Hi guys!! Ok, don't kill me. I know my blogging has absolutely sucked a gazillion gigantically fat Tic Tacs lately, but I have reasons! I'm not making excuses exactly- well, I am, but they're good reasons!
First and foremost, I got back from New Zealand, obviously. I rarely posted while I was over there because obviously, I'm there to meet new people, and pick up an accent as I did. It's not heavy, but apparently I can't say double 'o' properly and my "i" and "e" sounds get mixed up. If you're from anywhere but Australia or New Zealand, you may not be able to hear the difference at first, but trust me, it's there. It's even more obvious if you're talking to someone and you drop the word "thongs" in a sentence and they look at you like you have three heads. For those of you who don't know, Kiwi's call thongs "jandals." It's quite funny; I don't know where the word exactly comes from. So if anyone knows, comment and tell me! I plan on doing a post on Kiwi slang soon, so hopefully if I get myself into gear, it will actually happen!
Secondly, I have a job now, which means my posting will probably be limited, especially over the Christmas holidays. Goodbye, social life; hello money! I'm saving up for a digital piano because I've had the one little, tiny synth keyboard for almost six years now. As much as I love it, it's about time for an upgrade. I've been writing my own songs lately and I love it. Music and writing are the two passions of my life and to bring the two of them together is amazing. It's such an incredible feeling to be able to sing something that you've written and practiced and edited so many times and be happy with it. PJ and are getting serious about the whole band thing now- who knows the song, Yourbiggestfan by Never Shout Never? We can play that together now; her on guitar and me on piano. If you guys are interested, we might post a video on here or on YouTube... we'll see what happens.
So, as per usual, I've just rambled on and on from a tangent. I do actually have a reason for posting. Well, two actually. I wanted to tell you guys about the premiere of Short Stack's movie and a music festival I went to called On The Pulse. On The Pulse I will probably save for later though, as I cannot possibly talk about it properly in this post mixed in with my ramblings and others, and it was a BIG deal for both me and PJ, so it will definitely, DEFINITELY be my next post. No matter what.
Tonight I went to the premiere of Short Stack's self made documentary, which, if you didn't know, was broadcast live via satellite all over Australia. Which meant that it was happening in the same complex as my work. What they broadcast via satellite was:
- The red carpet event, hosted by Maude Garrett and Matt Acton of The Hot30 Countdown
- An acoustic show- they played their newest song, Bang Bang Sexy as well as an old favourite of mine, Sway Sway Baby and the incredible Planets.
- A brief Q&A session with the boys.
I do envy anyone who actually went to the premiere in Sydney, but the Sunshine Coast one was incredible. There were about thirty of us in the cinema, all screaming teenage girls (and a token boy). The atmosphere was just incredible; it was like an extended family. Everyone was cheering and screaming together and it was... I can't even explain it!
The movie itself was really special. I liked how Andy edited it himself; the fact that they did it all themselves without paying someone else to do the hard yards gave it a really personal touch that you don't get from many movies like that. You really get a sense of how much work they've put in to get his far in their musical careers and it makes you respect them just that much more. They gave credit where credit was due to everyone who helped them out along the way, and you basically felt like you were on the journey with them.
Short Stack have had a bit of a bad rap in the music scene from a lot of critics. So many people commented on how focussed they were on their image as opposed to the music, but when you watch the movie you can blatantly tell how wrong those haters were. They changed their image between Stack Is The New Black and This Is Bat Country because they cared about the music and fans more than anything else and they wanted to make that perfectly clear. Anyone who hates on Short Stack for that reason should really see that part of the movie and understand how wrong they are.
There is a part in the movie where Shaun puts on his serious face for once (gasp, shock, horror!) and they talk about how Short Stack nearly called it quits at one point. I found this part really touching because I personally have found so much comfort in them for good I-don't-know-how-many years I have listened to their music. For more than half of my life, especially the past three years, I've endured so much bullying. It put me in a pretty dark place that I couldn't pull myself out of. Then along came Short Stack and I fell in love with their music and their bright personalities straight away. I was already learning piano, but I really threw myself into it completely, heart and soul around the time I started listening to them. I realised that no matter what happened in my life, music was a solid rock that I could cling to; it was a family I would always be a part of. When I broke up with my first boyfriend, I fell back into the rut but music was the footholes that helped me to climb out. I started writing music then because writing was the only way I could show any emotion, and putting it to music, the only thing I really knew about and understood was the only thing that made me feel better, and I owe that release to Short Stack.
But of course, being Short Stack (as they obviously are), it wasn't all tears and love stories. They're fun; there was a lot of joking around. The highlights for me were definitely the tour pranks on Heroes For Hire and Because They Can, and the clips from old Short Stack TV episodes that I haven't seen in so long. On the weekend, I've decided PJ and I need a Short Stack TV marathon. Or maybe just me lying in my bedroom alone....whichever works! I especially liked the comparison Andy made between their Youtube channel and Jack Ass- "Stack Ass" is the best name for it there could ever be. And when you see Andy standing in his backyard, kicking himself in the head, you understand completely. Our cinema was in tears of laughter.
I honestly give this movie 110/5, for obvious reasons. I've pre-ordered the DVD which comes out on November 4- if you didn't go to the premiere, or even if you did- YOU MUST GET IT!! It is so worth it. However, just a side note- the actual DVD will apparently be rated MA 15+, so it's at your own discretion!
Anyway, I'm going to bed. 'Night, everyone. I hope I didn't bore you all to death for the sake of fangirling, which is what I'm doing right now. When I got home, I was pretty much a death metal panda. My eyeliner had run halfway down my face- not because I cried, but because bouncing up and down in my seat for two hours made me break a sweat!- and from screaming and yelling, my voice actually sounded like I was screaming death metal. Which I was doing during the beginning of the movie. They played Planets over a two minute countdown and because I was so incredibly loud and noisy, something happened to my voice and I was doing the death metal cover. Short Stack gone screamo... interesting.
Sayonara, fellow ninjas!! xoxo
