Andy

Slash

2010-04-28T07:18:00.003+10:00

Two days ago I met the man who inspired me to pick up the guitar. That day was 22 years ago, and over that time I've listened to Slash's guitar work on just about everything he's done; Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver, all the side and solo projects, all the guest appearances. I've scoured the internet for the past decade watching clips, downloading fan footage, etc. I've flipped through tattered guitar mags to re-read interviews with him and bought and read his book. To say I'm a fan is a bit of an understatement. I know when his birthday is (it's in my Outlook calendar). Quite simply, the man is a God in my world, as those who know me well would know.

When the opportunity came up to meet him, I couldn't quite believe it. A good friend of mine works for a company that needed to do a video interview with Slash and at the last minute he called me up to ask if I wanted to go along with him. As you can imagine, at that point my body went into shock.

We rocked up to a fairly inconspicuous warehouse in Melbourne's suburbs where Slash was scheduled to do a photo shoot. We would have 10 minutes to do a quick video with him inbetween set change-overs during the photo shoot. All up there was only 7 people there including myself and my mate. We were waiting outside when up pulled a Mercedes van just a little way down the street. Out jumped a couple of guys, then lo and behold, out jumps Slash, in full rock-star outfit. My adrenaline jumped from about 4 to 9 on the 10 point scale. Over walks everyone (including the massive security dude who jumped out of the car after Slash) and intro's are made. Handshake. "Hi, I'm Andy". "Hi, I'm Slash". Unreal.

We walk into the warehouse, Slash goes to get ready for the photo shoot, we set up where the video will be taken. They do the first part of the photo shoot for about 10 minutes, then Slash walks into our area with a "Hi, are we doing a video?". We have a little chat about what we're going to do, hand him his "lines" to read, and it's all still very surreal. Here is Slash, standing in front of me, reading lines for the video we're about to shoot. We shoot the videos in a couple of takes - it's a very relaxed vibe. We change some of the lines on the fly though for the second video (to add Slash mentioning a website). As a result, Slash gets me to hold up the lines for the video next to the video camera. He comments "I can just read 'em 'cause I've shades on" with a smirk.

We finish up that video and Slash hangs around checking emails on his Blackberry while my mate checks that the video has all worked OK. Then we ask if we can grab a couple of photo's while he's here. Slash happily poses with us, and thus I get the photo below :)

Overall, I'm still in a bit of a state of blissful shock that it happened. I've met plenty of famous people (mostly rock stars) before, but without question Slash is the musician who has influenced me the most. I'm so glad he was a nice guy and not an asshole (Um... Tim Rogers?). Also, the situation of meeting him was ideal - for all intents and purposes I was just there doing a job to him, there was no hero/fan relationship - so it all seemed a bit more "real". Anyway, I'll be seeing him again when he returns to tour in August.

Things we have done in New York

2010-04-11T12:37:00.002+10:00

I thought I'd drop a quick note about our first 3 full days in New York City... and what we've done. Just bullet points for now, as it's late and time for bed. Suffice to say we're having an AWESOME time. Best holiday I think we've ever had.

Thursday

Hop on/hop off tour through Downtown
Walked the Brooklyn Bridge and back
Did a bus tour of Brooklyn
Had a beer in a great local pub
Watched a taping of "The Colbert Report"

Friday

Hop on/hop off tour through Uptown
City of New York museum
Had a spectacular vegan lunch at "Candle Cafe"
Saw "Date Night" at the movies

Saturday

Queued up and got discount Broadway tix for West Side Story tomorrow
Spent most of the day in the Village
Got pretty drunk together at a bar
Had a spectacular vegan dinner at "Caravan of Dreams"
Went on an open-top bus night tour of New York
Bought chocolates from Hershey's

That's it for now. Big day again tomorrow. Loving it.

Goals Review

2010-04-04T20:53:00.002+10:00

Time to do a goals review for 2010, given we're a quarter of the way through the year (I know!)

All up, doing well. Here's the scoop;

Get healthy. Well, I've joined the gym and have been regularly going, with a personal trainer as well. It's all going very well, even though I'm finding it pretty bloody hard at times.
Have some great holidays. Well, it's all happening right now - Adelaide and New York! More to report back later...
Read more. Have knocked over a couple of books lately. Reading pretty regularly.
Quit Smoking. All good - last cigarette I had was over 6 weeks ago, and apart from the odd craving here and there, it's all under control.
Keep on blogging. Pretty ordinary on this front - kinda lacking here. Oh well :)
Play a gig somewhere. Nothing yet... still got time to get this organised.
Meet my long list of OBS related goals. Lot of focus lately on this.
Don't kill the garden. The garden is going pretty well - we've even got a mower!
Be an attentive husband and father. Definitely good on this front.
Write and record a killer song. Song mostly written, not recorded yet :).

That's it for the time being.

Sale of the Century

2010-03-19T19:42:00.001+11:00

I was laying in bed the other night at about 1am thinking random thoughts and Sale of the Century popped into my head. It did so, because I was trying to analyse myself a little bit and work out why I a.) love numbers, b.) know a whole bunch of shit about trivial things and c.) my brain works at a rapid pace (for better or worse sometimes). And I think a lot of it comes down to Sale of the Century. I watched it almost every night as a kid and REALLY enjoyed it. I loved keeping a tally in my head of where the scores were at - especially during the final question time (a mad dash of questions throughout, from what I remember, a 60 second period). And I loved answering the questions, and any I didn't know I'd be straight into encyclopedias, dictionaries, Mum and Dad and any other source to learn more. I do believe it honestly helped me grow an inquisitive and fast-paced mind as a youngster. Perhaps it's time to look at the new version (called "Temptation" I think) and see how it shapes up, so at some point I can get my kids onto it.

Update / Soundwave

2010-03-09T09:57:00.000+11:00

I've been a bit absent on the old blog for a few weeks - sorry about that. Life has gotten in the way a bit... in a good way. Let's do a quick recap of where my head, heart and body have been at, eh?

I went to Soundwave a couple of weeks ago. The weather was ace, I had a grand old time. Alex and Jenni came and stayed at our place for a few days (more on that later), and Alex, Elaine, Chris and I all headed in for the day's events. Whilst there I caught up with Pauly and Sean (separately) - who again, I've been meaning to call since the event, but haven't gotten around to... Anyway, back to the day itself. I started the day with a song from Sunny Day Real Estate, then saw Baroness, a bit of Isis, all of The Weakerthans, a little bit of Paramore, a little bit of Placebo, all of The Get Up Kids, a bit of Meshuggah, the start of Anthrax's set, then finished with full sets from Jane's Addiction, Jimmy Eat World and Faith No More. Phew, that's a lot of bands. Highlights of the day were;

Baroness - they just rocked out, looked like that were having a great deal of fun, and delivered a very heartfelt "thank you" at the end of their set. Very cool.
The Weakerthans - wow. A huge highlight. They had a great sound (considering they were playing in a big tin shed), and played two of my favourite songs of theirs; "Everything Must Go" and "Left and Leaving". They were a great break in the day from the otherwise punk and metal acts
The Get Up Kids. They played a short set, certainly not long enough for my liking, but they opened with "Holiday" and closed with "Ten Minutes", so I was one happy punter.
Jane's Addiction. Similar to the last time I saw them, they played a set full of classics, and did it with style. It was good to see them again.
Faith No More. I was kind of excited to see FNM again, but not over-the-top like a lot of my friends were. I guess having lower expectations was a good thing, as they just blew me away as a result. I loved their set, even though it did feel a bit wrong seeing Jon Hudson playing guitar - he just seems like a ring-in to me... Was great to hear Chinese Arithmetic live, and the rest of their set was pretty solid.

So, Soundwave, was again, a roaring success. That's now two for two, back to back that they've kicked ass on. I'm impressed - hope it gets the same momentum/airplay as Big Day Out to challenge those guys to lift their game as well.

As part of Soundwave, Alex and Jenni came to stay with us for the weekend. That was a real treat. Alex hadn't seen the new place, and the kids just loved having them there. We had a great night on Saturday, just having a big old chat about life and the universe, and we even dusted off our wedding video to give them a chuckle. Boy, I love our wedding video - done by a friend of ours, it's one of the most "out there" wedding videos ever I'd say. It's scary, beautiful, weird and wonderful all at once. Hard to explain. Suffice to say, I think Alex and Jenni enjoyed it. I know I loved seeing it again (must've been at least 4 or 5 years since I'd last seen it).

What else have we been up to? Well, Sean and I also put together a slide/swingset a few weekends ago for Aurora. That was harder work than we anticipated I think... LOL. We had a lot of fun doing it though, and it was nice to spend some time with Sean - seems like forever since we have.

Work has been busy. I've been travelling a lot. In fact, I'm on a plane right now on the way to Brisbane for the day. I better go, as we'll be landing soon. Sorry for the abrupt ending.

Back soon I hope :)

Brilliant.

2010-02-18T21:44:00.001+11:00

there was a guy
an under water guy who controlled the sea
got killed by ten million pounds of sludge
from new york and new jersey
this monkey's gone to heaven

the creature in the sky
got sucked in a hole
now there's a hole in the sky
and the ground's not cold
and if the ground's not cold
everything is gonna burn
we'll all take turns
i'll get mine, too
this monkey's gone to heaven

if man is 5
then the devil is 6
then god is 7
this monkey's gone to heaven.

Song: Man Inside Your Head

2010-02-15T20:52:00.003+11:00

Wow, it's been a while between songs, and to be honest, this isn't the best one to return on. It's really crap quality production, and a VERY under-developed one at that. Awesome way to build it up Andy :) I'm posting this though, as I distinctly remember when and why I wrote it, so enjoy it for the story, if not for the song itself :) The song is a drum click track, 2 guitars (recorded on my old Ibanez, to get that whammy effect in the riff) and 2 vocal tracks most of the time (with some distortion).

I wrote this song after a pair of good friends of mine broke up their long-term relationship. It was a sunny day, I'd met one of them for lunch, they broken the news to me - I think it had only happened 1 or 2 days beforehand, I was a bit shocked actually. I was doing a contract at AAPT at the time, and the guy I was working for was away on leave - I had his office. I returned to work, and whipped out the lyrics pretty much as they appear below, working from three different perspectives/voices; how he felt, how she felt, how I think I'd feel (NOTE: I was not involved in the break-up whatsoever!). Some of the lines relate to him, some to her, some to how I thought I would cope with the situation. I went home and recorded the song that night.

Here's the lyrics;

And the demons rape my mind again
I'm paranoid of all my friends
And I hope your God can save me from this sin
I'm verging on insanity
A break from life is what I need
So I'll leave this place and everything I see
Love is great and love is grand
But the aftermath I cannot stand
So I'll drink all day and see another band

Do you ever wonder why you're lonely?
Do you ever wonder why I care?
It's because you are thinking of me
I'm the man inside your head

Insomnia drops in and out
I lay in bed filled up with doubt
While she's out fucking friends I'll live without
I'm breaking up, I'm falling down
Devoid of life, without a sound
My mind goes (? not sure what this word is?), my heart begins to pound

I wonder what you'll write about me
I remember all the things they've said
You know you cannot live without me
I'm the man inside your head

And it wouldn't be a proper Andy Neumann song if there wasn't at least one major fuck up in the guitar solo (pretty badly missed note - d'oh!). That was 11 years ago, and the couple in question was Steph and her ex-boyfriend (who was also a good friend of mine). Don't think I've ever told Steph that I wrote a song about that...

Skydiving

2010-02-11T12:47:00.002+11:00

First up, I know Steph reads this blog, but this entry isn't written for her reading... it's written for my thinking.

A few weeks ago, steph went skydiving for the first time. To say I was apprehensive about it is a considerable understatement. Although I know that it's pretty safe these days (I haven't checked out the statistics), there is still obviously a risk of something going wrong - and when it does, it's wrong on a pretty large scale. I mean, they don't make you tick a little box that says "I might die doing this" for no reason. I guess the big things going through my mind were "What if something did go wrong?". Sometimes my brain will get locked in a very morbid thought pattern, almost like a record skipping. For example, I'll be flying somewhere for work, there will be a bit of turbulence, and then my mind will drift to the plane going down in a ball of flames. And for the next few minutes, I'll have real trouble NOT thinking about an elephant (to mix my analogies - go on, try to not think about an elephant...). The record will keep skipping back to doom and gloom. That's what happened with the lead up to this particular Sunday when Steph was booked to go jumping. Lots of bad thoughts. Anyway, as most of you would know by now (via Twitter/Facebook updates), it all went well. Steph loved it. And I mean really loved it.

Check out the video below;

And that's now the (my) problem. Steph wants to do a course to get her skydiving licence. If my anxiety levels were high before that first jump, they are now stratospheric on the thought of her a.) getting her licence via a large number of jumps and b.) doing this solo... It's not that I don't trust Steph's abilities, but to put it in Andy-world terms, I'm paralleling it to me picking up saxophone for the first time, and a week later having to fill in for Pink Floyd's sax player. That probably doesn't make sense to you. I had a dream about it once. Freaked me out big time.

To (hopefully) use a better analogy (I'm full of them today), I think it would be like me deciding to take up a career in Formula 1 racing. Right now, I can drive a car, but that's about it. I'd need to undergo a number of years in lessons and practice driving, and I'd probably work my way up through various types of driving, amateur races, etc. Eventually, I'd be lining up for the big race with Kimi and his mates. But that process would take a long time. And it's a dangerous activity - travelling at very high speeds. And there's a lot of variables as well - other drivers, weather, the car itself, etc. My initial thoughts on Steph's skydiving is that she's, in this analogy, going from knowing how to drive a car, to sitting in the passenger seat during a number of V8 Supercar races to doing a few weeks of racing and then signing up for that first F1 race. Maybe it's too fast (the process, not the analogous race). Maybe I don't like the thought of Steph jumping out of a plane, repeatably, on purpose. That seems like a fairly rational response.

Anyway, I continue to think about it a fair bit. Not sure what's going to happen, but I'm still apprehensive. Any input welcome :)

Test post

2010-02-04T22:04:00.003+11:00

I'm testing posting my blog from Windows Live Writer. Unfortunately, Blogger is making some changes, which I think will mean I need to move away from Blogger's service (maybe). Will find out through some reading over the weekend I suspect. Anyway, let's see how this goes - using a different editor, but still using Blogger to publish and then FTP to my website.

New website

2010-02-04T20:15:00.003+11:00

Over the past couple of weeks I've done a new website for a friend, who is bravely starting her own business this year (good on ya Meg!). If you need psychology services in Melbourne's outer east, please look her up;

http://www.meganturner.com.au/

Best of luck with the new business Meg :)

The iPhone

2010-01-14T21:57:00.002+11:00

It's taken a month or so to write this but, I'm finally the "proud" owner of an iPhone. We'll get to the "proud" bit in a sec. After years of bagging them out, calling them all names under the sun, but in particular, the "JesusPhone", I finally succumbed. The reasoning behind it? Well, my previous phone, an iMate (HTC) JamIn, finally broke my patience. First up, I was always frustrated by how little of the phone I actually used. It was there to;

1. Make calls
2. Check emails (always in a pretty shitty format)
3. Play "Bubble Breaker"
4. Sometimes update Twitter, via the Twitter Web client

That was about it. Initially I used it to play music (stuck a 2gb SD card in it with MP3s), but after I got my iPod just over 2 years ago, it became pretty redundant pretty quickly. However, not looking for any particularly greener grass, as a phone, it did OK mostly. But then the external speaker went on it (the second JamIn that I have owned that this happened to). So I could only have it on vibrate... hard when you're in another room from it to hear it ringing. But then the downward spiral quickly came - it started to reboot, usually during a call, whenever it's battery got below about 60%. Then it became 70%... then eventually 85%. One night on the taxi ride from the airport it rebooted 19 times in a row - it would just boot up, then immediately crash. It was rebooting during client calls. It wasn't pretty. It almost got smashed a few times... but with no other alternative, I sucked it up and stayed with it. Eventually, I decided to upgrade.

When looking for a new phone, I genuinely wanted to stay on Windows mobile - but when comparing features and potential, the Windows-based phones just started to look a little bit weak for my liking. First up, I wanted internal storage for music. I have close to 200gb of music, and any given day I want to listen to a variety of music. I also didn't want to be forced to use a memory card (e.g. SD card) to load music onto - I'd much prefer internal storage. The iPhone I got has 32gb. Of the Windows Phones on the market, I think the biggest I could get was 4gb (and then expansion to 32gb via card). Because I also had an iPod, I wanted something I could sync with iTunes (as much as I think iTunes is a piece of shit software) - it didn't seem that any Windows Phone could do this (at least not that I could see)

Since getting my iPhone though, I've realised the true value of it (which didn't influence my purchase); the variety and usefulness of apps. Certainly, I thought when getting the iPhone, "Well, if something goes wrong with it, I know there's certainly a massive user base and I'll get support" - but I didn't recognise that the huge user base would also produce such amazing tools and software for the phone. After a month of using the iPhone, it's now pretty much indispensable for me (and I'm as surprised about that as anyone). Frequently now I won't turn the laptop on during the weekend - I can do it all from my iPhone. What I'm now using it for dwarfs the list above, but here's some of my more frequent uses;

1. Make calls (obviously)
2. Read and write emails, both on my work and personal accounts
3. Check the Weather, using this awesome app from Oz Weather
4. Check and update Twitter, via TweetDeck for iPhone
5. Check and update Facebook
6. Use it as an iPod (although I still carry my other one in the bag for the extended library)
7. Use it as a camera
8. Use it as a video camera (this has been great to capture the kids on short notice)
9. Read the news, via the great ABC News app
10. Used maps when I've been in other cities, or out in the 'burbs
11. Use Dictionary.com for "Word of the day"
12. Use it as a guitar tuner (a few times now - very handy)
13. Checked my plan usage via two Optus related apps
14. Played DoodleJump (a very addictive game)
15. Played Paper Toss (a very addictive game)
16. Played Firemint's Real Racing (just this alone - look at it - what an amazing game... for a PHONE! And, built in Melbourne as well!)

I think that list will do for the moment. I've also used the web client to surf and other apps here and there, but the above list is the more frequently used actions. I feel I'm getting real value from my phone now... and in turn it's becoming more and more part of my daily routine. For example, I'll check emails on the phone in the morning prior to turning on the laptop, to know whether or not I need to deal with anything on the way into work or not.

Finally, it's important for me to state; this doesn't change my view/love/addiction for Microsoft products. Hell, my whole career is based around Microsoft technology, and just because I've got an iPhone doesn't mean I'm going to pack it all in and go and work in the Apple store. It didn't happen when I got a Gmail account 6 or 7 years ago, nor when I got my first iPod 2 years ago. For me, it's all about productivity and what works for me.

Aurora dancing

2010-01-07T21:51:00.002+11:00

Here's some awesome video Steph took a few days ago of Aurora spontaneously dancing to Glenn Miller with Clive, the inflatable dinosaur. I've watched it a few times over the past few days... every time it brings me great joy :) Hope it does for you too.

Goals for 2010

2010-01-01T21:52:00.002+11:00

Time to break out some goals for the coming year. Here's the things I'm going to do this year;

Get healthy. I think I could do with losing about 15kgs. I'd like to get into running - tomorrow I'm hoping to get over to ActiveFeet to get some new running shoes
Have some great holidays. It's been a while since we had a good family holiday, or since I've spent some quality time with Steph beyond Melbourne's CBD. This year I hope we get to Adelaide for a wedding, the Gold Coast for a family holiday and to New York for an extravagant week getwaway for Steph and I.
Read more. I've really dropped off my reading in the past 6 to 12 months - I'd like to try and pick it back up again.
Quit Smoking. Yep, gotta kick the habit once and for all. No sneaky cigarettes when I'm drinking.
Keep on blogging. No targets, just would like to keep the cobwebs off this here site :) Will also continue to post songs here.
Play a gig somewhere. Not sure where, could be Aurora's kinder again, or something grander, but I'd like to play another gig this year.
Meet my long list of OBS related goals. There's too many secret-squirrel work things to mention here, but hopefully I can deliver on what I've committed myself to :) It won't be without challenges, but I'm sure I'll be having fun doing it.
Don't kill the garden. In fact, grow it! Not sure that I will end up doing anything big with the garden, but I will aim to keep it watered, mowed and healthy
Be an attentive husband and father. I want to continue to enjoy my family time as much as (if not more than) I have this year.
Write and record a killer song. I haven't recorded anything for a while, and I have a computer setup here to do it, so just need to do it.

There's a stack of other things that I could list as goals, but I'm just going to do them - they don't have to be called out as goals. These are; remain Vegetarian, enjoy life, pay some more off the mortgage, buy a clothesline, help others where I can, love my friends and family and set an example for my children.

Wish me luck :) I hope everyone has a happy, healthy and successful 2010, in whatever form it takes.

2009 in review

2009-12-31T19:37:00.002+11:00

Well, as years have gone past, I've always done a yearly wrap-up (see 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008). You, dear reader, don't get out of it that easily - here's my wrapup of 2009 for your reading displeasure :)

I usually review my goals, which I will again towards the end of this post, however, 2009 can easily be summed up as the "Year of being Dad". Upon reflection, I got the most joy, reward, challenge and emotional highs and lows from being a Dad this year. I spent an amazing year with Aurora and welcomed Atticus into my life and did it very comfortably - being "Dad" never felt so right. I loved playing the role of father to both of them and 2009 certainly solidified my life's purpose - to be the very best Dad I can be to both of them - to love them unconditionally and help shape them into the brilliant people they will both be. I could end this blog post on that note, but of course, I'm not going to :)

Also staying at a high level, the highlights of my year were as follows (in no particular order);

OBS. Wow, I had a FUCKING BALL at OBS this year. I love my job. I love my company. There is far too much to sum it up in a single (or even few) points. I just genuinely feel like this is the place for me. It's different to SDM (which I also loved dearly), it's a progression, and I've drunk the kool-aid - I'm onboard for the ride. It's not without it's challenges and concerns of course, but as far as the perfect place to spent 40 to 50 hours a week, I've found it (for me).
Concerts. I saw NIN, the Soundwave festival, Bodyjar (their final tour!), Slayer, Megadeth, Opeth, Dream Theater, Lamb of God and Devildriver. A "quiet" year in comparison to years gone by, but a great mix of concerts, and upon reflection a fistful of metal there :)
The kids names. I seemed to talk a lot about Atticus and Aurora's names this year to people, and every time I did I was absolutely proud as punch of both them and their names. Atticus is such a cool little dude, his name suits him well.
I discovered Black Hockey Jesus. No, I'm not joking, and please note I did say Black Hockey Jesus, not the other dude. This blog (and the few blogs / twitter accounts he has also run in the past) have just really hit a note with me. I've loved reading each and every entry he's made
We (Aurora and I) went to the footy a few times. That was pretty fun, she certainly enjoyed, as did I, when Collingwood eventually won...
I played guitar for Aurora's kinder, only a few weeks ago actually. It was a wonderful experience that I hope she or I don't forget anytime soon.
Sitting by myself in the summer sun at a cafe in Beale St, Memphis at 2pm on a Friday having a club sandwich, chips and a cold beer. One of the happier moments of this year for sure. The atmosphere was one of opportunity, vibrancy and fantastic music. Hard to explain, but I had overall I had an ace holiday in Memphis this year.
Surprising Steph with her iPhone. This was one of my moves of the year I'd say - I kept it well under wraps and she was absolutely shocked when she received it.

And the lowlights were few and far between (thank goodness). They were;

Without question, my lowest point this year was hearing of a 5 year old girl being thrown off the Westgate bridge by her father. It still (seriously) breaks my heart to think of it, and I certainly can't talk about it anymore.
Black Saturday, and it's aftermath. It was just so overwhelming - emotionally and literally. So shocking.
Aurora seriously ill in hospital. Holy shit it was scary. I can still picture her in that bed, just so listless and "not herself"

So, here's the review of my 2009 goals;

Goal: Give Steph the love and attention she deserves.
Check: I think I scored pretty well on this front this year. I certainly amazed her with the iPhone, but I also took time this year to better connect with her - also on the parenting front. I'd like to give her another shout-out now. She's an awesome, amazing, talented human being who I love just a little more each day :)
Goal: Sort out the garden at the new house.
Check: The garden is sorted! It's awesome. I haven't put up any photo's unfortunately (however I'd like to think that I was too busy actually looking after the garden than to take photos...)
Goal: Work on losing some weight and getting in better physical shape.
Fail!: Yep, nothing happened on this front. Even though the scales say differently, I reckon I've put on weight this year.
Goal: Make the conscious decision and/or commitment; Vegan or not?
Check: After much procrastination and knowing what I wanted to do anyway, in July I read Peter Singer's book, "The Ethics Of What We Eat" and made the decision to go vegetarian. 5 months into it, I'm loving it. I feel a great deal better for having made the jump. Whether or not I make the next jump to Vegan remains to be seen, but I'm proud and happy to say I'm a vegetarian.
Goal: Ride the wave that will be the next Neumann in our house.
Check: Definitely coasted into the shore on this one. Atticus was a joy to have around (note, he was challenging at times, no doubt about that, but overall parenting has been much easier the second time around)
Goal: Continue teaching and learning the lessons of life with Aurora.
Check: As with Atticus, life with Aurora has been so joyful this year. She's made me a better person, taught me things about myself and I adore seeing and helping her become the person she is.
Goal: Make an impact on OBS, and have as much fun as possible doing it :)
Check: I moved into the General Manager role and ran around the office in a gorilla suit. Enough said I figure :)
Goal: Spend some quality time with the Soesters.
Check: Both Danyse and Marc made it over (separately) during the year to spend some time and I had a few trips to Adelaide as well. Although we didn't quite get quantity, I'd like to think we got quality :)
Goal: Keep blogging.
Check: I kept blogging - with 90 posts this year (or about 7.5 posts a month). Not too bad - certainly not as much as years gone by, but I was happy with the output.
Goal: Don't start smoking again
Fail!: Well, I've had many more cigarettes than I planned this year. I'm going to make a much more concerted effort in 2010.
Goal: Hopefully get along to the MS Worldwide Partner Conference again in July (this year in New Orleans).
Check: Done and done. I had an awesome time, and a great little break in Memphis afterwards as well.
Goal: Keep playing guitar
Check: I've played a lot of guitar this year, including a gig at Aurora's kinder, and countless "Happy Birthdays" at work. At home though, I think I've averaged playing at least 3 or 4 times a week, very happy with it. In fact, I think I've improved this year considerably I'm happy to say.
Goal: Start a habit of posting songs I've written and recorded to my blog.
Check: I can happily say I've posted 11 entries with songs this year (often with multiple versions/songs on them). Still a lot more to go to get through the back-catalogue :)
Goal: Win the lottery (Division one).
Fail!: I think I won Division 4 twice, which probably equated to a grand total of $60 or something. You gotta dream, eh? :)

All in all, I'm pretty happy with my achievements this year. I've got to improve my health... maybe that'll come up in my goals for 2010... but you'll have to tune back into the blog again in a few days to see :)

As I look back on 2009, I'm a happy and content man. Home and work kicked ass for me. Personally I grew and learned a stack of new things about myself. Compared to the challenges of 2008, 2009 was a great year. But that's where my content stops - bring on a bigger, brighter, brilliant 2010!

Love to all my family and friends,

Andy

My favourite part of today

2009-12-27T21:38:00.001+11:00

Mostly everyday (sometimes I forget) I ask Aurora at the end of the day what her favourite part of the day was, and she in turn asks me. It's a lovely way to finish the day with her, and her answers always warm my heart. Today I didn't get to ask her, but I can tell you unequivocally what my favourite part was. I was taking out the bins for rubbish night, and I heard Aurora yelling to me from the house "Dad! ... Dad!". It just made my heart explode with happiness and pride to hear her call out to me. It's the simple things in life :)

Xmas / Aurora's Birthday

2009-12-26T18:00:00.001+11:00

As usual, it's been a big couple of days in the Neumann house, with Christmas and Aurora's birthday (4 years old this year), back to back on Dec 25/26. It's been a really enjoyable 2 days though - it's been overall pretty relaxed, and Aurora has been an absolute trooper in the face of sugar rushes, overtiredness and the overwhelming prospect of a gajillion presents. Atticus also had a great first Xmas, in his "Santa's little helper" outfit. I'm yet to reconcile the budget, but I think we did OK as far as spending sprees go for 2 kids... we certainly tried to buy sensibly and practically (although probably went a bit overboard with Atticus - however I do take comfort in the thought that his toys will last a while and he'll be enjoying them more as he grows older). Tomorrow is the day we do a cull of the kids (mainly Aurora's) existing toys off to the op-shop / donations. I suspect the next few days should be pretty cruisy and low key (Steph has already told Aurora tomorrow is a Pyjama day). I hope everyone out there had a relaxing, safe Christmas and finishes up 2009 on happy thoughts.

Dream Theater

2009-12-08T08:22:00.002+11:00

Last night I saw Dream Theater again. If you remember from my last time seeing them, I rated them as the greatest gig I'd ever been to. Well, this time they were better, I kid you not. The band was just spot on - particularly Petrucci, Portnoy and Rudess. There were a lot of improvs and solo spots throughout the night. They played at the Palais - we had spectacular seats - third row from the front in the Lounge area - able to see everything really well. Their setlist was superb as well - very different to last tour, with full versions of 3 songs off the new album (and given two of those songs are well over 15 minutes long - one pushing 20 minutes - quite impressive). Here's the rough order of their set (and even though there's not a heap of songs - it went for just over 2 hours);

A Nightmare To Remember
A Rite of Passage
Hollow Years
Erotomania
Voices
In the Name of God
Solitary Shell
Forsaken
---
The Count of Tuscany

Erotomania was probably the best live song I've ever heard. It was certainly the best version of it I've ever heard - but it was literally played to perfection. Not a note out of place. Amazing. On that note, Petrucci was killing it last night. His solos were spot on (sometimes he can play the solos a bit TOO fast live, oddly enough). But last night he was right in the pocket. Portnoy was having fun, I can't fathom his talent at times. Standing up playing the drums (and we're not talking straight 4/4 beats) while talking to the crowd. Deliberately throwing one of his sticks off to the side of the stage to his tech, just to have him throw it back while playing - all the while never missing a beat. In Solitary Shell, he even got off the kit and walked around it while still playing. Insane. Rudess was also brilliant - his two solo spots were unbelievable. He also, very cleverly, hooked his iPhone up to his keyboard rig, and used that to play some of his solo spot. Very cool.

On the back of seeing Opeth 2 weeks ago, I've very much been spoiled with these concerts. Two of the (if not THE) greatest live bands in the world. What a fantastic few weeks of live music.

Aurora's most magnificent moment

2009-12-06T22:27:00.002+11:00

Today, I truly got to witness Aurora's character and experience a conversation that I'll never forget. We were driving back from a shopping trip this morning, all of us in the car, when out of the blue, a conversation transpired along the lines of the following. From the back of the car, after a few rare moments of quiet;

Aurora: "Daddy... I know that when you were a boy, Nanna was your Mummy, but who was your Daddy?"
Me; "Well, when I was about Laura's age (Laura being the 12 year old sister of a friend of hers), my Daddy died in a car accident"
Aurora; "Was it an accident?"
Me; "Yes, it was an accident"
Aurora; "What happened?"
Me; "Well, he was driving along, and something happened, and he hit a tree. And he died"
Aurora; "Were you sad?"
Me; "Yes, very"
Aurora; "Did you cry?"
Me; "Yes"
Aurora; "How did you cry?"
Me; "Like you normally cry - when you're very sad about something"
Aurora; "Was Nanna sad?"
Me; "Yes"
Aurora; "Did she cry?"
Me; "Yes"
Aurora; "What did she say?"
Me; "I don't remember"

And then there was a pause... for probably about 10 seconds or so. Silence filled the air. It was a very sombre mood (obviously). And then Aurora said;

"Daddy, I'm very sorry that your Daddy died"

Aurora - you are an incredible, empathetic, wonderful human soul. I love you more than words could ever do justice.

My gig

2009-12-05T10:12:00.000+11:00

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to play a gig at Aurora's kinder. It was a blast - having a bunch of 4 year olds captivated as I got them involved in some songs. The setlist consisted of;

Jingle Bells (a good opener)
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
Alice The Camel
Hokey Pokey
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
... plus a little bit of SRV's Mary Had A Little Lamb

It was a lot of fun, and the best part about it, as pointed out by Steph last night, is that hopefully Aurora will remember this for a while to come. She looked so proud yesterday morning :)

Song: Metal Song 1 and 2

2009-12-02T21:50:00.003+11:00

After the band broke up, I had this crazy idea of writing a whole bunch of songs (as I was really pumping out a stack of songs at that point) in all different styles and providing them to other artists to use (you know, what classic songwriters do). So, I wrote a bunch of rock, pop, punk and metal songs. Here's "Metal Song #1". The funny thing is that even though it set out to be a heavy metal song, I don't think it really fits the bill. It's a bit too happy... Recording wise, it's a repeating drum track, 2 guitars and a bass. I think it sounds a little bit thin... I can't remember if I wrote lyrics for this - probably not.

And while I'm at it, here's "Metal Song #2" as well. Again... too freakin' happy to be a metal song. I remember the day I wrote both these songs - I was in a great mood... and as dark as I tried to be, I couldn't write it. And for a metal song, this track doesn't have room for a guitar solo! You'll also note that it's the same click track as Metal Song #1, just a bit faster. I do like the guitar chorus with all the bits intermingling together (I think it's 3 guitars on this one). The verses have a nice drive to them as well. I did run out of ideas after the bridge bit though (as the song stops REALLY suddenly)

I might dig out Rock Song 1 as well, from memory I really liked that song...

Hope you enjoy these tracks :)

The more things change...

2009-12-01T08:18:00.000+11:00

The new train operator, "Metro Trains", took over the metropolitan train network in Melbourne this week. As a user of the train system everyday to get to work, I can't see a lot of change, and don't really anticipate much either. As a bit of an "insider" as well (I have delivered systems for the Melbourne rail network for over 10 years now), I've seen it change hands a few times; the Public Transport Corporation, Hillside/Bayside Trains, Connex/M>Trains, Connex, now Metro. Each time, there's not a great deal of change operationally - the top brass often change, but those doing the work - the train drivers, controllers, maintenance and fleet crews - they all remain the same. The trains remain the same. The schedule mostly remains the same. I expect that there will still be a great deal of animosity and whinging towards the rail operator, regardless of who it is. Often though, people don't understand the complex relationship between all the parties involved - the rail operator, the maintenance provider, the union, the various government departments. All I'll say is that as long as I can still get to and from work on the train, I'll be happy.

Management and parenting

2009-11-30T14:41:00.000+11:00

I genuinely think there's a lot of similarities between management and parenting - and I'm not looking to demean, belittle or disrespect either practice by the way. Parenting lately, particularly with Aurora who is almost 4 years old, is dominated by bartering and negotiating. "We can read stories after you clean the play room". "You can watch something after you've had a sleep". And quickly becoming my favourite seasonal saying... "You don't want me to have to call Santa, do you?". Whilst these exact phrases don't exactly work for the office, there's often a lot of negotiating in my day to day activities and I find the lessons that I learn from Aurora are also in use in the office everyday - patience, clear communication, concise reasoning, and quickly determining what the "real" driver is.

Song: Say It

2009-11-17T22:27:00.004+11:00

Here's a little instrumental number I wrote that never got around to writing lyrics for. It's using the same basic click beat that I've used for about 4 or 5 songs now. And it's an Andy Neumann special - 2 guitars, a repeating drum track, no bass. I like that the verses "spread out" - both distorted electric guitars - one playing a little arpeggio, the other a simple melody line. My favourite part though is the change at about the 2:40 minute mark (which to me reminds me of Pearl Jam, not sure why). And the song just kinda finishes (as you can hear - very much a demo track - the click track plays out until I stop it :D). Anyway, hopefully a track you'll enjoy!

Language

2009-11-09T08:29:00.002+11:00

Thought I'd better take a minute to jot down some of the fabulous sayings Aurora has at the moment. No doubt they'll be lost in time as her language skills further develop, so here's some of my favourites words and phrases of hers right now;

When Steph and I are having a laugh about something, she'll often start laughing madly as well and ask "What are you banana guys talking about?"
"Daddy, I have a really <> question for you... ". Lately she's been using "good", "odd" and "interesting"
Bah-que-tah for computer. "Daddy, your bah-que-tah is still on"
"The Tank". She calls the ice cream container "the tank". When asking for a spoonful; "Daddy, can I please have some from the tank?"
Guh-spect for "expect". Her favourite joke is told as follows; "Knock Knock", "Who's There?", "Zoo", "Zoo Who?" "Zoo'd you guspect?!"
Guh-suhn-ya for lasagne. She loves her guh-suhn-ya
Funnings for Bunnings. An old favourite that hasn't changed much.

That's about it for now (or at least that immediately spring to mind). Aurora's totally awesome.

Update

2009-10-31T06:48:00.002+11:00

Just a quick little "Hi, I'm still here" post.

Work has been pretty full on over the 3 weeks or so. My role has officially changed; I was "Service Delivery Manager" (SDM), meaning I basically looked after all the delivery guys within OBS (i.e. everybody except Sales, Marketing and Admin). I'm now General Manager (GM), which encompasses those areas as well as delivery, and I have a new SDM in Melbourne who is taking a stack of work off my hands so I can focus on GM type activities. In the past week I've been able to do some stuff that's been banked up for ages, so I'm really looking forward to the next month and being able to get some good stuff done. Work itself has been busy as well - projects in need of attention, new people starting, marketing events to be run, etc. The most memorable work related-thing in the past month has been dressing up as a gorilla and running around the office. That was fun :) I do have video of it, so should I get some more time, I'll edit it and post it up here.

Home life is going well, albeit we're all a little bit sick (or have been in various sick states over the past month). Nothing serious - a sniffle here (me and Atticus), a sinus infection there (Aurora), a near broken pelvis over there (Steph). I've been spending what seems like a lot of time with the kids in the past month and really loving it.

The garden gets sorted today (we hope). We've been mucking about with our landscaper over the past 2 weeks (which has caused a fair bit of stress for Steph unfortunately), but today is D-day. Looking forward to looking out the window and seeing some greenery.

I'm sure there's a billion more things I could report at this stage, but given it's 7am, I've been up for a few hours with Atticus and Aurora is about to appear any moment requesting breakfast, I'll keep it short and sweet. Hope you're doing OK as well :)