Movie Monday: School of Rock

I can't believe I've done almost a year and a half of Movie Monday posts without covering today's installment. Because I love the crap out of this movie even though it's completely and utterly ridiculous.

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Reasons why School of Rock is awesome:
1. The soundtrack. Holy crap, GENIUS. They even managed to pick the one and only Led Zeppelin song that I don't hate.
2. Jack Black. I'm pretty sure this movie is half character, and half just him having an absolute blast and playing his favourite music.
3. Dewey's fake "handing the phone over" technique.
4. Jack Black's plea to Led Zeppelin to let them use Immigrant Song on the soundtrack.


5. Summer's horrified face when the gold star chart gets torn up.
6. Soundproofing the classroom.
7. Jack Black's crazy impressive eyebrow raising skills.
8. Every single kid in the entire movie. They're all brilliant. Especially Billy...

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9. Stupidly long and complicated handshakes.
10. Joan Cusack.
11. The rock music map.

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12. Summer sneaking the entire class out of the school and onto the bus.
13. The performance at Battle of the Bands.
14. Dewey's school uniform, a la Angus Young.

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15. Zach's guitar solo.
16. Maggotdeth.

Plus, the following quotes:
- "You're tacky and I hate you."
- "Dewey, a substitute teacher is not a temp!"
- "Would you tell Picasso to sell his guitars?!"
- "Okay, here's the deal. I have a hangover. Who knows what that means?" "Doesn't that mean you're drunk?" "No. It means I was drunk yesterday." "It means you're an alcoholic." "Wrong." "You wouldn't come to work with a hangover unless you were an alcoholic. Dude, you got a disease!" "Hmmm... hmmm... What's your name?" "Freddy Jones." "Okay, Freddy Jones, shut up!"
- "Ros, I'm not a teacher." "Ohhh, Ned. A substitute IS a teacher!"

- "You, Freddy, what do you like to do?" "I dunno. Burn stuff?"
- "It will test your head. And your mind. And your brain."
- "Why don't you go on a diet?" "Because. I like to eat."
- "You're gonna talk to me about style? You can't even dress yourself... look at that bow tie." "Don't you be talkin' about my bow tie."
- "Math is a wonderful thing. Math is a really cool thing. So get off your ath, let's do some math. Math, math, math, math, math. Three minus four is?" "Negative one." "That's right. And six times a billion is?" "Six billion?" "Nailed it. And fifty-four is forty-five more than what is the answer, Marta?" "Nine." No, it's eight." "...No, it's nine." "...Yes, I was testing you... it's nine. And that's a magic number."
- "Those that can't do, teach, and those that can't teach... teach gym."
- "And we're gonna start a revolution okay? And you're gonna be a funny little footnote on my epic ass!"
- "No, I'm not a licensed teacher. But I've been touched by your kids. And I'm pretty sure I've touched them."
- "I've just been informed that all of your children are missing. So..."

Have you heard that Andrew Lloyd Webber is going to turn it into a Broadway musical?? Because apparently he is. I don't know whether to be excited or terrified...

K xx

What decade do I live in?

So you know how it sucks when your favourite band is touring, and at the very time that they're touring, you're going to be somewhere that is else?

That's pretty much how life is ALL the time in Australia. It takes a LOT for bands to tour here, because it's far and it's expensive to ship all their junk over here and - especially at the moment - it's quite hard for them to actually make a profit because the Australian dollar is currently worth MORE than the US dollar. Anyway, all of this means one thing: the last concert I went to was AC/DC in February 2010, and the ticket cost over $200 (not to mention the flight down from Canberra!). And about 90% of the reason I went was fear that every member of the band would drop dead at some point in the near future, and I would miss my chance to see them forever.

This is a really long winded way of saying "Bands don't tour here much".

Except that it seems that I'm wrong. Bands/artists DO tour here. It's just that they're all really ancient. I was talking to Sara the other day, and she was fangirling about how McFly are touring the UK next year. And that's what made me realise that the "Tickets now on sale!" emails I've been getting recently have been a little...outdated.

Based on a quick search of the two main ticket providers in Australia, here is a list of concerts happening in Melbourne in the next little while:

• The Village People
• Neil Young
• Ringo Starr
• Bryan Adams
• Boyz II Men
• Cliff Richard
• Deep Purple and Journey (in the one concert!)
• Barry Gibb
• Black Sabbath
• Elton John
• Status Quo
• KISS
• Blondie (to be fair, I would seriously consider going to see Blondie. Because they're awesome)
• Presidents of the United States of America
• RICK FREAKING ASTLEY. Melbourne is about to get rick-rolled, y'all. 

Now, this is not to say that there aren't modern bands/artists touring to Melbourne. No no, Melbourne will also have the pleasure of concerts by NICKELBACK AND ONE DIRECTION. Kill me. Kill me now. 

Seriously, you guys. When did Australia become the dumping ground for tours by people not even my parents like?? 

Also, if you were forced at gunpoint to attend three of the concerts listed above, which three would you pick? 

K xx

101 in 1001 #95

So I got into work this morning to discover that I'd received an email from the real estate agent after I left on Friday. I've been dealing with this moron for six weeks now, and every time I get something from him, it makes me want to tear my hair out. To sum up, here's how our emails have gone:

Me: Hello real estate agent. We got your letter saying that you're putting the rent up. It won't actually affect us as we're both moving interstate, so will be vacating the premises on 14/7. Can you please send us details of what we need to do as regards moving out?

Real estate agent: Okay, cool. I'll claim I'm going to send you a vacate pack and then do nothing.

Me: Um, we never got the pack, can you send another one?

REA: Sure! Only I'll claim to send it and do nothing again. MWAHAHAHA!!!!

Me: Dude. This is fucking ridiculous. We're moving out in A WEEK. If you're not going to send it to me like you've promised, can you at least EMAIL me the fucking pack???

REA: Sure, why didn't you say so?

Me: Okay, so you know how the letter you reckon you sent 6 weeks ago includes the date for the final inspection? Yeah. The carpets won't have been cleaned by then. So you can either do the inspection without the carpets having been cleaned or you can do it at the end of the day instead.

REA: We don't have any spots at the end of the day. And we can't do the inspection without the carpets having been cleaned. So you'll have to pay $65 in rent because you're not vacating until the Friday. We'll do the inspection at 10.30 on Friday.

Me: I have no energy left to deal with your shit. I'll pay the stupid $65, even though the property will be vacant and I'll be giving the keys back first thing in the morning. But I'm driving to Melbourne that day, so 10.30 is a really crappy time for the inspection. Make it earlier, you poopy head. [<-- my lack of energy apparently extends to coming up with decent insults, even if I'm only delivering them in my head]

REA: How's 9.30?

Me: Whatever. I hate you. And if you quibble about things not being 100% clean, I WILL stab you in the face...

Okay, that last bit I just thought really loudly in the hopes that he'd pick up on it. God, I hate Canberra... And real estate agents... And Canberra real estate agents...

Anyway, all of this led me to thinking that I needed something cheerful to concentrate on. So I decided I'd cross off making a playlist of 101 of my favourite songs! Here we have them in the order that iTunes chose to play them (and no judging allowed):
1. The Story - Brandi Carlile
2. The Captain - Biffy Clyro
3. Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: I Prelude - Yo-Yo Ma
4. MMMBop - Hanson
5. Don't Stop Believin' - Journey
6. Loser Like Me - The cast of Glee
7. I Wanna Dance With Somebody - Whitney Houston
8. Evacuate the Dancefloor - Cascada
9. Raise Your Glass - P!nk
10. Holiday - Green Day
11. Swing, Swing - The All-American Rejects
12. The Boxer - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
13. Night Swimming - REM
14. If I Had $1000000 - Barenaked Ladies
15. Take It to the Limit - The Eagles
16. Pop! Goes My Heart - Hugh Grant (from Music and Lyrics)
17. You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift
18. Check Yes Juliet - We The Kings
19. Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
20. 1812 Overture - Tchaikovsky
21. Wonderful - Everclear
22. My Eyes - Felicia Day and Neil Patrick Harris (from Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog)
23. For Good - Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth (from Wicked)
24. Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac
25. F**k You - Cee Lo Green
26. Scotty Doesn't Know - Lustra (from Eurotrip)
27. Love Drunk - Boys Like Girls
28. Ravers in the UK - Manian
29. Self-Righteous Cyclist - Eddie Perfect
30. Lucky - Bif Naked
31. Gold - Spandau Ballet
32. Better Be Home Soon - Crowded House
33. You Just Got Slapped - Jason Segel and Neil Patrick Harris (from How I Met Your Mother)
34. Firefly theme - Joss Whedon
35. Hey Jealousy - The Gin Blossoms
36. Bless the Broken Road - Rascal Flatts
37. Hey, Soul Sister - Train
38. Why Can't I? - Liz Phair
39. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
40. The Airplane Song - Scouting for Girls
41. One - U2
42. ¡Viva La Gloria! - Green Day
43. Six at Best - Eddie Perfect
44. Dammit - Blink-182
45. The Kids are Alright - The Who
46. Dynamite - Taio Cruz
47. Hallelujah - kd lang
48. Want You Bad - The Offspring
49. Somewhere Only We Know - Keane
50. Bad Things - Jace Everett (from True Blood)
51. Twist and Shout - The Beatles
52. Don't Stop Me Now - Queen
53. All The Small Things - Blink-182
54. Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall
55. Like a Prayer - Madonna
56. As Long As You're Mine - Idina Menzel and Norbert Leo Butz (from Wicked)
57. Summer Rain - Belinda Carlisle
58. Don't You Want Me - The Human League
59. Pinch Me - Barenaked Ladies
60. Whatever Happened to Saturday Night - Meatloaf (from Rocky Horror Picture Show)
61. Friday I'm in Love - The Cure
62. Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) - Green Day
63. Come Pick Me Up - Ryan Adams
64. Ashes to Ashes - David Bowie
65. You Took The Words Right Outta My Mouth - Meatloaf
66. If You Wanna - The Vaccines
67. The Load Out - Jackson Browne
68. Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield
69. Hey There Delilah - The Plain White T's
70. The Cave - Mumford & Sons
71. My Friends Over You - New Found Glory
72. Fill My Little World - The Feeling
73. Turn Me On - Norah Jones
74. Dance Into the Night - The View
75. Fall at Your Feet - Crowded House
76. Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas
77. Canadian, Please - Andrew Gunadie and Julia Bentley
78. This Ain't a Love Song - Scouting for Girls
79. Back in Black - AC/DC
80. International Talk Like a Pirate Day theme song - Tom Smith
81. I Need a Holiday - Scouting for Girls
82. In My Head - Jason Derulo
83. I've Got No Beef With You - Ceann
84. Come on Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners
85. Blue as Your Eyes - Scouting for Girls
86. Distant Sun - Crowded House
87. Another Fucking Love Song - Amiel
88. Can't Stop Now - Keane
89. Heartbeat - Scouting for Girls
90. It'll All Work Out - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (from Elizabethtown)
91. Same in Any Language - I Nine (from Elizabethtown)
92. I'm Not That Girl - Idina Menzel (from Wicked)
93. Flame Trees - Cold Chisel
94. Get Loose - The Salads (from Eurotrip)
95. Semi-Charmed Life - Third Eye Blind
96. Under Pressure - Queen & David Bowie
97. I Do Not Hook Up - Kelly Clarkson
98. Anthem Part 2 - Blink-182
99. Run - Stephen Fretwell (from Gavin & Stacey)
100. The Last Day on Earth - Kate Miller-Heidke
101. Rule the World - Take That (from Stardust)

So there you have it - 101 of my favourite songs. And compiling this successfully took my mind off the moronic real estate agent for a while - success! 2 tasks down, 99 to go...

K xx

Neglect and the reasons for it

I'm sorry - I've been neglecting my poor little blog recently. But with good reason - I haven't been in Canberra! Always a cause for excitement, it started out with flying to Melbourne, meeting up with Sara, and going to the zoo to see the new baby elephant:


After the trip to the zoo, it was off to the AC/DC concert:
Which was a night of awesomeness. Not quite as awesome as the Green Day concert, mind you. But still pretty damned awesome. And at least now I've gotten to see AC/DC before they stop touring/die!
Then it was on to a day of doing touristy stuff in Melbourne with Sara and Aerlyn, which included Eureka Tower:

Taking sample photos for work:

And one of my favourite places in Melbourne - the La Trobe Reading Room at the State Library of Victoria:

Then after a day of catching up with Cas, it was off to Tasmania for six days. Which is a story for another blog post... But anyway, I've been back from Tassie since Monday night, and have been running around like a crazy person ever since (seriously - we went straight from the airport to the Palace's trivia night!). But it's back to Canberra and normalcy this weekend. So rest assured, the neglect won't last much longer!!

Watch this space for exciting stories from Tasmania about tiger snakes, stupidly low shower heads, and lollies that have melted into bizarre blobs of gelatinous sugar!!

K xx :)