I found out yesterday that Death Cab for Cutie are coming to Australia to support Something For Kate on their upcoming national tour. Two of my favourite bands, playing Brisbane on the 5th of July, while I am in New Zealand.

!@#$!#$%!@

After destroying my immediate surroundings with my fists of rage, I regained my composure. I’ll simply have to catch them in another capital city, probably Sydney, when I get back. Damn the expense.

For anyone else who will be in the country, get yer ticket early, because they will sell out.

De La Soul’s concert on Saturday doesn’t seem to have sold out yet, which is surprising to me, but I’m sure it’ll be full o’ people.

Recently, I have been trying to determine what effect, if any, that cutting caffeine out of my diet would have on my overall well-being.

After 56 days—eight weeks—I can say it was a worthwhile thing to do, and I would recommend it to anyone who thinks they need caffeine to function.

The reality of student life is that workloads are distributed unevenly, either by lecturers or via procrastination. Late nights are had, and an eye opener like coffee makes it easier to stave off fatigue.

The inevitable effect of caffeine consumption is that sleep becomes less rewarding. Hence, coffee starts becoming a daily morning requirement. Then it becomes a several times a day requirement. All the while, the body is becoming more and more accustomed to the adrenaline rush and the vitality each cup provides.

It’s a good idea to recognise this addiction as such, before it gets worse; all the time I hear about dudes that get a massive headache without their morning cup of joe. My rationale for quitting was simple: I have trouble sleeping properly anyway, so I may as well not waste my money on energy drinks that raise my heart rate and blood pressure for no meaningful reason.

My concentration and co-ordination have suffered a lot since then, so it turns out the brain required caffeine in order to be in top form. I play in a social squash competition; lately, I have been completely trashed on the court, making silly errors and generally playing like a spastic. I’ve also fallen a bit behind at university, which is ironic since I did this to help my studies.

With all this in mind, the best approach is “all things in moderation”. Therefore, I’ve stopped the decaf counter, and started simply being healthier in general. Which frees me to talk about some different shit on this website. Truly, a win–win situation for all concerned.

Father, it has been six weeks since my last coffee.

Try keeping away from caffeine indefinitely and see how you go. On Wednesday, I consumed two alcoholic beverages which, due to using Coke as a mixer, technically had caffeine in them. Also, I understand certain kinds of chocolate contain small amounts of caffeine.

It made me think about how difficult life must be for those who are severely allergic to certain chemicals found in food, ie. consume and die. I haven’t heard of caffeine doing that to someone in small amounts, but it’s plausible that there are loads of chemicals not commonly listed on food packaging that could be harmful to someone. Do these people have to grow their own food or what?

The new house move is nearly complete. I must say I’ve never seen a house with four air conditioners before.

It is time to go ISP searchin’. iiNet was cheap enough, and most of the reliability problems have been Telstra’s fault, but we tend to go for the more doomed ISPs, ones that offer such good deals that their business model will eventually fail, and we have to find a new one. Repeat ad infinitum.

All in all it has been a busy little time of year. The staff at Pancakes must be wondering where the hell I’ve been.

“My feelings—as usual—we will slaughter them all”

Henry Rollins flew into Brisbane for a couple of spoken word performances last week. I attended the Friday night session.

To the Rollins newb, what he proposes—to wit, pay money to listen to some anecdotes and observations for hours on end—may seem slightly lame without the proper context. In other words you have to hear it for yourself. If you aren’t entertained like I was, it’s most likely that he offended you instead. Kudos.

“Our initial assessment is that they will all die”

An interesting suggestion Henry made, is that the former Iraqi information minister, Mr. Mohammed Saeed Al-Sahaf, would be an ideal candidate for a leadership position in the US government once this war is over.

As the theory goes, Al-Sahaf—the spokesman who so steadfastly and smilingly proclaimed, despite all evidence to the contrary, that the invaders were getting the bejesus kicked out of them—would be the perfect man to boost morale by painting a rainbow on any domestic problems America may have. It’s a good theory, and one which the President himself has already given some thought.

“He’s my man, he was great. Somebody accused us of hiring him and putting him there”

How about it, America?

Starting tomorrow, it is time to move house again, back to premises close to uni. Rules #1 and #2 will apply.

Now this is my kind of online test.