various members have been writing and recording bits and pieces for a while,... More Posted by Huge at 10:37 AM
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September 11, 2006
This space left deliberately blank ...
For this victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks -- the thousands who died in the attacks and the thousands who have since died because of them.... More Posted by Hughie at 10:01 AM
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September 5, 2006
Onya Mutto!
Good to see my boy got up! Now, next time you sing a song that seriously rocks, LET IT ROCK! I agree completely with Kyle and Mark about that last effort: it didn't make it - and also with Marcia... More Posted by Hughie at 8:03 PM
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September 4, 2006
Mutto Fan club
Last time I didn't start fan clubs for Idol entrants until they's been voted off, but this time I'm getting in early with support for Mutto. I'd love to see a raw rocker get in there and spark up the... More Posted by Hughie at 9:51 AM
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August 29, 2006
Dean's a special
I have been avoiding Australian Idol up to this point, but my darling was watching it on Sunday night (I slept through last night's episode) so I caught the guys performing. The only real standout to me was Dean "the... More Posted by Hughie at 11:29 AM
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August 21, 2006
Raindrops (What will be and what is ...)
I wrote this one years ago during a storm. I was sitting on my parents' mountainside front verandah watching it steam in from the coast and thinking about all the little things and little people that get lost among the... More Posted by Hughie at 11:07 AM
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Nearly!
Well done, the Wallabies. Good effort but not quite close enough. Much better aggression at the start but lost concentration at the end of the second half and the All Blacks were just too good. I can't understand why the... More Posted by Hughie at 11:03 AM
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August 18, 2006
Summing up Leyton Hewitt
Caught the new Channel 10 show David Tench Tonight last night. It was mostly pretty egotistical and forgettable, though worth keeping an eye on. The show's website says he's returned to Australia after broadcasting in the US for years -... More Posted by Hughie at 12:05 PM
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August 15, 2006
Great entertainment ... ??
Went out Sunday night to see John Harley Weston and Indy Clark play accoustic sets at Ric's Bar in Fortitude Valley. Great value! Picked up both their CDs with autographs! Real live performers playing real live music fromtheir hearts and... More Posted by Hughie at 11:33 AM
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Never a truer word spoken ...
Yesterday I read a great post from a great songwriting blog. It makes a simple but profound point for all those of us who value the expression in songwriting: "What 'serious' songwriter would've thought? Imagine sitting down with a publisher... More Posted by Hughie at 9:58 AM
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August 9, 2006
An inspiration to this site, and a lot of others
Wayne Bennett's book, "Don't Die With the Music in You", was one of the main reaons I decided to pursue my current course of action. Personally, the title was very applicable because I'd pretty much resigned myself to doing exactly... More Posted by Hughie at 9:55 AM
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August 7, 2006
What a load of rubbish
I'm disappointed to again read the predictable crap about Big Brother's ratings. The fact is that 1.88 million might not be as big as previous years, but it's still VERY healthy. Not to mention that the show had THREE entries... More Posted by Hughie at 12:21 PM
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August 4, 2006
A headlne-writer's gift
Just read the story about a dog destroying Elvis's teddy bear. It came under the title "Hound dog destroys Elvis's teddy bear". What a gift! Wait for the "man bites dog" angles to follow ...... More Posted by Hughie at 8:28 AM
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July 31, 2006
Battling Broncos
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and respond to cries of "post-origin slump" about the Broncos before I've even heard them: The problem the Broncos experienced yesterday had nothing to do with post-origin anything, it had everything to... More Posted by Hughie at 10:18 AM
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Bye, Bye Bledisloe.
Well, they came, they saw, they defended brilliantly, and the All Blacks walked away with the silverware. Well done. The Wallabies threw plenty at them but the All Blacks turned up to stop every advance - especially Ritchie McCaw. How... More Posted by Hughie at 9:57 AM
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July 28, 2006
Well done, Matildas
Great to see that, after the success of the Socceroos, the Australian women's soccer team has also qualified for their World cup finals. Excellent stuff!! Not that I've seen any of their games .. even les so than ther mens'... More Posted by Hughie at 10:59 AM
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July 27, 2006
Upgraded service
OK, I've now upgraded to Moveable Type 3.31 in the hope that it will help me beat some of the chronic blogspam I have been copping. So far, so good ... :-) However, the upgrade has taken me all morning... More Posted by Hughie at 1:04 PM
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July 26, 2006
Kerry Stokes, you good thing
Great to hear that Kerry Stokes has bought and donated a Victoria Cross back to the War Memorial. That kind of history belongs to the mythology opf the people and should never be allowed to fall into the hands of... More Posted by Hughie at 11:02 AM
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July 21, 2006
Couldn't have said it better ...
Well said, Antony Lowenstein. The problems of he violence in and around Israel are complex and intractable but one glaringly obvious fact is that violent responses from either side have only the effect of prolonging the agony for all concerned.... More Posted by Hughie at 10:36 AM
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July 20, 2006
Back on the paddock ...
Played my first full game of touch since breaking my shoulder last night. Went OK. We had a win, but made hard work of it. The shoulder held up all right ... a bit sore making a few touches at... More Posted by Hughie at 9:11 AM
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July 17, 2006
Who'd have picked that result?
49-0 over the Springboks?? Keeping them scoreless for the first time ever?? I love to watch the Wallabies win, but that's ridiculous ... The Springboks weren't that bad ... but they dropped some crucial ball and had a guy sent... More Posted by Hughie at 11:36 AM
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July 13, 2006
This space left blank ...
for the victims of the Indian bombings and their families. When will this madness end?... More Posted by Huge at 6:00 PM
July 6, 2006
How sweet it is ...
I've just realised that since this blog began, Queensland has not won the Origin series. Well, now they have. And what a win. Had to overcome the Blues AND some disgraceful refereeing decisions. It takes great courage and determination to... More Posted by Hughie at 9:21 AM
July 4, 2006
Changing the world?
Quote from Nassim Taleb: "You may not be able to change the world but can at least get some entertainment & make a living out of the epistemic arrogance of the human race." I shall have to remember that one... More Posted by Hughie at 8:58 AM
June 30, 2006
What have I been up to?
This blog has been dominated by sport stuff lately, but the tagline points out how wrong that its ... especially when I'm doing music full-time for the first time. So, what's doing? Well, right now I'm working on Bun' Ber... More Posted by Hughie at 9:51 AM
June 27, 2006
Oh, well ...
Darn ... ripped off at the last gasp! Still, so close! But I gotta say, I thought we didn't play well enough to win. With all that possession and all those opportunities, the Italians down to 10 men for most... More Posted by Hughie at 10:02 AM
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June 23, 2006
E-excellent, Socceroos.
Just when I thought the sporting stars were leaving nasty trails, the boys came through. Funny sort of game, though. I mean, I don't really understand soccer at all but some of those decisions had me totally gazumped. The boys... More Posted by Hughie at 10:07 AM
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June 15, 2006
The stars ARE aligned ...
What a win, Queensland! Well done, boys. Came out hard and kept in the Blues' faces for the entire 80 minutes. Willie Mason never got a look in. So much for Danny Buderus's dynasty. The only fault I could find... More Posted by Hughie at 9:55 AM
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June 13, 2006
Awesome Socceroos!
Well done, boys. Never give in, never give up! Superb comeback and great result in the end. It seemed to me (not that I know anything about the finer points of soccer that we had by far the better of... More Posted by Hughie at 9:12 AM
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June 12, 2006
Well done, Wobblies, come on Socceroos!
Excellent result for effort last night, boys. Just what we fans were looking for. Much improved in the scrum (though still some work to do there), excellent lineout, brillint front-on defence and great scrambling. Shame about the last-pass handling, but... More Posted by Hughie at 11:54 AM
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June 6, 2006
Somebody heard me!
Just had a delivery guy here who heard me on Triple M the other week. He was a Blues supporter, but that's OK. He said it was hard to hear the words, though he was listening in his truck, but... More Posted by Hughie at 11:13 AM
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What a waste of a day
Spent most of yesterday arguing with Pro Tools. I was trying to loop the bagpipe drone samples, and had to kill the pops at the joins. Pro Tools has a really cool device called a crossover that does this neatly,... More Posted by Hughie at 11:00 AM
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June 5, 2006
It takes more than two ...
I was forced, by my family's insistence and the complete lack of alternatives, to watch the second half of Channel 7's It Takes Two last night. I'm astonished that anyone bothers to watch it ... It hardly seems fair to... More Posted by Hughie at 10:39 AM
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June 1, 2006
Long for the Day (take 2)
Re-wrote this one after getting some songwriting advice from Jimmy Webb and Sammy Cahn. The original version is here. Also re-recorded it (MP3, 3MB - streaming version here) for a presentation to QUT. I think it's better but still has... More Posted by Huge at 11:33 AM
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May 29, 2006
Well, that didn't work!
I have completely failed to turn off comments, as I said I would. Apparently it's more difficult to do that than I thought, but I'm consulting the makers of Movable Type and have another couple of options to investigate. However,... More Posted by Hughie at 11:36 AM
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May 28, 2006
Damn! Damn! Damn the blog spam ...
I apologise to all innocent parties, but I'm going to shut comments down on this blog for a while. This is the direct result of a recent increase in blog spam being posted here - I don't have the time... More Posted by Hughie at 3:04 PM
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May 25, 2006
I got the Blues ...
Well done, NSW. You did enough to win the match at home. But the young Maroons can take a lot out of what they experienced. I was really a classic game of youth vs experience. The Maroons came out at... More Posted by Hughie at 10:54 AM
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May 24, 2006
Me, in The Cage
Yesterday afternoon I got a phone call while I was in the studio. The message was from Marto, who'd found the letter I sent them last year about my State of Origin Song. He couldn't find the CD I'd enclosed... More Posted by Huge at 7:54 AM
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May 23, 2006
Origin time!!
Have to belatedly note the impending State of Origin Rugby League contest tomorrow night. Love it! Both sides have gambled for the first game: Queensland on youth, form and enthusiasm and NSW on the tried and true. As always, my... More Posted by Hughie at 2:18 PM
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Doubly predictable
[sigh] Madonna was always going to do something to grab promotional headlines by annoying the Church in her new show and the Church was always going to help her by biting at her barbs ... Why is this news?? Why... More Posted by Hughie at 2:13 PM
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Recovery
The shoulder is recovering slowly. My physio, the wonderful Alison, has told me to take it out of the sling most of the time and has strapped it up tight. This is great as it's reduced the pain involved in... More Posted by Hughie at 2:01 PM
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May 21, 2006
Toughest gig ever
Last night was the hardest gig I've ever done. It was a 3.5 hour Ceilidh with Bun' Ber E at Acacia Ridge School so there was not a lot of playing but with a sore shoulder, there was intense pain.... More Posted by Hughie at 2:13 PM
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May 19, 2006
Missing shoulders
What's the most annoying thing about having a sore shoulder? I have been pondering this point for a while now. There are plenty of candidates. For example, I have learned that these simple operations rely on the unimpaired use of... More Posted by Hughie at 10:27 AM
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May 16, 2006
Pain!
Managed to have a large person fall on top of me last night at touch football and have hurt my shoulder. Can't play guitar or even sleep ... Plenty to do, not much capacity to do it. Kids have been... More Posted by Hughie at 10:05 AM
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May 15, 2006
Download sites growth
It's incredible how may sites have sprung up trying to make money by selling music in download form on the Internet. I've been compiling a list of them for my PhD and have racked up 15 without trying. That's just... More Posted by Hughie at 10:22 AM
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May 11, 2006
To true, Bert!
Quote apprearing in today's Australian Media liftout: "We're celebrting tonight 50 years of Australian television. And concurrently, of course, 50 years of American television on Australian television." - Bert Newton at the Logies. Sickening! It would be a joke if... More Posted by Hughie at 10:04 AM
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May 9, 2006
Welcome back, Beaconsfield boys
Congratulations to everyone involved in rescuing the Beaconsfield miners, Brant Webb and Todd Russell. Well done. As ?someone? said on TV this morning, the only measure of a rescue operation is that it succeeded - and this one did (tell... More Posted by Hughie at 9:10 AM
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May 8, 2006
On the subject of champions ...
Congratulations to John Wood for finally winning the gold Logie. I'm not much of a fan of the kind of TV John's involved in (although I used to watch Blue Healers every week back in the 90s when it was... More Posted by Hughie at 10:14 AM
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Joey, you good thing!
Andrew Johns, what a football player. Loved watching him Friday night, hated watching him Sunday afternoon. In both cases, though, he's a class act. I'll miss him in a Kangaroos jumper and be grateful he's not wearing sky blue in... More Posted by Hughie at 10:01 AM
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May 5, 2006
The pain of songwriting
Just bought a copy of Tunesmith by Jimmy Webb. I've only just started it, but on page 2 he's discussing the difference between amateurs and professionals, and how amateurs fail to appreciate the amout of work needed to write a... More Posted by Hughie at 10:05 AM
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May 1, 2006
Good to have a win
Went out to warwick on Saturday for the NRA State trials. Played in the Puretouch Punishers Mens Seniors team. We went through undefeated and won the final in extra time - 3-on-3. This was my first win in rep colours,which... More Posted by Hughie at 5:36 PM
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Tryhard Television
You know Channel Nine are struggling in the ratings when they try such a blatant milk of a story of distress. Last night's repeated crosses to the Beaconsfield mine disaster in Tasmanian were pathetic - typically, Mike Munro was in... More Posted by Hughie at 5:24 PM
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April 20, 2006
Before the music dies
Great to see some respect being paid to the creators and developers of the less-acknowledged music in the USA. I haven't seen "Before the Music Dies" but it's long overdue, given the sad history of exploitation of performing artists. Can't... More Posted by Hughie at 2:58 PM
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April 18, 2006
Artistic threats?
"The greatest threat to an artist is obscurity, not piracy" Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing. Cory absolutely right, but the major labels want to draw attention to the issue that affects them and maintain the obscurity of artists not signed to... More Posted by Hughie at 10:46 AM
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April 14, 2006
Punter, you good thing
Well done, Ricky Ponting! A fantastic captain's knock from an athlete who's really come of age and is getting better with experience. Gotta say, though, it was pretty ordinary to put the boys in that position to start with ...... More Posted by Hughie at 1:00 PM
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April 12, 2006
Getting old
From Keith Richards via the Sydney Morning Herald: "Getting old is a fascinating thing. The older you get the older you want to be." Damn straight, and ironic coming from a guy who has done his best never to get... More Posted by Hughie at 11:15 AM
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Ignorant journos ...
Can't even get the basics right! The Sydney Morning Herald is today reporting on the Stones' Sydney concert, which was, by all reports, a beauty. However, they say Skeiff started the night with "a black Stratocaster guitar slung around his... More Posted by Hughie at 11:13 AM
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March 28, 2006
Haaappy birthday ...
tooo meeeee .... Had a great return to park-lvel football last night at Unitouch, where we stared the season with a 13-0 whitewash of "Chargers". They had plenty of speed and skill but no real structure or discipline. Next time... More Posted by Hughie at 3:06 PM
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March 27, 2006
Beaten by the Kiwis
Didn't win a game against the Kiwis over the weekend - damn! Closest we came was a 5-all draw in the third game. In the final we just didn't fire up at the start and couldn't claw our way back... More Posted by Hughie at 10:37 AM
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March 23, 2006
Commonwealth Games
Can't ignore the CGs, thugh I'm tempted to. Superb efforts all round and some great competition. It's a pity the media re obsessed with the medal count and Australia's position in it, because tere's some great stuff going on that... More Posted by Hughie at 8:13 AM
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March 17, 2006
Happy St Patrick's Day!
Gonna spend most of today and tomorrow playing at Irish events in Brissie! Dicey Reilly's today, and tomorrow - the races! How Irish is that! Bun' Ber E will be out there and in the the thick of it all.... More Posted by Hughie at 8:02 AM
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CDs as a sales force
Interesting article on Slyck examining the prospects for the CD as a music sales medium. It's pretty thorough and goes over a recent report by NPD (pdf, 1.68MB) pretty well, concluding that, depsite the NPD finding, digital downloads will replace... More Posted by Hughie at 7:58 AM
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March 13, 2006
Footy's back!
Ggreat to have the footy back on TV - all codes! Disappointing start to the season for the Broncos but well done the Cowboys! Ouch! The Broncos are champions. They'll be back!... More Posted by Hughie at 2:13 PM
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March 8, 2006
The wages of stress
Just had a period of a couple of days in which stress got the better of me and not much has happened - cerainly nothing much musically. Got some issues with money (obviously), children, house maintenance, etc and it's got... More Posted by Hughie at 8:13 AM
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March 2, 2006
Propaganda, media and John Howard
Lyn Allison, I couldn't have said it better myself. Very astute observations about the use of mediated propaganda to disguise reality ...... More Posted by Hughie at 10:13 AM
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February 27, 2006
We be jammin'
Had a great bash with the boys down at the club yesterday. It was a bit short notice - I got told about it Sat morning - but I got to play drums all afternoon, and sing a bit. Sensational!!... More Posted by Hughie at 9:42 AM
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February 21, 2006
Well, that was odd ...
Played in the Casuarina Cup touch tournament on the weekend. We entered the over 35s but ended up playing against two teams with under 35s in them who been allowed to enter just to make up the numbers. Our best... More Posted by Hughie at 2:47 PM
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February 20, 2006
The death of the album ...
I've been reading articles like this one for a while now. They all basically claim that since digital delivery allows consumers to pick and choose individual tracks, this means that sales of packages of tunes in the form of albums... More Posted by Hughie at 9:43 AM
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February 9, 2006
Mighty Fine Day
I wrote this one last week and arranged it in a day. Took a bit longer to perform it to demo standard, though. There's an MP3 version here (3.2MB) or streaming here. The studio bootleg version can be streamed here... More Posted by Huge at 1:07 PM
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February 6, 2006
What a difference a week off can make
Amazing form reversal from Adam Gilchrist. Also a refreshed approach from Ricky Ponting. Great to watch. Felt a bit sorry for the Proteas last night - they had no chance of chasing the score that Gilly and Punter set up.... More Posted by Hughie at 8:17 AM
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February 1, 2006
The Cost of putting a price on education
Andrew West, I couldn't have said it better myself. The degredation of education as a means to open minds is as short-sighted and narrow-mainded as the degredation of scientific research that is not imediately prodcutive. They are both completely destructive... More Posted by Hughie at 10:35 AM
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January 27, 2006
2006 Update
OK ... where have I been? Family duties, distraction therapy, building my backyard ... all the usual excuses. However, as of next week (Feb 1) I will be studying for a PhD at the Creative Industries Faculty at QUT, examining... More Posted by Hughie at 9:20 AM
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January 18, 2006
Value in old media
Interesting to note that a piece of paper with Beatles lyrics written on it is worth a lot of money. Goes to reinforce the old adage about easy things being worth less than difficult things - for all the copies... More Posted by Huge at 11:04 AM
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January 16, 2006
New years
Well, I'm back on deck now from family stuff and "holidays" and all that. Got a lot of organising and thinking to do and then I'll get serious about all this again. For 2006 I've been granted an ICI scholarship... More Posted by Hughie at 7:49 AM
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December 25, 2005
Season's Greetings
To all. Whatever your race, colour, creed musical preference or belief system, best wishes for the holiday period and for the future. May 2006 turn out to be a lot nicer that 2005 ... Peace.... More Posted by Huge at 2:52 PM
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December 23, 2005
Late-year spleen venting
Thought I'd get a few things off my chest just before the end of the year - sort of "leave them in 2005" idea. This post will probably be the last of 2005 since I'm spending time with family until... More Posted by Hughie at 9:13 AM
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December 20, 2005
Learning from Idol mistakes
Great to read this morning that SonyBMG has signed all of the final three Idol contestants: Kate DeAraugo, Lee Harding and now Emily Williams. It shows that they've learned from their experience in missing out on finalists who've sold very... More Posted by Huge at 10:27 AM
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December 15, 2005
Shame, Australia, Shame
The sort of behaviour that has been seen on Sydney's beaches is un-Australian. It is not appropriate from any group of Australians: migrants, indigenous, black, white, brindle or polka-dot. It is a black spot on our national soul. John Howard... More Posted by Hughie at 5:46 PM
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December 9, 2005
Drowning!!
Aaarrgh! Drowning under a wave of comment spam - of a most peculiar kind. Most of it seems to be providing irrelevant text and links to legitimate sites. This is clearly aimed at getting legitimate sites put on the blacklist... More Posted by Hughie at 10:07 AM
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December 7, 2005
CDBaby rules!
Thought I'd better post something here about what a great job CDBaby do as a distributor of recordings. Not only do they sell the hard-copy CDs for Bun' Ber E, but they also have a digital distribution program, which puts... More Posted by Huge at 10:35 AM
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December 2, 2005
This space left blank ...
for Nguyen Truong Van and his family.... More Posted by Hughie at 9:00 AM
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December 1, 2005
I guess it had to happen
Interesting to note that the Grateful Dead, long champions of the "give the music away free and make up for it elsewhere" philosophy, have come to a crunching commercial reality. The upshot of this is that they may decide not... More Posted by Huge at 12:14 PM
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The Australian Industry in America
Great to read the article by Tony George in themusic.com.au about government assistance for Australian musicians into the US market. This is a great boon and I'm sure Tony will do a huge job and have a heap of fun... More Posted by Huge at 9:23 AM
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November 30, 2005
More on Idol
Couple of late notes from other sources on Idol. I didn't watch the finale or the results, largely because I'm bored with Idol, but I got the following by e-mail after it: Idols gave no respect 23 November 2005 I... More Posted by Huge at 9:46 AM
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Ausculture, Oz style
Just found the Ausculture blog, which offers a reasonably unique take on the trivial (and occasionally not-so-trivial) issue in Australian culture. It's run by "Jess" and has some absolutely cracker commentary on things. Jess is a lot more prolific than... More Posted by Hughie at 9:15 AM
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November 28, 2005
well, that's sport.
Well done, the Kiwis, Wales and West Indies. Both Rugby results and the excellent fightback in the cricket are the result of great performances from great competitors. I must say it was astonishing to see the League result: 24-0 and... More Posted by Hughie at 9:09 AM
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November 25, 2005
Schools, bombs and cakes stalls
"It will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need, and the Air Force has to hold a cake stall to buy a bomber." --Unknown Came across this quote many years ago and have always... More Posted by Hughie at 8:13 AM
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November 23, 2005
Another excuse gone ...
Excellent to read about Angus Young winning "greatest short dude" in America's Maxim magazine. That's one less excuse for me to not get anywhere! I'm the same height as Kurt Cobain and US basketball star Spud Webb (5' 7"), and... More Posted by Hughie at 5:20 PM
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November 21, 2005
Great week for Aussie sport
Well done the Socceroos, Kangaroos, Wallabies and cricketers (keep it up, boys). It's great to have Aussie sporting teams back in the winners' circle. That said, I have to gripe about the manner in which the Wallabies won. Same old... More Posted by Hughie at 9:57 AM
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November 17, 2005
Well done, Socceroos!
Excellent result, boys. Made hard work of it but got there in the end! For those among you who are unsure where our opponents came from, Uruguay is here: The CIA fact book on Uruguay is here. Notably, they have... More Posted by Hughie at 11:38 AM
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November 16, 2005
Defending Idol
I have to defend Australian Idol from some ridiculous statements about its failure to rate on TV. I have read repeated statements, when reporting the poor ratings for this series of Idol, attributing its performance to the "end of the... More Posted by Huge at 11:07 AM
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November 1, 2005
Getting toey
Right. Had a hit-out with Lizard Drinkin' on Saturday night. It was fun and blew out a lot of cobwebs. More have been booked in December. I was discussing the show with my favourite critic and she reminded me that... More Posted by Huge at 2:54 PM
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October 27, 2005
Worrying trends in Australian music
What does this graph tell us? It's taken from the APRA annual report and shows the 5-year trend of money coming into and out of Australia for music royalties. You'll note that the annual amount of money coming into Australia... More Posted by Huge at 5:11 PM
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Post-Arias discussion
Well, the Aria Awards have been handed out for another year. It's good to see the majors get together and congratulate themselves as an industry. Well done to the winners - that's a reward for all the hard work you've... More Posted by Huge at 9:11 AM
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October 24, 2005
Common problems for performers
It was interesting to read in The Weekend Australian an extract from Chrissie Amphlett's autobiography in which she wrote about her initial difficulties being outrageous on stage. The most interesting bit was the part about the difference between playing her... More Posted by Huge at 9:00 AM
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October 19, 2005
The faceless Dream Factory
BTW - I've decided that from now on I will refer to the major record company approach to the music business as "the dream factory". It seems appropriate, since that's exactly what they offer: dreams. When you wake up it's... More Posted by Huge at 5:37 PM
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Why stick to just one approach?
Watched the final episode of The Hit Game last night and it drove home to me yet another aspect of what's wrong with the music industry: The fixation with making artists stick to one "brand" of music. I thought the... More Posted by Huge at 5:35 PM
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October 13, 2005
Never a truer word
Got some fairly sombre e-mails from my mate Phil Graham yesterday. He's in Canada for work but has had enough and wants to return to sunny Brisbane. Among other things, I suggested there was a song in one of the... More Posted by Huge at 9:02 AM
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October 9, 2005
This space left blank ...
for the victims of the Guatemalan mudslide.... More Posted by Huge at 5:11 PM
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This space left blank ...
for the victims of the earthquake in the Pakistan region.... More Posted by Huge at 9:05 AM
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October 7, 2005
The wierdest feeling in sport
OK, after almost a week I think I've got a handle on it.Sunday's NRL grand final produced the wierdest feeling for me because I was wearing an old Balmain Tigers jumper but cheering for the Cowboys. Up to the moment... More Posted by Hughie at 2:40 PM
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October 5, 2005
Hits and misses
I've been watching The Hit Game on the ABC for the past two weeks. Last night's episode was a brilliant expose of exactly what's wrong with the music industry. A talented, beautiful and experienced young Belinda-Lee Reid hangs her entire... More Posted by Huge at 2:11 PM
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October 3, 2005
This space left blank ...
for the victims of the second Bali Bombing.... More Posted by Huge at 2:34 PM
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September 27, 2005
Well done the Cowboys!!
One more to go, boys ... But who should a former Balmain supporter support?? (tremble) I guess it doesn't matter. Should be a great game of footy, either way!... More Posted by Hughie at 6:52 PM
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September 25, 2005
There's a fisrst time for everything
Well, yesterday I had two wins in sport: the Swans and the Tigers, but it felt really wierd supporting a NSW team ... icky, in fact. Of course, I used to be a Balmain fan, so supporting the Tigers wasn't... More Posted by Hughie at 11:07 AM
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September 23, 2005
Damn straight, Gus
Interesting comment from Phil "Gus" Gould in today's prescription for the Tigers winning their NRL semi-final against the Dragons: "Winning is 90 per cent mental." Of course, that was exactly the Broncos problem towards the end of their season -... More Posted by Hughie at 12:22 PM
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September 21, 2005
Promoting songs
Well, last week I got my copies of Australian Music Marketing Abroad's A'n'R magazine. In it (page 40), and on the accompanying CDs is "Heart's With You" (streaming version). The ad cost me Aus$700 and, given the company it's in,... More Posted by Huge at 12:08 PM
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For the good of the game, rub Barry out
I'm struggling to believe the nonsense about Barry Hall's escape from sanction for attacking an opponent during a game. It's not that I think the opponent didn't milk it - he did - nor that there was much force in... More Posted by Hughie at 10:16 AM
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September 19, 2005
Vale, Broncos 2005
Oh, how close they came. But the Tigers scrambled, struggled, were more desperate and kept them out - then took every opportunity that came their way. The Broncos showed that they were almost back to their best, creating 6 opportuniies... More Posted by Hughie at 9:52 AM
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September 16, 2005
Well done, Joel
Just read about Joel Turner winning the world beatboxing championships in Germany. Excellent effort! Of course, I don't actually "get" beatboxing - it does nothing for me musically - but you only have to listen to the guy to hear... More Posted by Huge at 5:35 PM
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September 13, 2005
Well done, the poms
They deserved to win back the Ashes. The Aussies were off their game and the Poms played brilliantly, with none of their past hesitancy and lack of confidence. Freddy Flintoff looks like a truly world-class athlete - the kind the... More Posted by Hughie at 8:46 AM
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September 9, 2005
On ya, Nick
I'm not much of a fan of Nick Cave's music but this story, wherein he threatens to walk out of a gig if he can't take his beer and cigarettes onto the stage, is a classic. It's a win for... More Posted by Huge at 4:13 PM
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September 8, 2005
How is that possible
I dunno, some of this media commentary just doesn't make sense. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina,plenty of pundits were forcasting its dire consequences for the US economy. Some even suggested that it might knock the whole thing over. But,... More Posted by Hughie at 9:15 AM
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September 2, 2005
This space left vacant ...
... for the victims of the Iraqi stampede.... More Posted by Huge at 12:28 PM
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This space left vacant ...
... for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.... More Posted by Hughie at 12:00 PM
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August 29, 2005
The band was cookin'
Managed to catch the last bit of Australian Idol last night - quite by accident. The singing was predictably ordinary but the band was cooking. Of course, this just served to remind me what can be achieved with a bit... More Posted by Huge at 9:16 AM
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August 25, 2005
Does Bali attract idiots?
I don't often agree with our Prime Minister but he was spot on when he described people who are associated with drugs in Indonesia as "stupid". How much of an indication do people need that Indonesia does not tolerate drugs... More Posted by Hughie at 9:37 AM
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August 23, 2005
Well, there you go ...
It's hard to be down on the Wallabies after Saturday night. They tried their hearts out and had the better of most of the game. The attack looked patchy - quite inept in places - and lacked any kind of... More Posted by Hughie at 10:31 AM
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August 19, 2005
Ignoring Australian Idol
A couple of people asked me the other day at a gig whether I'm watching Australian Idol this time. I gotta confess that I'm not. (interesting to see the IdolBlog this time around - and that a Google of "Australian... More Posted by Huge at 9:48 AM
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August 18, 2005
Return to form
Last night featured a spectacular return to personal form in the touch footy. We won 10-3. I hadn't played since the Grand Final due to a combination of late-night games and illness, so it was good to have a trot.... More Posted by Hughie at 9:56 AM
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August 15, 2005
Heart's With You (Irish version)
This is a rewrite of the song of the same name posted earlier. When Bun' Ber E recorded Unplugged, I wanted to include an original just to see how it would go. Thought occurred to me that this sentiment would... More Posted by Huge at 10:23 AM
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A rare pleasure
I got a rare and unexpected buzz on Saturday morning! As we were complaining about how cold and miserable it was at the Sunnybank RSL's 60th anniversary of VP day celebrations, a fan requested that we play "Heart's with you".... More Posted by Huge at 9:38 AM
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A sporting dog's life
What a pig of a weekend! The cricketers are in all sorts or trouble, the Wallabies got hammered, the Lions got flogged and the Broncos got hammered as well. Even worse, the Wallabies and Broncos, about whom I care the... More Posted by Hughie at 9:38 AM
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August 11, 2005
Lost the footy, though
Not been a good sporting life lately. The Aussies lost the cricket (but what a fightback!), the Wallabies lost two in South Africa (when are they gonna figure out that kicking the ball away to the Springboks at altitude is... More Posted by Hughie at 9:39 AM
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Interesting idea, that ...
Just read about the Backbench World Problems Index. Not sure the mathematics will work out precisely but it's a great start to analysing a problem that has plagued Australian media for quite a while. Even if the numbrs are debatable... More Posted by Hughie at 9:21 AM
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August 5, 2005
Ain't it strange??
On the gig front, you go through long periods of nothing happening and then all of a sudden, several pop out at once. Two weddings in the space of two weeks, after almost a year of nothing for Lizard Drinkin'.... More Posted by Huge at 10:42 AM
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August 1, 2005
Getting on with it.
OK, the drum parts are coming along reasonably. Got a couple of bass parts down, too. Plenty of work to be done. Today I'm off to ACRO to get the next stage of the re-recording of State V State done.... More Posted by Huge at 10:13 AM
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July 28, 2005
Thick crusts of barnacles
Mental note: you can't just pick up an instrument having not played it for several years and expect to play recordably on it. That's been my frustating experience playing the drums over the past few weeks. I'm sure I wa... More Posted by Huge at 11:03 AM
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July 25, 2005
Explaining suicide terrorism
Keith Suter says it far better than I ever could here: http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3707. It works nicely with an article in the Australian Financial Review, in which Scott Burchill examines the way proponents of the "War on Terrorism" use a false 'us... More Posted by Hughie at 2:13 PM
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An industry in crisis.
Last night I was reading a book called The Rise and Fall of Popular Music, which quoted the following figures: in 1985 the US music industry made a pre-tax profit of US$200 million on gross sales of US$4.5 billion -... More Posted by Huge at 10:38 AM
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July 22, 2005
What am I up to??
This blog is supposed to be about music and stuff but it hasn't featured much of that lately. So, what is going on? Well, several things, really. I'm planning to re-record "State against State", which was ignored by everyone except... More Posted by Huge at 9:49 AM
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July 18, 2005
They just don't get it ...
I don't often agree with The Australian's Foreign Editor, Greg Sheridan, but on July 9, just after the London bombings, he said this: There is a persistent desire to pretend that the war on terror is an American exaggeration, or... More Posted by Hughie at 9:17 AM
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July 8, 2005
Again
[This space left blank for the victims of the London bombiings and their families]... More Posted by Hughie at 7:31 AM
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July 2, 2005
Well, that makes sense, I guess ...
It's absolutely despicable - and clearly indicative of the mindset in this country - that the Live 8 concert won't be shown live. Instead, Channel Nine will show Wimbeldon - featuring no Aussies, BTW - with a potted Live 8... More Posted by Hughie at 6:14 PM
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July 1, 2005
Reasonable point that
My dearest darling hit me with a home truth last night. I've been away for a few days taking the kids to their grandparents' farm and when I returned, she announced that she'd watched Big Brother uncut, late and live,... More Posted by Hughie at 12:31 PM
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June 24, 2005
What's all the fuss
You gotta laugh - well, at least, the promoters of Big Brother's current series must be laughing. They started this season with a previously-avoided emphasis on sex in the house - deliberately choosing singles and advertising their sex appeal at... More Posted by Hughie at 9:08 AM
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June 20, 2005
Well, that was fun but ...
We lost the over-35s touch series against NSW but it was a great experience. Overall, Qld won 8 of the 16 divisions and so did the Blues, so it was declared a draw and the Blues kept the trophy they... More Posted by Hughie at 9:28 AM
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June 16, 2005
Well done, Joey.
How good is he? Mind you, the Qld defence didn't put much pressure no him. They stodd still and watched him cut them up most of the time. A deservd win for the Blues. Seeya at Lang Park in a... More Posted by Hughie at 6:08 PM
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June 13, 2005
An update ...
Well, the ABC, at least, has run with the Downing Street memo story. There's still no update from the SMH or News.com.au, though. Not that I'm holding my breath for News Limited to give the story any air ... But... More Posted by Hughie at 2:07 PM
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Well, that's no surprise.
Just found this article, which concerns the revelation that the UK government knew the Yanks were not ready to invade Iraq but decided they had to justify the invasion anyway. It's one of a long series of articles about the... More Posted by Hughie at 11:48 AM
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June 8, 2005
Finished part 1
I've finally finished marking my first-year assignments! At last. Now all I have to do is mark the second-year assignments and set up their exam - then I'll be clear to do lots of music stuff for a while!.. Yayyy!!... More Posted by Hughie at 4:45 PM
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June 2, 2005
Shame, Australia, Shame
There is no excuse for the attack on the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra. None! We have no right to retaliate against any perceived injustice in the legal systems of another country. Especially not based on the impossibly limited information about... More Posted by Hughie at 3:38 PM
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May 26, 2005
Get Rythm ....
when you get the Blues ... Well done, Maroons. I thought you'd killed yourselves there for a while but the Qld spirit shone through for all to see. Of course, that's only the first game, and the next one is... More Posted by Hughie at 12:37 PM
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May 25, 2005
Go Maroons!!
It's Origin time and, although I've had no response to my Origin song, I really hope the Maroons kick butt tonight. (and the next game) (and the game after that) (and next year, too)... More Posted by Hughie at 1:41 PM
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May 20, 2005
Sorry about that,
I've been a little quiet. A combination of having a skin cancer surgically removed (not as interesting as Kylie Minogue's cancer scare) and too much marking to do. This cancer was small and not really even a BCC yet -... More Posted by Hughie at 2:41 PM
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May 4, 2005
The campaign continues ...
The Murdoch press continues to talk up the Internet following Murdoch's ASNE address (noted earlier). Last week's Media liftout contains a gem on the front page called "Print learns to love the web" and a two-page "Interactive special report" in... More Posted by Hughie at 1:33 PM
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April 27, 2005
Nice to have a win!
Just read about the impending changes to Queensland's town planning laws, which will create a "cultural precinct" in Fortitude Valley and stop residential developers from destroying live-music development in Brisbane. I have been a direct victim of this myself, when... More Posted by Huge at 11:25 AM
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Interesting, Mr Murdoch
I notice the first move of Rupert Murdoch's "digital age" has been to appoint a former MacDonald's marketing guru, Joe Talcott, as Australia's new group marketing director. How appropriate! In the same Media liftout, News Limited advertised for an Editor... More Posted by Hughie at 10:25 AM
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April 26, 2005
Oh Dear
Seems some people just don't learn. I was disgusted to find out that Disco music had been played at the Gallipoli Service at ANZAC Cove. As I mentioned earlier, modern music, particularly party tunes like Stayin' Alive, have no place... More Posted by Hughie at 2:10 PM
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April 21, 2005
State Against State
As heard on Triple M's The Cage!: Click here to download (MP3, 2MB) or here to stream. As you might have figured out, I'm a huge Rugby League fan. Grew up with it, dad coached it, used to play it,... More Posted by Huge at 10:17 AM
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April 13, 2005
What am I up to??
Thought I'd better bring readers up to speed with where I'm at in this project. I've been rather quiet lately ... sorry. The short answer is that many things are happening, not all of which seem as productive as others.... More Posted by Huge at 10:41 AM
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Excellent ... thanks, Leigh
I seem to be posting a lot on sport lately, but that's where the most action is happening in my (limited) attention span ... I was delighted to hear Brisbane Lions coach Leigh Matthews say yesterday that he thought there... More Posted by Hughie at 10:13 AM
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April 9, 2005
Mea culpa
OK, so that's what you get for writing to whinge before the end of the game - Penrith scored again and I'm a dufus. In retrospect, Penrith did play really well and Melbourne did make a lot of mistakes, but,... More Posted by Hughie at 7:30 PM
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April 8, 2005
Wot woz that?
Just watched the NRL Friday Night Football match between Melbourne and Penrith and I don't think I've ever seen a more disgraceful display of incorrect officiating at this level. Picky and inconsistent penalties, non-existent knock-ons, blatant ineptitude - nearly all... More Posted by Hughie at 11:52 PM
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April 4, 2005
See you later, Casey?
Well, it's increasingly apparent that Casey Donovan Mark 1 is over. For her sake, that's a pity. Of course the music that she and the Idol gurus produced was entirely forgettable, which is also a pity, but that's the nature... More Posted by Huge at 12:23 PM
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April 2, 2005
I'm back
Back from a few days' holiday at the beach. Nice and relaxing. A couple of observations on world events: 1) I think what happened to Nick Riewoldt in theSt Kilda vs Brisbane game has no place in sport. It is... More Posted by Hughie at 9:56 AM
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March 24, 2005
Bugger!
Lost the Grand Final last night in sudden-death extra time. We started well, leading 3-1 at one stage, and then dropped off to be 4-4 at half-time. Got hammered early in the second half to trail 7-5 but clawed it... More Posted by Hughie at 3:47 PM
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March 17, 2005
Happy St Patrick's Day
Had a great morning with Bun' Ber E down at Dicey Reilly's, Garden City. Then Wylde Thyme took over and I went home to write a lecture for tomorrow ... which I still haven't done ...... More Posted by Hughie at 5:50 PM
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March 16, 2005
I'm not washed up yet!
Just received the letter advising that I've been picked in the NTRA over-35s team for the annual State of Origin at Coffs Harbour this year!! What a buzz. I guess this proves that even when you feel completely unfit, outclassed... More Posted by Hughie at 1:35 PM
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Cry to Heaven
Several years ago I was in a band with a guy called Adam Rogers, with whom I also shared a day job. The band never went anywhere for a number of reasons, but one of the highlights was that we... More Posted by Huge at 12:01 PM
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March 12, 2005
The planets are back in alignment
Last night saw the first game of the 2005 NRL season proper. The AFL's pre-season final is this weekend the premiership kicks of next week. The Super 12 is in its third week ... Footy is back on telly, the... More Posted by Hughie at 10:15 AM
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March 6, 2005
Welcome to my UQ communications students
A big welcome to any students from my COMU2010: Communications Skills New Media class. This is my blog and you are more than welcome to read all of I and tell me what you genuinely think. This is a place... More Posted by Hughie at 8:00 PM
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March 1, 2005
Latest offerings
I'm afraid I've been rather slack about keeping readers up to date with the latest events here, but things have gotten reasonably interesting. Yesterday, I took delivery of this, which is the latest version of Longing for the Day -... More Posted by Huge at 10:54 AM
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February 22, 2005
Interesting developments
Wanted to make a few observations about some articles I've been reading lately. I think the sum of them really is nidicating that I have been right all along about this medium and its potential. The first and most intuitive... More Posted by Huge at 1:52 PM
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Touching days, scorching heat
Well, the NTRA state titles was an experience. Didn't win a game but had a great time - stinkin' hot but. Got just a little sunburned despite caking myself in sunscreen. Some photos of the action, including some of me,... More Posted by Hughie at 9:23 AM
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February 18, 2005
Vale Casey Donovan's first career
Well, I predicted it, and now Immedia is reporting that Casey Donovan's career is over as her debut album sales slump. Seems her album is almost out of the top 100 after failing to reach the expected heights. However, I... More Posted by Huge at 11:12 AM
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Agreeing with your opponents
I don't agree with John Howard on a lot of his policies but I wholeheartedly applaud his intervention to "encourage" Telstra to re-instate its funding of the Lifeline telephone service. This service has made a huge difference to thousands of... More Posted by Hughie at 8:38 AM
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February 17, 2005
The thin end of the spin
So, a policeman walks around the corner of a street in his neighbourhood and sees two armed guys standing on either side of another guy who has a sack over his head. Standing in front of the guy with the... More Posted by Hughie at 10:56 AM
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February 14, 2005
Bun' Ber E in Japan
Also wanted to note that a Japanese radio program, Yellowbeat, has put one of Bun' Ber E's tunes on rotation. Apparently they'll start by playing Orange & Blue, off our latest album, Unplugged, on Friday Night (Tokyo time). Thanks, guys.... More Posted by Hughie at 10:52 AM
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Returning to form
Well, I'm now officially back to playing serious touch. I've joined a rep team from Puretouch (mixed - called the Pumas) and will contest the National Touch Rugby Association State titles next weekend, 19 Feb. The Pumas are an interesting... More Posted by Hughie at 10:45 AM
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February 11, 2005
History repeating??
Someone pointed this out to me the other day aand I just had to note it here for future reference: The election in Iraq is a significant and important step along the road to a more peaceful world, but it's... More Posted by Hughie at 9:43 AM
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February 10, 2005
It's getting harder every time ...
Now that I'll be 35, I'm trying to nominate for the Qld >35 touch footy team and try out at the State Titles on the 19th. But it's getting harder for two reasons. The first is that I've picked up... More Posted by Hughie at 10:52 AM
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Australian Idol: Travesty or Treat?
Interesting debate in The Sydney Morning Herald, which I heard about via the Australian music Council's e-newsletter, about whether or not Australian Idol is "good for the local record industry". It's an interesting debate, not so much because interesting or... More Posted by Huge at 10:11 AM
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February 8, 2005
Super things
Watched the Superbowl the other day. The whole thing - from start to finish. This was the first time I'd had the opportunity to do so and I was determined not to miss it. What did I think? Well, it... More Posted by Hughie at 5:37 PM
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February 1, 2005
Well done, Leyton
I gotta say that I'm not as worried about Leyton Hewitt as a lot of people are. Seems to me he did nearly everything right in his quest for an Australian Open title. But, as he rightly pointed out, Marat... More Posted by Hughie at 9:12 AM
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January 27, 2005
Popularity and diversity
Found an interesting article that argues that too much diversity can make people jaded about choice. I think this is spot on, and it's why a lot of the hyperbolic suggestions about the Internet providing venue for lots of alternative... More Posted by Huge at 11:55 AM
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January 20, 2005
Lies, damn lies and the music industry
Finally, some respectable research has pointed out the utter bollocks that ARIA has been sprouting about music sales figures in Australia. I almost gagged on the contradiction between the sales figures and the spin when they were released, and it's... More Posted by Huge at 9:39 AM
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January 13, 2005
Making something out of tragedy
I hope Adam Gilchrist is right. If there's one good thing that has come out of the Asian Tsunami, it's the opportunity for the West, particularly the "Coalition of the Willing" to put some effort into making a third-world nation... More Posted by Huge at 2:05 PM
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January 10, 2005
Devastating Media Tsunami
Welcome to 2005. I have to confess I'm not sure which I find more nauseating: the scenes of horror coming out of (mainly) Indonesia and Sri Lanka or the thinly-disguised orgy of self-interest that's dominating our media ever since. Simon... More Posted by Hughie at 4:50 PM
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January 3, 2005
Asian Tsunami
(This space left blank in silent respect for those who have lost everything)... More Posted by Hughie at 8:03 AM
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Happy new year
Well, it's that time of year again. Having busted a gut in the lead-up to a New Year's Eve rock-out, I'm off to the farm for a week's holiday with the kids. Plenty of exciting news to discuss when I... More Posted by Huge at 8:01 AM
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December 23, 2004
Season's greetings
Best wishes to all, whatever your persuasion. I'm not much of a fan of Christmas per se, but it is a good opportunity to reflect on the state of humanity and one's place in it. Besides, the world could use... More Posted by Huge at 5:52 PM
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December 21, 2004
Unplugged CD Launch - International version
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Hugh Brown, +61 7 409 622 395 news@bunbere.bizhosting.com http://www.bunbere.com Aussie Celtic survivors the last band standing. Brisbane, Australia. 2 December 2004. Bun' Ber E Celtic Bands will launch their latest CD release, Unplugged, at Dicey Reilly's,... More Posted by Hughie at 9:52 AM
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Apologies
Sorry for my recent absence. It's been a combination of a couple of things. The first is my father's accident - he fell out of a tree and broke his second Lumbar vertebra. He'll been fine if he behaves for... More Posted by Hughie at 9:11 AM
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December 3, 2004
Unplugged CD Launch - Australian version
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Brisbane Celtic survivors the last band standing. Brisbane, Australia. 2 December 2004. Bun' Ber E Celtic Bands will launch their latest CD release, Unplugged, at Dicey Reilly's, Garden City, on Sunday, 12 December 2004 at 9am. Unplugged... More Posted by Hughie at 8:29 AM
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November 19, 2004
Reflections on Idol
Well, it's good to be liberated from having to watch TV at certain times ... I've just been told that Ngaiire will perform, apparently, at the finale. That's awesome and is a good reason to watch again. For the record,... More Posted by Huge at 2:38 PM
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November 18, 2004
Footy season off to a flying start
Well, we've won two from two so far, but last night I had a night like I've never had. Couldn't catch a cold! At one stage I was over the line and dropped the ball; another time I was in... More Posted by Hughie at 8:33 AM
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Unplugged is almost here
Cool! After much effort, argument, delay and stress, Bun' Ber E Unplugged will soon return from the factory. We're taking advance orders via PayPal here. This has been an interesting experience. Our first CD, Ceilidh, was recorded in a professional... More Posted by Hughie at 8:23 AM
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November 9, 2004
Latest Events
OK, well, footy season got off to a winning start. We've decided to change to two mixed teams and no men's, which is fine by me. I don't feel fit enough to play two games, anyway. In other news, I... More Posted by Hughie at 9:32 AM
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Moving on.
Well, I didn't watch Idol last night, and according to the papers, lots of others agree with me as audiences decline just when they should be growing. I read the result in this morning's paper and it only confirmed my... More Posted by Huge at 9:21 AM
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November 2, 2004
New Footy Season!!
Starts Wednesday Night. We're back at Citytouch after a season at Puretouch. Had a great winter, won the comp, but the club wants to come back closer to home. This makes perfect sense, but it's a bit of a pity.... More Posted by Hughie at 8:10 AM
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Over Idol
I guess you've figured out about now that I'm largely over Idol. Rather disappointed that it's not more about singing and performance, but fascinated about what, exactly, it is. Unfortunately, without more information, like exact vote counts, and without the... More Posted by Huge at 8:05 AM
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October 24, 2004
Marty Fan club
Right! I give up ... There's no point in trying to pick this comp ... there's no justice to the public's voting patterns. I notice that this evening Marcia was very careful to put the Kybosh on any suggestion that... More Posted by Huge at 9:27 PM
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October 17, 2004
Ricky-Lee fan club
NOTE: Since I posted this, I've had lots of comments that seem to indicate that people think this is Ricki-Lee's website (see below). It's not, and I don't know how to get in touch with her, either. Her website is... More Posted by Huge at 8:44 PM
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October 10, 2004
Three more years of ...
OK, I'm officially pissed off. I made no secret of my desire for an end to John Howard's tyranny of the pathetic, and now I just hope I'm wrong. It's odd, because I, personally, might be better off with JH... More Posted by Hughie at 12:48 AM
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October 3, 2004
Springsteen voting for change
Just read about the long-awaited Vote 4 Change concerts. As a long-time Springsteen fan, I've gotta confess It's no surprise to see the man stand up against what he percieves as the destuction of the America he loves. I'm no... More Posted by Huge at 1:32 PM
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What are the Idols thinking???
Caught the song selections for Sunday's "own choice" show - these people are not listening to the judges' comments! An Italian hymn? George? They may be the best band in the land (I don't agree, with that, BTW) but they're... More Posted by Huge at 12:35 PM
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September 27, 2004
Idol predictions
OK, well, I was right about Emilia but wrong about Marty and Casey. I'm not surprised at Marty - he's been sailing close to the wind for a few weeks. But I agree with Mark that it would have been... More Posted by Huge at 9:23 PM
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September 26, 2004
Another Idol moment
A few notes on tonight's performances: Casey: A trademark powerful performance but it seemed to lack something. Went for the big note at the end and hit it big but didn't do much with it ... hmmmm ... nothing wrong,... More Posted by Huge at 9:58 PM
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Footy finals
Commiserations to the Lions and Cowboys on their defeats this weekend. In the Lions' case, Port just plain wanted it more. Every time a ball was spilled and up for grabs, a Port player seemed to be the one who... More Posted by Hughie at 9:54 PM
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Extremists?
ROTFL!!!! I just saw a TV ad for the Family First Party. For this mob to call the Greens "extremist" is the pot calling the kettle black. These guys are driven by the ideology of a fundamentalist Christian church (I... More Posted by Hughie at 9:48 PM
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September 20, 2004
Missing Idol
Didn't manage to catch Idol last night because I went to see my parents and they watched Bradman ... also a good show. However, there seemed to be no surprises in the bottom three ... except I'm still waiting for... More Posted by Huge at 7:47 PM
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September 18, 2004
Well done, the Cowboys!
To be honest, the Broncos haven't looked like a side that could win a final for about four weeks. Gordy said they were having trouble getting up for finals whe they'd already cemented third place, but that's not good enough.... More Posted by Hughie at 11:15 PM
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September 16, 2004
Utterly forgettable Idols
Enough said. But the beatbox thing is interesting. I'll be watching those guys with interest.... More Posted by Huge at 9:25 PM
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September 15, 2004
Best wishes, Dan
Well, I was shocked to see Dan knocked out. But I was not displeased. As I have noted before, Dan had the weakest voice and one of the weaker on-stage presences in the competition. I was sure he'd go further,... More Posted by Huge at 10:41 AM
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September 13, 2004
Federal Election comments
OK, I'll probably only say one thing about this election: I hope John Howard loses. The vindictive part of me wants him to lose badly and be personally humiliated by the defeat, preferrably going down in history as the worst... More Posted by Hughie at 1:52 PM
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September 12, 2004
Still being Idol
Didn't post last week following the Jakarta bombing. Thought Thursday night's show was interesting, but don't have time to go into it here. Tonight I'll try to give an entrant-by-entrant critique in order - then a summary and prediction ...... More Posted by Huge at 8:04 PM
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September 7, 2004
Angie fan club
Well, I was disappointed about Ngaiire, but I'm gobsmacked about Angie. I picked the other two to be in the three, and probably expected Amali to be the one to go, but Angie is just so fabulous. That said, her... More Posted by Huge at 12:31 PM
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September 5, 2004
Ngaiire fan club
I'm very disappointed. Perhaps they should have reversed the wildcard selections and had 2 by popular choice. Still, the two they picked are not bad. A quick note before I watch the first final - I'm backing Dan to win.... More Posted by Huge at 7:32 PM
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August 25, 2004
Interesting public releases
OK, I have heard about the ALP's "Truth Overboard" thing - it's not hard to find. Interesting catalogue of statements - I was wondering when the ALP would do this. What's even more interesting, though, is the unavailability of the... More Posted by Hughie at 12:21 PM
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August 22, 2004
Tri-Nations finals
23 - 19 A couple of terrible mistakes, a couple of unlucky close calls ... some awesome Springboks pressure .... I gotta wonder, though, why the Wobblies haven' tried the short kick behind the line more often. It took an... More Posted by Hughie at 9:12 PM
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Missing Idol
Next hought it would happen but ... due to a family miscalculation ... I missed the first half of Idol tonight. hence, I won't try to pick the winners. However, a quick observation is that they were all better than... More Posted by Huge at 9:06 PM
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August 16, 2004
Idol moments #2
OK, so, Angeline, Liza, Amali and Daniel. I'd give myself 2.5 for that. Angie was no surprise - she was the pick of the night and will only get better with practice. Amali I picked as well, actually, I wrote... More Posted by Huge at 9:00 PM
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August 15, 2004
Australian Idol, round 2
OK, I wasn't impressed at all by this lot. Lots of potential that didn't materialise. Marcia was very defensive, especially of the youngsters, and so she should be, but they really weren't as good as last week. Mark said it... More Posted by Huge at 9:44 PM
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August 10, 2004
Idol moments
Well, Australian Idol has gotten serious, and I'm pleased to say that, after half-watching Sunday's show, I picked the four finalists from last night - though I got the order slightly wrong, in that I thought Ngaiire would go through... More Posted by Huge at 4:30 PM
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July 29, 2004
A new job ...
Well, I'm sitting at the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Qld and wondering how this happened. This morning I gave my first lecture in "Multimedia Journalism" - scary stuff. I have had to slow down a... More Posted by Hughie at 4:03 PM
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July 5, 2004
Blowing out the cobwebs
Well ... had me some fun yesterday down at the local club. We had an open-slather jamm - all welcome, any style. Yesterday, I lent them my PA, played accoustic guitar, had a sing, played drums and percussion, clapped, cheered... More Posted by Huge at 9:42 PM
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June 27, 2004
Where am I?
OK, now that I'm back on line, I thought I'd take stock of where I'm at. Wanted to be a lot futher advanced than I am by now, to be honest. I've recorded (to my satisaction) two first goes at... More Posted by Huge at 9:27 PM
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June 22, 2004
Apologies
Sorry, I've been offline due to a technical glitch for the past few weeks. Back online now and looking forward to getting back to it!... More Posted by Hughie at 8:38 PM
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May 29, 2004
Simplicity
This one took a couple of years to write. It started out as a little guitar lick one night of deep drunken depression when I was living with my brother in a crumbling house in Cadell St, Toowong - not... More Posted by Huge at 10:59 PM
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May 26, 2004
It's Origin Time!!
Love it!! Go Maroons!! http://www.stateoforigin.com.au... More Posted by Hughie at 9:53 PM
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May 17, 2004
We're on iTunes!
Just found Bun' Ber E's debut CD, Ceilidh, in the Apple iTunes store. What a buzz!! Awesome to see it for sale in the same space as all of my heroes! Never thought I'd see the day, and even if... More Posted by Huge at 9:13 PM
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May 7, 2004
Determination
Well! This morning on the radio I heard an interview between the hosts and one of the nobody comperes from Australian Idol. They were trying to arouse interest in the upcoming Brisbane auditions. Inevitably, the question was asked why Idol... More Posted by Huge at 9:33 PM
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April 28, 2004
Dancing with the Stones
This one was written by my good mate Mark Gillett, with whom I used to work at Maroochydore DSS office (now Centrelink). Not sure what inspired it but it rocks. I played it (on drums) with The Hinterland Band in... More Posted by Huge at 9:37 PM
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April 22, 2004
Heart's with you (Hillbilly Lovesong)
This is a silly song that was inspired by my good mate Phil Graham. When returned in 2002 from walking the Kokoda Trail, I mentioned to Phil (by e-mail) the mountains I had climbed and complained that I had sore... More Posted by Huge at 9:42 PM
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April 15, 2004
Irrelevant media coverage
Apart from me, is there any else out there who could not care less about where David Beckham did or did not have sex with anyone apart from "Posh Spice"? More Posted by Huge at 10:14 PM
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April 12, 2004
Being a father
I don't go along with the line that we need to increase our population just for the sake of economic growth. There are already more than enough human souls on this planet - what we need to work on is improving the quality of life of the ones who are here. There's plenty of possibilities for economic growth in pursuing that mission. More Posted by Huge at 12:25 PM
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April 10, 2004
Wanting the best for Iraq
One day the holier-than-thou leaders of ths debacle will be forced to admit that Western standards of decency and the rules of wear don't apply to a people who think they're fighting (rightly or wrongly) for their very existence. It you're struggling on that basis (or, at least, you think you are) you're going to do whatever it takes. Dying defending your home and family is better than staving to death or being brutalised along with them. More Posted by Huge at 12:02 PM
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March 29, 2004
Australian Idol
On a lighter note, I was persuaded by my family to audition for Australian Idol. I went to the site to check it out and discovered that I'm too old. They didn't mention the age restrictions on the show. Glad... More Posted by Huge at 9:15 PM
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The politics of right
The short summary of my position is this: I think helping the US administration to invade Iraq was a bad idea but now that we're in there we should stay until Iraq looks like it might genuinely become and remain a stable democracy. More Posted by Huge at 9:10 PM
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March 13, 2004
What a week I've had!
Well, it's been one of the best weeks I've had for a long time. On Tuesday I received notice that a nice woman in Florida, USA, liked Bun' Ber E's CD enough to buy it from CDBaby. That was a... More Posted by Huge at 11:19 AM
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March 9, 2004
Success of sorts
Well, we've just sold our first Bun' Ber E CD from CDBaby! Thank you to the person who bought it. Florida will never sound the same again. This is a very exciting turn of events and I hope it will... More Posted by Huge at 8:18 PM
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March 5, 2004
Love me footy
Not that I haven't been here before, or that we're playing for sheep stations, but it's always exciting being close to winning something. More Posted by Hughie at 9:51 PM
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March 2, 2004
That's what it's all about
The New York Times recently ran this (requires registration). It looks at the "Grey Album" and the drive to produce new art by merging the old and the new. I thought I was a bit of a no-brainer, to be... More Posted by Hughie at 6:52 PM
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February 27, 2004
Serendipity and musical appreciation
I was stuck by the feeling "I love Music!" Where else could it all come together? What a wonderful, many-splendid thing we have and how precious it is. More Posted by Huge at 4:12 PM
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February 14, 2004
Ahhh ... predictions.
I notice that Roy Masters has made ten predictions in his SMH column today. I don't see much reason to doubt most of them - they seem pretty sensible - but I think this year I will keep him honest.... More Posted by Huge at 9:58 AM
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February 9, 2004
Lost weekends
Well, I now know what it takes to wield a jackhammer for a day and I've gotta say that anyone who can do that has my undying respect. If I never see a jackhammer again, I'll die happy. More Posted by Hughie at 9:08 PM
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February 2, 2004
Reviews
Bongoes and bagpipes may seen a quantum leap, as may double time reels that suddenly drop into military marches and reggae rhythms under waltzed, but in the hands of consummate professionals, good music is always good music � it just gets better. More Posted by Hughie at 8:42 PM
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January 24, 2004
(Pop) music's lack of cultural examination
Germaine Greer finally said something with which I agree. She wrote in the OZ "If your ambition is to live on Ramsay Street, where nobody has even been heard to discuss a book or a movie, let alone an international event, then Australia may be the place for you". I have to say that that's frighteningly (and unpleasantly) accurate from my limited experience. More Posted by Huge at 10:34 AM
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January 21, 2004
Spam - the scourge of the Internet world ...
I wonder how long it will be before some firm sues for the cost of spam ... or some law firm takes a class action on behalf of people bombarded by the crap. More Posted by Huge at 11:58 PM
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January 13, 2004
Another belated update about day jobs.
I love my day job. If I had to pick a day job to do, this one would be it. The boss is great and I get to "read and think all day" as my Angie puts it. So why would I long to give it up? More Posted by Hughie at 9:33 PM
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January 7, 2004
Songwriters must get with the program, too ...
I'm glad that my efforts at this web site have been designed to oppose these "music industry" trends. I want the music associated with this site to have as diverse a source of inputs and to be distrubted as widely as possible. More Posted by Hughie at 11:04 AM
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January 6, 2004
Tuesday Update
OK, I've been rather busy and Angie has been using the PC with the Internet connection to do her Honours thesis research ... More Posted by Hughie at 6:39 PM
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January 1, 2004
I Long for the Day
I started writing this for a bet in 1996. At the time I'd just had *another* band fall apart through no fault of mine and had move in with my then-girlfriend (now wife), Angie, quit my comfortable public service job and gone back to Uni to study journalism. More Posted by Hughie at 10:31 AM
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Getting on with it
Well, so far, so good. Got the basics up and running - now trying to make it all look half-decent. More Posted by Hughie at 10:01 AM
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December 31, 2003
Making a start
Well, at long last I have launched the vehicle that will enable me to live from my creative output (I hope). More Posted by Hughie at 11:30 AM
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