“All the great pleasures of life are silent.” Clemenceau This is the quote on the bottom of the calendar for June 22nd 2005, which happens to be my birthday. I find it rather ironic given: a. I’m a musician b. I’ve just found out I will have to wear hearing aids for the rest of my life. Having said this, I agree with the quote, in a lot of respects. We live in such a noisy world; sometimes it is really hard to appreciate quiet when we hear it. In the past, I’ve lived...

I haven’t been as active on JU this year as I would have liked because I’ve been sick. So has my wife. We’ve both been fighting off a terrible summer cold. My poor wife was sick on Christmas Day and the only reason we had a New Year's celebration is due to copious amounts of cold and flu medication. A lot of people I know and work with have also been sick with the same rotten bug. But I’ve also found out something else and have been trying to figure out the best way to share it with my n...

I don't know what's going on at the moment here on JU. There is a lot of negativity I don't want to know about, so please don't even bother trying to justify or explain it. Maybe if we all just stopped being so sensitive all the time, and let things go, the world wouldn't be in the state it is in now. Sure, this may be a awfully niave sentiment, but it is one I will proudly stand by. So, with this in mind, I would like to wish all JUsers and happy, prosperous, safe, loving and toleran...

With the world still shaking from the terrible tsunamis and the havoc, death and destruction visited upon the Pacific rim, you would think the last thing people want to do is start blaming others for this problem. Well think again. Here in Australia, there are those who are already pointing fingers. Yesterday, while watching bits and pieces of different news reports, I caught a piece on A Current Affair - Summer Edition (as if we don't know it is Summer here). Two of the pieces on this ...

Any of you who have read my posts know that I, apart from being a musician, am a big music fan. While I am concerned over the state of the music industry, in terms of how the majors treat their roster and the public in general, 2004 had some very good musical highlights. Australia had a great year in music, with some of our bands doing very well. 2004 kicked off with the hype surrounding The Vines crumbling and falling to ruins only to rise again with Jet. Unlike The Vines though, Jet...

I haven't been with JU long. After one particular article, I thought I might have to retire hurt, given how many people I upset. But I stuck it out and am grateful I did. There are some particularly good authors, diarists or whatever one calls them here at JU who seem to share my love of the written word. It is these people who make me come back time and again. It is also these people who inspire me to write more. So, with that in mind, I would like to thank the following folk (in no ...

I want to add a few different users to my favourites list but can't work out how to do it - can someone please help me?

Our lives are all so reliant on fantasy and fallacies we don’t even realise it. Just think about all the things we say but don’t really mean everyday. We say things to prevent hurting the feelings of those close to us. We say things to provide an excuse to get out of an undesirable job, task or chore. We sometimes say things just because we don’t feel like addressing the truth of a matter. Virtually no one is innocent of this. Following is my subjective top ten list of lies commonly u...

My parents used to say ‘if you can’t say something nice about someone, then don’t say anything at all’. It was their way of trying to teach me about the power of positive thinking. Recently, I had a chance to discuss this with my mother. She said she always thought I cared ‘too much’, to quote her. I asked how one could possibly care too much. She simply replied that I was always a sensitive kid who would go out of my way to bring home stray animals and injured birds or lizards. She...

This was originally posted directly from the Forum page. I have since realised it didn't show up on my homepage until now... By: dynamaso Posted: Tuesday, November 23, 2004 Message Board: Misc Its a modern day dilemma – we are constantly reminded of the things we are supposed to do to maintain these flesh and blood machines of ours. Oops, forgot about the brain. There you go. Maybe if I was maintaining myself the way I’m constantly reminded I should, I wouldn’t have forgotten about m...

I've written the following in response to a few different bloggers saying they appreciated my attitude. While not trying to pat my own back, I wanted to let those interested know a little bit more about why my attitude is this way. I try to follow a few simple rules in my life drawn from my very limited studies of world philosophies and religions. I was raised as a Roman Catholic and even considered becoming a priest, until I discovered girls. After that, the idea of celibacy seemed almos...

Its a modern day dilemma – we are constantly reminded of the things we are supposed to do to maintain these flesh and blood machines of ours. Oops, forgot about the brain. There you go. Maybe if I was maintaining myself the way I’m constantly reminded I should, I wouldn’t have forgotten about my, erm, dammit, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, my brain. I try and feed it at least once a day, but it’s pretty voracious and I struggle to keep up with its appetite. I read recently that ...

I’ve just read about a concert category sweeping America at the moment. It is another example of just how uninspiring, insipid, money hungry and fucking useless the corporate recording industry has become. The mystery category is - drum roll (© WEA/DrumRollsRUs 1997) please – ‘Nostalgia’. Yes, you heard right. ‘Nostalgia’. What exactly is ‘Nostalgia’? According to one source, it is any band that had three or more hits in the 80’s, but not after 1986 (how can they say ‘the 80’s’ and the...

I know a few of you out there enjoy your ink. I was given the following link for the best site I've seen to do with tattoos and tattoo-related information. Check it out - http://www.tattoofinder.com Cheers, Maso

Yeah, you know who you are? You are the whingey, whiny, insecure little bundle of flesh and fat that can’t do anything more imaginative than gripe about how shit you think your life is, like its not your fault. Fuck off, you miserable wanker. You walk around, sucking on lollypops or chewing a great wad of gum, looking more like a pathetic cow than a human being. Don’t you realise your incessant chewing and sucking is just because you were never weaned properly? Another thing: if you w...