*New Album* Review: 'Mountains to Masses'~ Justin Hunter

Darlings, it's time i did something different.
As opposed to my normal rambling, ranting fit about an obscure, ambiguous subject that you don't care about, this will be something I've never attempted before..
You'll either enjoy it or hate it. Either way, I'm not fussed.
My friend, Justin Hunter, who is a signed musician to 'Source Music,' has a *NEW* album out! 
So i thought i would try doing an album review for him!
The *NEW ALBUM*
drum roll please~
"Mountains to Masses" by Justin Hunter.

Release date: 12th March 2012
Get your copy here: JB HiFi stores, ITunes
http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/mountains-to-masses/id508831984?ign-mpt=uo%3D4
& also here: http://www.vitamin.net.au/albumdefault.asp?ai=512

He says this album '..is symbolic of my leaving my beloved Blue Mountains and moving to the middle of Melbourne City."
His record label says 'Justin Hunter is a passionate lover of life, absolute adventure maniac, marathon runner, electro music fan & instrumental pianist.' And 'His new album ‘Mountains to Masses’ is the musical unification of the two places Justin holds dear to his heart; the dramatic beauty and spaciousness of his home in the Blue Mountains, and the vibrant, chaotic (yet at times lonely) city that is Melbourne.'
That's what they say.. here's what i say: 

Now, because of a loop hole, i actually got a copy of the new album months before it's release date.

I was stoked, to say the least, when it arrived in my letterbox unannounced.
Racing inside, i ripped open the package & started listening.. 

When Track 2 started playing, i instantly got 'X Files' vibes.

For some reason, that was my initial thought.
It was only in the first few seconds but it sounded eerie & it reminded me of something 'X Files'esque. You know that sort of ambient, warped, electro sound? Something like that.

Going through the album, it all seemed a little moody, a little mellow, a little darker than i was expecting & a lot more refined compared to his previous albums.

Each track rolled smoothly into the next.

Until.
Until i got to Track 8.
'Courage.'
I had been going about my boring, daily business while listening to 'Mountains to Masses' playing in the background. I was enjoying it but it hadn't exactly 'grabbed' me yet.
As soon as 'Courage' started to play, i stopped.
It got my attention straight away.
I actually listened to each note.
It's a far more upbeat, uptempo tune as opposed to earlier tracks.
My immediate reaction~ i loved it. It was an instant favourite & always will be.
Imagine watching a pianist's fingers dance gracefully across a keyboard. With faultless precision. Each note more perfect than the last.
That's what 'Courage' is to me.
It's the sort of track you would play if you were racing through the bush~ or the mountains~ on an adventure, trying to reach your destination~ the city perhaps?~  through thick & thin, trials & tribulations until you reach the finish & hit that euphoric sense of achievement.
You made it. Everything will be ok.
Filmed in Amsterdam, watch the music video for 'Courage' here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QuqehepSd4&feature=uploademail
***
Coming from me, someone who is definitely not a muso' of any sort, don't take this as gospel. You are all definitely smart enough to make up your own mind about his musical genius.
And honestly, if i told you i had never cried while listening to his music.. it would be a massive lie.
Even in the toughest of hearts, the most guarded of hearts, Justin's music evokes abysmal emotions that you didn't realise existed.
Let each note wash over you & enjoy the ride.
I must admit, after actually listening to the album properly a few more times, i realised how sophisticated it was.
In a word, the album is: Fabulous.
This is just my rabid opinion.
 If you think this review sounds good & you want to keep updated, 'like' his Facebook page at this link: http://www.facebook.com/justinhuntermusic 
He has also joined the weird & wonderful world of Twitter~ Follow here:
https://twitter.com/jhuntermusic
xox

PANTS ARE GOOD.

I'm sure I'm not the first person to ever admit this, but..
I enjoy a good pair of pants every now & then.
You know the sort that just hug your bum. Yeah. Those are good.
They look good on, they feel good to wear & no one else owns them.
Is this possibly the perfect pair of pants?
Specifically, I'm talking about jeans.
But seriously, they are the WORST thing to go shopping for...
There are far too many styles, lengths, colours, materials to chose from & it only boggles your brain more.
You usually end up leaving the store empty handed in dire search of a strong latte' so you can think about which pair of jeans you will actually purchase while surveying the latest trash mag to see what Kim Kardashian has been up to & discover that Posh is still THAT skinny after 4 kids. Lipo?? Hmm..
Baggy? Flared? Bootcut? Skinny leg? Cropped? Boyfriend style?
It so frustrating! And on top of that, what if you're having a 'fat' day.. blergh. Yuck.
And what if you've fallen in love with a pair of jeans only to realise you get some wild love handles for free when you zip them up & that muffin top comes out to play.
Oh, hello there, I didn't realise you existed until these, now termed hideous, jeans latched onto my body.
See. Its tricky finding the right pair.
You might be one of those people who strike it rich, aka lucky, & find some straight away that hug & hoick you in at all the right spots, that flatten & accentuate those other spots too.. if you fall in to that category, can we swap bodies please?
Cheers, appreciate it.
I have far too many pairs of jeans. It's a joke. There's the blue ones, the white ones, the salmon pants, the grey ones, the black ones & then there's these ones..
My favourites:

Yes.
I spotted these babies online a few months ago. Love at first sight. They had to be mine.
And mine i made them.
Not knowing what size to get, without trying them on & not being able to suss out the rear end in a mirror (this is highly important for a girl) i bought them.
*Fingers crossed!*
After anxiously waiting for my parcel to arrive for what felt like the longest week of my life, they arrived.. i could finally get my dirty lil hands on them!
They were perfect. Fit like a glove. Huge sigh of relief!
New favourites!
Someone recently said to me when i wore them out on the town 
'I just finished my DJ set & i was watching you dance.. your pants are the best pants ive ever seen.. they're fantastic....!!' 
There's a bit more to that quote.. but you don't need to know what else was said ;)
I told him that was one of the best compliments I'd ever received & we high fived.
That was a special moment.
xox
ps- Do you like pants? Or are you more of a skort person? (Yes, i meant to say skort.)

This one time, i met Aaron Eckhart & it was instant LOVE!

You know those moments in life where you are faced with two options:
1- Embarrass yourself & met the Hollywood celeb. or
2- Continue on with life forever regretting not introducing yourself to the Hollywood celeb.
Yes? Well, then there's me who does both of those options.
How? Let's start at the beginning shall we..
Walking along Degraves St, ofcourse, because i am such a Melbourne wannabe (and we all know my thoughts on Degraves, http://copesesque.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/degraves-that-is-all.html )
Minding my own business chatting away with a girlfriend, i spot Aaron Eckhart sitting outside a cafe, drinking coffee, listening to his mp3 player & reading some papers- he was alone.
Who? You ask. How dare you!
He plays "Harvey Dent/ TwoFace" in 'Batman-The Dark Knight,' movie..
I point him out very obviously to my girlfriend, we giggle, i ask' What do we do?! Do we go talk to him? Do we ignore him? I love him, i want a photo! Eeek, he's seen us gawking at him! Keep walking, quick!' ~as mentioned above, this is option 2. Instantly regretting walking away.
I'm so starstruck.
We head to my friends launch party for the clothing shop he's just opened, http://www.facebook.com/#!/upforsnails  
I tell one of my mates about seeing Aaron Eckhart just around the corner.
Ofcourse, he asks 'Did you get a photo?'
I tell him no, but i really want one!
We scull our glasses of wine (some liquid courage never hurt anyone) & go back to Degraves St.
Ok, whats the plan of attack? The table next to Mr Eckhart was free but while procrastinating if we should sit down awkwardly next to him, 2 other people snap up the table. Plan Fail.
Next best option is that we go into the restaurant that he's sitting out the front of. Easy.
Again, we still need a plan of 'attack.'
My mate leaves me at the bar, takes my camera, goes out & talks to Aaron, while I am waiting awkwardly inside, then gestures for me to come out.. i do.
Walking out of the restaurant all sheepishly & highly embarrassed, i walk over to his table, Aaron stands up, we shake hands & i introduce myself..
'Hi! I'm Coral! Nice to meet you!'
He repeats my name back to me, but with his thick American accent it comes out sounding more like 'Carl.'
Still to this day, i can't believe i said the following..
'Yeah, CORAL, like under the sea!' -yes. I actually said that.
Atleast he got a laugh from it.
For the record, he's totally gorgeous in real life. Bright blue eyes. Amazing smile. Instant LOVE!
So i get a photo w him & i tell him how embarrassed I am.

Ofcourse, now that the ice has been broken, we're practically best friends, so i ask what he's doing in Melbourne. He's starting to film a movie this week.
I ask what its about, 'Love & death!'
Ofcourse, word vomit spewed out of my mouth yet again.. 'Well i hope you win an Oscar for it!'
He laughed & says 'No, its not that sort of film. It's an action movie.'
Turns out he's starting to film 'I, Frankenstein' http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1418377/
We wrapped it up, I apologised for interrupting him & tell him we hope he enjoys Melbourne.
He was lovely. Such a gentleman.
My friend & I go back into the restaurant & finish off our beers.
THEN.
I have an epiphany! Give him your phone number. Whats there to lose?!
Once i had actually found some paper, worked out what to write on it & decided 'Yes, it will be given to him,' we notice Mr Eckhart has left. 
We race out into Degraves St, he's about 20metres away.
Catching up, i walked over, holding out my note to him, he says in his Americano' accent 'What is this?!' I don't think i actually said anything.. handed him my note, smiled brightly, gave him a THUMBS UP & walked away.
WHAT! A THUMBS UP.
I am SO EMBARRASSING!
xox
~no wonder he hasn't called me *sigh

GUEST BLOG: 'So, I hear you like cats.' By El Vampiro

Hello Blog readers!
How's this for something special~
One of my long time friends, who is practically like a big brother to me, asked this morning if he could write a Guest Blog.
I was stoked at the idea!
So.. here goes, i hope you enjoy it,
xox

You’re a cat person or you’re a dog person. You can’t like both, there is no middle ground. If you’re a cat person, lets get it out there straight up, YOU HAVE NO SOUL…


- Guide dogs/Seeing-eye dogs, yes. Cats? NO – SELFISH BLACK HOLES
- You occasionally hear stories of bad smells coming from neighbours apartments & later find that the owner had been dead for two days & had been partially eaten by their cat. I’ve heard this personally more then a few times, ever with a dog? NO
- Dogs are so awesome, they made a show about one that continually saved the day. This dog was called Lassie, even a Flipper the dolphin was capable of doing good things. Ever heard of show about a cat saving the family continuously? I didn’t think so!
- Dogs are so beautiful and sensitive they literally know their masters voice & can tell if they're getting called by their name or not. Cats? They don’t care about you or the useless name you gave them and will only come to you if they think you're going to feed them, in fact call them anything & they wouldn’t know the difference with names.
- After earthquakes & terrorist attacks, do you ever hear of rescuers using cats to find survivors in the rubble? Cats dragging along sleds in the ice purely so humans don’t have to walk? Sniffer-cats helping the cops find the murders, rapists and criminals? No.
- You come home in a bad mood or even the slightest bit annoyed & the dog will sense it, come to you as you crumble to the floor & just put its paw on you in a gentle way of saying “Hang in there dude!”. A cat? It won’t even touch you unless it thinks its getting food & only then it might rub its body on your pants leaving multitudes of filthy hair everywhere. YUCK!
- Dogs dream. You can sometimes see their paws slightly kick & even the occasional yelp as they're trying to save you in their dream – its beautiful. Cats? They nap. All day, just waiting for you to fall asleep too so they can kill you & have a comfy place to dig their razor sharp claws into.
- Cats have no loyalty, they could leave you and just go where the food is, no stress. Dogs have one owner. One Master – YOU! And will do almost anything for you. They don’t care if you worked all day outside and smell filthy or you just came home from a hit and run & have the body in your boot ready to hide, they would be the first to help “I’ll dig the hole for you dude!” Cats? You're guilty from the second they look at you.
- If someone who you're close to who knows everything about you & you both intimately trust each other, tells you not to trust someone you pretty much take their word for it because you know they don’t want you to get hurt/murdered. Why do you think dogs hate cats so much? Because they’re evil. Cats are evil.
Don’t even start me on they’re stupid faces, they can’t show emotion. No sad, no happy, no painful just the same stupid face all the time. Yuck.
~El Vampiro.

*SNEAKY* Airport SURPRISES!

Feb 14 2012
Marks the 2nd day this year that i have surprised friends at the airport on their Melbourne arrival!
Why do i do it? Because its FUN!
Its the unexpected. The thrill. The excitement of it all!
The first time, i was carrying an arm load of brightly coloured balloons.
The second time, i was wearing a big red bow tied around my body like i was a present.
I love surprises!
More importantly, i love it when i am the one giving the surprise.
In the lead up to the surprise day, you get to be all sneaky & be like a secret agent trying to find out much needed information so that it will all run smoothly on the day.
I started working this out about 2 weeks in advance.
Observe:
You need to put your friends off the trail completely before they are even on your trail.
'So, when do you get home? Cool story. Let's go get a beer.'
~seems random, but you found out the date they come home.
'So, what time do you get home? Cool story. Let's go get a beer.'
~seems random, but you found out the time they get home.
Next, you need to work out what airline they're flying with, if it's a domestic flight or international flight & where they are flying from. 
'So, is Jetstar taking you home via Perth again? yuk!'
~seems random to ask that specifically, but you still find out the needed information in your friends reply.
It seems everything is in place & ready to play out.
Excellent.
Oh! How could i forget to tell you this.. while all of this has been going on, you inform your friends on the day they are due to arrive that you 'don't want them back.'
Ofcourse you are only joking, but it does add a little more depth to the surprise i think...
The day has finally arrived.
At the airport with a carload of friends, sipping some beers, snacking, chatting & laughing away at how terrible we look wrapped in a big red bow.. you decide to go for a wander, thus separating yourself from your 3 friends.
'I'll meet you guys at the gate in 10 minutes!'

You check with airport staff about flights.
You go to the gate.
There is no one as far as the eye can see.
It's now 10 minutes after they supposedly landed.
You are alone, at the opposite end of the airport, wearing a big red bow & ignoring the strange looks you are getting as you walk through security.
cue *PANIC SWEAT*
Then.
THEN.
There's that heavy feeling in your gut.. no, not from what you just ate... 
Where the hell are they? Have i missed it completely?
No. Surely not.
Hell no. It was planned to a TEE.
It was PERFECT!
You decide to head back to where you left your other 3 friends.
On your way, you make a quick phone call & are told 'Yeah, we're here with them now. Where are YOU?!'
..and then there's that awkward moment when you realise you are at the wrong gate, you got told the wrong airline, which in turn makes you nearly burst into tears & you show up 5 minute's after everyone else has done your big SURPRISE!
FAIL.
No, you weren't there for the initial surprise.
But your friends were stoked to see you.
So i guess at the end of the day.. mission accomplished?!
xox