Shockwaves NME Awards

My votes for the 2011 Shockwaves NME Awards go to:

1. Best British Band
   Arctic Monkeys
   Biffy Clyro
   Foals
   Kasabian
   Muse
   
   
2. Best International Band
   Arcade Fire
   Kings Of Leon
   My Chemical Romance
   The Drums
   Vampire Weekend
   
   
3. Best Solo Artist
   Florence + The Machine
   Frank Turner
   Kanye West
   Laura Marling
   Paul Weller
   
   
4. Best New Band
   Beady Eye
   Everything Everything
   Hurts
   The Drums
   Two Door Cinema Club
   
   
5. Best Live Band
   Arcade Fire
   Biffy Clyro
   Foals
   Kasabian
   Muse
   
   
6. Best Album
   Crystal Castles - 'Crystal Castles (II)'
   Foals - 'Total Life Forever'
   My Chemical Romance - 'Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys'
   Arcade Fire - 'The Suburbs'
   Two Door Cinema Club - 'Tourist History'
   
   
7. Best Track
   Cee Lo Green - 'Fuck You'
   Foals - 'Spanish Sahara'
   Gorillaz - 'Stylo'
   Janelle Monae (feat Big Boi) - 'Tightrope'
   Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. - 'Bang Bang Bang'
   
   
8. Best Video
   Arcade Fire - 'We Used To Wait'
   Brandon Flowers - 'Crossfire'
   Chase & Status - 'Let You Go'
   Gorillaz - 'Stylo'
   My Chemical Romance - 'Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)
   
   
9. Best Festival
   Download
   Glastonbury
   Reading & Leeds Festivals
   T in the Park
   V Festival
   
   
10. Best Dancefloor Filler
    Crystal Castles - 'Baptism'
    Kele - 'Tenderoni'
    Plan B - 'Stay Too Long'
    Professor Green - 'Jungle'
    Tinie Tempah - 'Pass Out'
    
    
11. Best TV Show
    Misfits
    Never Mind The Buzzcocks
    Peep Show
    Skins
    The Inbetweeners
    
    
12. Best Film
    Get Him To The Greek
    Inception
    Kick-Ass
    Scott Pilgrim Vs The World
    The Social Network
    
    
13. Hero Of The Year
    Gerard Way
    Julian Assange
    Lady Gaga
    Matt Bellamy
    Kanye West
    
    
14. Villain Of The Year
    Axl Rose
    David Cameron
    Justin Bieber
    Nick Clegg
    Simon Cowell
    
    
15. Most Stylish
    Brandon Flowers
    Hayley Williams
    Lady Gaga
    Liam Gallagher
    Noel Fielding
    
    
16. Least Stylish
    Cheryl Cole
    Justin Bieber
    Ke$ha
    Lady Gaga
    Liam Gallagher
    
    
17. Worst Album
    Cheryl Cole - 'Messy Little Raindrops'
    Justin Bieber - 'My World'
    Katy Perry - 'Teenage Dream'
    Kings Of Leon - 'Come Around Sundown'
    My Chemical Romance - 'Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys'
    
    
18. Worst Band
    30 Seconds To Mars
    JLS
    The Jonas Brothers
    Kings Of Leon
    Tokio Hotel
    
    
19. Hottest Man
    Alex Turner
    Billie Joe Armstrong
    Dominic Howard
    Jared Leto
    Matt Bellamy
    
    
20. Hottest Woman
    Alison Mosshart
    Emily Haines
    Hayley Williams
    Lady Gaga
    Shakira
    
    
21. Best Album Artwork
    Foals - 'Total Life Forever'
    Gorillaz - 'Plastic Beach'
    Klaxons - 'Surfing The Void'
    MGMT - 'Congratulations'
    My Chemical Romance - 'Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys'
    
    
22. Best Band Blog or Twitter
    Frank Turner
    Hayley Williams
    Kanye West
    Lily Allen
    Theo Hutchcraft
    
    
23. Best Book
    Carl Barat - 'Threepenny Memoir'
    Jay-Z - 'Decoded'
    John Lydon - 'Mr Rotten's Scrapbook'
    Keith Richards - 'Life'
    Russell Brand - 'My Booky Wook 2'
    
    
24. Best Small Festival (50,000 capacity or lower)
    Bestival
    Kendal Calling
    Latitude
    RockNess
    Underage Festival

For The Record..

This is a little message to anyone who has the slightest issue or question about my decision to defer my university course next year.

I have had enough of everybody and the attitude that seems to accompany their questions in relation to what I have chosen to do. Everybody asks the same question, "what do you plan on doing next year?" and I give the same answer, "I'm going to defer my course for a year". And, time after time, I'm met with the exact same response; it's the return of the skeptical and somewhat cynical look of disapproval. People are like, "oh, so you're not doing anything this year then? And it's like, "well, yeah... but it's not going to be like that forever". There is something about peoples reactions that is so degrading and layered in disappointment! Well, I'll let you in on a little secret... I'm over it!!

I wish people would just back off and leave me alone! It's not your life, it's mine! So why can't everyone just accept that fact and stop making me feel like an idiot.

Every single time I tell people my plans I get the impression that they think I've made a mistake by deferring. Everyone keeps saying, "oh, but what if you end up not wanting to go next year?" or "seriously, you should have just gone this year. I can't believe you're not going!" or "you're going to waste this opportunity!" And every time people say these things to me it just makes me feel like I've failed in some way or I've disappointed a whole bunch of people. My entire life people have had high expectations of me and it's like I've finally failed everyone because I don't want to go to university straight away. You wanna know why I'm not going? Well, here's your answer; Quite simply, I'm not ready for it. Why am I not ready for it? Well, a number a reasons.

Firstly, I have no idea what I want to do. I see no point in enrolling and attending university when I don't have the slightest idea what I want to do. It would be a complete waste of time and a waste of money! University isn't cheap! If I were to go this year I'd only end up enrolled in a whole bunch of random units and subjects or whatever that, in all honestly, I have no idea if I'd even want to study in the first place. Consequently I'd be wasting my time doing something I didn't want to do, wasting not only a year of my schooling but also a years worth of money. It just doesn't make sense to do that! Instead I will take a year off, look at all my options, think about what I want for the future, and hopefully come to a decision about what I want to study and what direction I want to head in.

Secondly, it's scary! The prospect of attending university is a frightening one. High school is simple in the regard that it's something that everyone does/most people do; attending high school is the norm. At high school you're given subjects to study. When you get to the higher levels of high school education you're given the opportunity to choose specific subjects. However, it is all still very simple and there are no real big decisions to be made. University on the other hand is something else completely! There are so many big decisions that have to be made; decisions that will actually have an impact on your life and on your future. That is scary! It's a lot to have to come to terms with at the age of 18. Eventually it is something that will have to be faced but, when that time comes when I do face it, I want to be in the right mind frame. I want to feel like I have what it takes to do it. There is no point in rushing into something if you don't feel comfortable; because the situation won't end well if you're rushed into something that you're not ready for.

I don't understand how people can be so narrow-minded; it's not that hard to see things from my point of view. Who cares if you have decided to/would have decided to do something different to what I'm doing! I've said it before and I'll say it again; it's my life, not yours!

I would very much appreciate it if people would just quit with all the negativity and the patronising way in you regard my decision. Perhaps it's not intentional; however, when I have to listen to the same thing over and over coming from so many different people, it starts to make me feel a bit empty inside, like I'm a let-down. And, like I know so many people would agree with, that's not a good feeling. So back off.

Music Painting

I came across this video on tumblr. It's just so gorgeous and so very beautifully put together, with a very fine message as well, might I add. So I thought I must share it.

This is going to be one of those random posts that is the product of a weird mood and an over analytical mind; so bare with me, if you so happen to choose.

I don't know how much more random this can get, but I was walking through K-Mart today with mum and for some reason I found myself thinking "what exactly is it that has made me who am I and, if it were possible to go back in time and change certain things, would I still end up being 'me'?" The fact that this whole train of thought began whilst walking through the aisles of K-Mart is surprisingly not the most random part. The random part, and somewhat confusing and difficult part to explain, is that I don't mean 'me' in regards to my values and interests and personality; I mean 'me' as in 'Jyssica-the-human-being'.. Confused yet?

The only way I can think to describe it is through hypothetical situations. Obviously if you were to take either one of my parents out of the equation at my time of conception I would be a different person entirely. However, if time travel were to someday be invented, would replacing one of my parents with someone else be the only factor in changing 'me'? Don't get me wrong, my point here is not that I wish to change who my parents are! My point is what were the contributing factors in my creation? For one moment just ignore that fact that we are all products of our parents and all that DNA and ancestry stuff.

For example; say that rather than being born on my birthday I was born 2 weeks before or 2 weeks after. Would that have had any effect on my being? Perhaps being born even just a few minutes or seconds before or after my actual time of birth, would that have an impact on 'me' now? Or maybe it has nothing to do with the length of my mum's pregnancy. I am my parents first born child, but what if my parents conceived their first child at a different time and that child wasn't born on my birthday? Would that child still have been me? I have two younger brothers; one is 2.5 years younger than me, the other is 5 years younger. Like I said, I am my parents first born child. But what if my parents started having children later and my mum gave birth to her first child when my first younger brother was born, essentially making my mum’s second child her first? Would that have had an effect on things? Would 'that' first born child still have been me? Or would it have been my brother, and life would carry on as we know it to be now in this present time, with the only exception being it would have been like I never existed? Or perhaps 'that' first born would have been neither me nor my brother but instead someone else entirely.

And if that thought alone wasn't weird enough, it got me thinking "what if that really is all it took for me to not exist? What if a few minutes difference in my time of birth is the only thing that separates me from being here on earth or potentially a completely different person being here on earth?" Just to make this whole entire scenario climb up the crazy scale another notch, I began to feel bad for that 'potential human being'. I started to feel as if I had stolen 'their' life away from them. Why should I get to live when someone else could be here on earth right now who would appreciate life more than what I do? Then, just to send this train of thought off into the category of 'in need of therapy', I suddenly felt somewhat angry. Towards whom I was angry at, I have no idea. It was to no one in particular. I was angry at whatever it was that is responsible for me being who I am. Perhaps I'm angry at fate, or perhaps 'God'? It doesn't really matter what it was that I was angry at because it was/is just some crazy and irrational sense of anger that came over me. Nevertheless, regardless of how crazy and irrational it is, all that matters is the fact that I felt angry because I am here. How is it fair that I get to live when, perhaps if things had happened differently, someone else could be in my place right now? How is it fair that I get to live when I'd willingly exchange my life for having never existed? It's just crazy and completely insane! Fact; I sometimes wish I never came into existance.

If you actually made it through to this point here, then I think a congratulations is in order. Furthermore, if you reached the end and actually understood what the hell I was on about, then you deserve a standing ovation!

Now I'm just going to leave this here before I give anyone anymore reason to have me committed.

University Offers

According to The Age website, I have been accepted into the Arts at Monash University, Clayton!

It's such a relief to know that I got into my first preference and that I actually have a position secured. Now I can rest easy knowing that I have something waiting for me in the future.

I'm really hoping that I can defer now and take up that position in 2012. Honestly, I have no idea how all this stuff works, so I think I'll have to ask around. From what I hear when the offer letter comes in the mail it should have all the details about that sort of thing. I'll just wait for that to arrive, then take it from there.

Although, I just checked on the Monash website about deferring your offer and it says:

"You may be able to defer for up to a year if your faculty agrees. To formally defer your offer you must apply to defer on or before the date specified for enrolment in your VTAC offer letter."

So I suppose that means I should be all set to defer my offer :)

A Month Ago Today...

...I had the pleasure of meeting Muse :')

Airport stalking paid off because I was able to meet Matthew Bellamy, Dominic Howard and Christopher Wolstenholme.

An experience I'll never forget

Dom and myself ♥

Chris and myself ♥

And minimal time unfortunately meant I was unable to get a photo taken with Matt. .

. . but now I have a goal for next time! ;)

Sydney Soundwave 2011, here I come!

So, tickets for the 2011 Soundwave Festival in Sydney have been purchased! I do live in Melbourne, so this will require a little bit of a trip! However, I have accomodation sorted out, all thanks to a very lovely echelon member. Together we will be on 'Jared Watch', which pretty much means we will be stalking Jared Leto for as long as 30 Seconds To Mars are in Sydney.

Incase you haven't noticed yet, I'm going so that I can see 30 Seconds To Mars and Jared Leto live in all their glory! I'm very much looking forward to it! I'm also wanting to see Sum 41! They're the two bands I cannot miss out on! Avenged Sevenfold was also in that mix, until they pulled out. However there are still some other amazing bands I'd like to see should the timetable allow for it, those bands being; New Found Glory, Bullet For My Valentine, Pennywise, Coheed and Cambria, Less Than Jake, MxPx, Mayday Parade, Breathe Carolina and, perhaps just because I'm curious, The Blackout, Primus and Iron Maiden. I do know that I won't be able to see all of them, but as many as possible would be great!

It should be an amazing trip! While in NSW I shall also be meeting up with some of my interstate musers, (ie, Evelyn!), so that should also be awesome! This will be the first time I've travelled by myself, completely solo and, I plan on being in Sydney for about 8 days, so it'll be a nice little holiday filled with insane music, amazing people and away from reality. I cannot wait!

I’d love to be able to just sleep right now, but my brain doesn’t seem to want any of that.

I feel like I just have to get this off my chest before it drives me insane, this weird sense of confusion or whatever. It’s been nagging at me for so long now. For longer than I care to remember. I just don’t know if I can properly explain it when I can hardly understand it myself. I’m just your average person, you know; nothing spectacular, nothing out of the ordinary. I go through the same old shit as the next person. And it’s like, when I’m happy and in a good place, I try hold onto that as much as I can because when I get down, it’s really not good. Not to mention I have no idea how long either mood will last for. And it’s annoying because the switch between the two emotional places can happen so quickly that I’m not even aware of the change. It’s quite unnerving. I just wish sometimes that I could make it go away. Take something to make it go away. Do something to make it go away. But, I can’t. Because that would mean actually focusing on whatever it is and facing it. It’s so much easier to pretend that something doesn’t exist when you keep it to yourself. When you hold onto something private you can convince yourself it’s just a nightmare and that it will go away. But once you let other people in, it becomes real. So instead I lie to everyone. I lie to my friends and I lie to my family; I lie to myself. I make myself believe that it’s nothing but all in my head. I don’t lie because I want to keep a truth hidden. I lie because I don’t want it to be real. And it’s not even a deliberate lie because on the surface I have truly convinced myself it’s nothing. It amazes me how I’m so able to deceive myself. It’s only when I stop to really think about these things and analyse it that I realise what I’m really doing; putting up this facade and telling myself that it’s nothing more than some nightmare I’ll wake up from.

Ugh, and that’s pretty much all I can get out of my system right now… a whole bunch of nonsensical bullshit.

Birds Of Tokyo - Circles



I'm being followed by my shadow, he's been creeping around
Asking where I've been
He keeps tapping on my shoulder, telling me it's over
So where do I begin?

These dark days are getting harder, I feel I'm treading water
So will I sink or swim?
Roll on, push a little further, I keep saying is this worth it
Or should I just give in?

I don't know

I don't know which way I'm supposed to spin
In this circle
And I won't waste my time on your concern
'Til it's over

I look back on a distant border, I fear I'm getting older
There's so much that I missed
Walk on following a faint line, see if I can define
Where I came undone

I don't know which way I'm supposed to spin
In this circle
And I won't waste my time on your concern
'Til it's over

And I will wait my turn, my time will come
This ain't over
And I can't wait no more, no sweet return
This is over

So it is
So sweet return

This is over

Interpol live at The Palace Theatre, Melbourne

January 7, 2011: Interpol at The Palace Theatre, Melbourne

Knowing of Interpol but having only previously heard some of their music, it's safe to say I was feeling a little bit out of my comfort zone. However, accompanying Ash to see her second favourite band was awesome. I had an amazing time! It didn't matter that I didn't know all the lyrics to the songs, it just had a really good vibe. The support act, Bridezilla, surprisingly captivated me. I think I might have to go and search out some of their music. But the main act, Interpol, were amazing. They're a really good live band! They have energy and charisma and are very appreciative of their fans; everything you want from a live performance!

The setlist for the night:

1. Success

2. Sat Hello To The Angels

3. Leif Erikson

4. Narc

5. Summer Well

6. Rest My Chemistry

7. Evil

8. Mammoth

9. The New

10. Barricade

11. Lights

12. Obstacle 1

13. Memory Serves

14. Take You On A Cruise

15. Slow Hands

Encore

16. NYC

17. PDA

18. Not Even Jail

EDIT: Photos still to come