Lights, Camera, Action!

 This month I have finally fulfilled my wish to be an extra in a movie.

 Six of us shot the whole thing in four hours with two scene locations and I was also the boom operator. A great learning experience and a fun morning in the quiet Sunday morning streets of Rose Bay.

 It’s an independent short film called “The Payoff” and there I am as one of the “threatening” looking construction workers. The director flipped out when we were changing into our construction clothes because I had tattoos and insisted I be at the fore of each shot I’m in because that made me “look the toughest” which was quite hilarious although I did look very surly because I did a night shift before we started and I hadn’t slept for nearly twenty four hours.

 

I will be sure to let you know when it's edited and uploaded. At the end of the shoot I handed Bob the Director the script I wrote last month and he asked “when do you want to shoot it?” so it looks like I may actually be able to cross “make a movie” off THE LIST in the next month or two.

I moustache you a question...

........but I'm shaving it for later.

Despite the itchiness and constantly having a furry shadow in my lower peripheral vision I have had fun pruning shapes of hair into my face over the last month and can now cross “grow a moustache” off THE LIST.

The Motorhead

The Artist

The Trucker

Also getting crossed off THE LIST I have this week completed my first proper (short – 9mins) movie script in just three drafts (that’s industry talk folks for rewrites – ha ha) I am pretty happy with it and learning all the correct dos and don’ts in my screenwriting course. I decided to make separate list entries for (short) and (feature) so as not to allow me to relax on my original intention of writing a feature length script so it’s really only half a listing crossed off.

Sad news this blog – the nicotine monster has been making a comeback in our game of  “I WIN, YOU DIE”. Will getting stressed help me win? No of course not so I’m not freaking out too much but I do need to regroup and take another shot of “JUST DO IT!” I have quit some things in my time but this is by far the most ingrained, unholy of addictions – kids, let this be a lesson, DON’T SMOKE!


This week I have also booked tickets to Europe for March/April next year thus motivating me to start some real organising for the next travel adventure. It is getting exciting, I skyped my friend Mal in Sweden who is coming with me and the first stages of seeing the northern lights are being put in place, that is going to be SO cool! Extensive planning and research is underway to see just how many European goals I can cross off THE LIST in one trip. So far I have Sweden, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Germany, Austria, Prague, Poland, Hungry, Moscow, France, Amsterdam, Belgium and London!

Addendum - the final remnants: Feburary 2013........................

The Band Seen

As you have probably deduced these are the bands I have seen adding to my LIFE LIST of things done. 
(* denotes number of times I have seen that act)

INTERNATIONAL…………………………………………………………………….

JASON & THE SCORCHERS.                        THE CULT****

ZZ TOP                                                             DAVID LEE ROTH

GEORGE THOROGOOD                                POISON

TRANSVISION VAMP                                   RAMONES**

ALICE COOPER                                             MOTELY CRUE**                

FAITH NO MORE****                                   CHEAP TRICK          

CONCRETE BLONDE**                                STRAY CATS

MOTORHEAD***                                          JANES ADDICTION**

SCATTER BRAIN                                           BLACK CROWES

THE ALMIGHTY                                            HENRY ROLLINS**

IZZY STRADLIN & THE JU JU HOUNDS    RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS***

IGGY POP                                                       SKID ROW

GUNS ‘N’ ROSES                                          PAUL MCARTNEY

DANZIG**                                                      BODY COUNT**

HOLE**                                                          SCREAMING TREES

OFF SPRING                                                  PRIMAL SCREAM

STEVE VAI                                                      LENNY KRAVITZ

TORI AMOS                                                   FOO FIGHTERS*****

EAGLES                                                          PRIMUS****

ANTHRAX                                                      JARVIS COCKER  

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE                 AUDIOSLAVE

SOUNDGARDEN**                                       SUICIDAL TENANCIES

LOU REED***                                                NINE INCH NAILS***

SEX PISTOLS                                                 SKUNK ANNANSIE

GOLDFINGER                                                PORNO FOR PYROS

SMASHING PUMPKINS**                           ROGER WATERS

PLACEBO***                                                 MERCURY REV***

SEAN LENNON                                             SOULFLY

KORN                                                             MARILYN MANSON

RAMMSTEIN                                                 PJ HARVEY**

FEAR FACTORY                                            PRODIGY

PATTI SMITH                                                 OZZY OSBOURNE

FILTER                                                           THE MUSIC

COLDPLAY                                                   DEATH IN VEGAS

GOLDFRAPP                                                 MOBY

WHITE STRIPES                                            BLACK REBEL MC CLUB

LINKIN PARK                                               FRED EAGLESMITH

VERUCA SALT**                                          NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE   

LIMP BIZKIT                                                 GOMEZ

SONIC YOUTH**                                         DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE

BRIAN WILSON                                           SNOW PATROL

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS                             IRON MAIDEN

MONSTER MAGNET                                   MILLENCOLIN

SLASH                                                           ROB ZOMBIE

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE**               SLIPKNOT

30 SECONDS TO MARS                              SYSTEM OF A DOWN

ONE DAY AS A LION                                  POLYHPONIC SPREE**

DANDY WARHOLS**                                  METTALICA

THE STROKES                                              MARTHA AND RUFUS WAINRIGHT

BETH ORTEN                                                MOGWAI
CAKE                                                            SILVERSUN PICKUPS
BECK**                                                         MIKE PATTON

NICK CAVE & BAD SEEDS*** - w/Kylie w/Chris Bailey                                   

JOURNEY                                                      DEEP PURPLE

AUSTRALIAN…………………………………………………………………………

ANGELS******                                              AC-DC

ROSE TATTOO***                                         HOODOO GURUS***

DIVYNALS**                                                 CHURCH

AUSTRALIAN CRAWL                                 CHOIR BOYS***

NOISEWORKS                                               SKYHOOKS

RADIATORS                                                   SCREAMING JETS***

PAUL KELLY & COLOURED GIRLS***     BABY ANIMALS**

RATCAT                                                          MENTAL AS ANYTHING

NICK BARKER & REPTILES***                  LITTLE RIVER BAND

SPY VS SPY**                                               DIESEL & INJECTORS**

J BARNES***                                                 IAN MOSS

JAMES REYNE                                              COCHROACHES

TOMMY EMANUEL **                                 JAMES FREUD

HARD ONS***                                               MAYBE DOLLS

CELIBATE RIFLES**                                     HUXTON CREEPERS

RADIO BIRDMAN**                                     ROXUS**

KILLING TIME                                              EXPLODING WHITE MICE***

PARTY BOYS/BOMBERS**                         TALL TALES & TRUE

CLUB HOY                                                    DUBROVNIKS

FALLING JOYS                                             LIME SPIDERS

PETER WELLS                                               THE SHARP

SOUTHERN SONS                                        POOR BOYS***

PEARLS & SWINE                                        TUMBLEWEED**

BEASTS OF BOURBON***                         CRUEL SEA**

CHOCOLATE STARFISH                              DEF FX**

SILVERCHAIR**                                           SPIDER BAIT***

GRINSPOON ***                                          GEORGE

MAGIC DIRT***                                            POWDER FINGER****

LIVING END***                                            SUPER JESUS**

VINES **                                                       LIVING END***

WOLFMOTHER                                            SLEEPY JACKSON**          

SOMETHING FOR KATE***                       YOUTH GROUP

GRATES                                                          DECODER RING

YOU AM I****                                              KASEY CHAMBERS

SLIM DUSTY                                                 SCARY MOTHER

You SUCK Cigarettes!!

Ha nicotine, you suck and I am beating the hell out of you! Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to shout, I miss you so much my friend. I dream of the days we spent together, traveling, drinking coffee, driving to work, taking a break at work, playing games on my phone, just before bed, just as I woke up, waiting for a friend, in the courtyard at the pub, drinking beer. All that is gone now, a fading memory but I will never forget you my beloved cigarettes and all you have meant to me and done for me. Maybe one day we can be together again but no……..I must not think this way, I must let you go because I love you so.

Three weeks, three very long testing weeks. Of course the morons came out to play and push my buttons in my first few days without a smoke but something was different this time, I enjoyed the pain, I enjoyed having to endure the stupidity of mankind that was pushed in my face like a scabby strippers groin. I stayed the course through disaster and turmoil and out rightly refused to relapse though temptation was so very high. I also gained a new even more ridiculous habit, the electric cigarette. It looks like a real one. The end lights up when you draw back on it like a real one. It even lets you inhale some sort of vapour into your lungs and appear to blow out smoke but you know what, it is not a cigarette. Yet for someone so hopelessly addictive like me it has been a whole new thing for me to focus on and obsess over and has helped in some strange way in situations where I may have weakened, whatever works right?

I’m not sure at what point I can cross “quit cigarettes” off THE LIST but it feels a little too early just yet however I have a very handsome moustache of the “trucker" genus which currently is more of a Lemmy-Motorhead growth (minus the warts) that I am quite happy with and can cross “grow a moustache” off THE LIST. I will work it into a few styles over the next few weeks until I get sick of it but for now, my first moustache.

Not thinking about cigarettes with a moustache

Thinking about cigarettes with a moustache

This coming weekend is the 10km and I have done next to no training in the last week except some gym time so I’m just going to wing it and hope I pull through easily enough this time just because I’m off the cigarettes.

Next goals I am aiming at after completing the 10km are the movie oriented goals as I commence a screenwriting course next week and have recently joined discussions with a group of filmmakers. I should have a short film or two written by the end of the month and also lock in some flight tickets for the travel goals to be crossed off THE LIST early next year but more on that after this weekends run.

wish me luck - luck shall play no part!

Simon.

Machette moustache and pipe bombs but no smoking!

So, right now I am in the process of crossing three things off the Life List in the next three weeks! 

Firstly I am growing my first ever moustache in preparation for “Movember” (the question is: do I go for the Guido the pimp look OR Pablo the pool guy look?) I hate facial hair and I hate shaving so it’s a no win situation except soon it will be another thing I can cross off the list. I am currently sporting a horrible scratchy beard and surprised to find a lot of black in it being naturally brown/reddish……..and the few odd greys! So in a couple of weeks I will carve away and come out with a bitching handle bar Mo.

The more serious goal I am currently undertaking is to quit cigarettes. For those of you that know me, yes, again! From twenty years of a pack a day I have not had one now for five days! I have been taking the Champix pill as an aid to quitting for three weeks now and what a ride that is!! Apart from hyper activity, severe mood swings, shaking, anxiety and hallucinations the side effects include crazy dreams that are extremely vivid. 

Last night in a dream I was hanging out with Danny Trejo (Was it the moustache!?!) He shoved a pipe through the back wall of a store as I looked on then he hit the end of it and it exploded. I looked through a gap in the wall and there were nails raining down on everyone inside the store. He ripped open a larger hole in the wall and winked at me with that menacing tough guy grin and fired off another pipe bomb of nails into the store. Apparently I was the lookout because I saw some security guards rushing towards us and I yelled, "Danny, time to go”, he looked at me still grinning and turned back grabbing a grinder off the shelf and started strangling security guards with the power cord. I remember being transfixed on the spot horrified and justifying it by thinking “it’s just a movie, he won’t really kill them……..will he?” just before they swarmed us we ran through the backstreets to his place. When we got there exhausted and excited from the adventure………he offered me a cigarette - that’s when I woke up!

Anyhoo, helping me quit the cigarettes is the training I’m doing for next month’s main goal, running a 10km. It’s not much further than the 9km I did last month but the weather is warming up which will make a big difference and running around Homebush Olympic Park won’t be anywhere near as inspiring as running over Sydney Harbour Bridge was for the last run but, I made my list and by the time I finish that run in three weeks I will be able to cross the above three things off the life list!

So that’s what’s happening at the “mo”. Tune in for the next update where I will be smoke free and revealing the plans underway to cross up to TEN travel goals off the list in one swoop early next year as well as making inroads on the movie goals. Please feel free to add a comment at the bottom of the blog, I would love to hear any suggestions or general thoughts. You can also submit your email for updates to be sent to you. 

Writing this down is the power so reading it is the fuel, thank you!

Simon.

Welcome, thanks and the mission statement

Welcome!

For the last six months following my previous adventure I have been assessing, re-energizing and realigning motivation with focus resulting in “My Life List”. With some inspiration from Joel at The Impossible List and with John from the Life List in mind (who quite frankly makes me look like I’ve been standing still in a coma for the last forty years!) I formulated my own take on the list. Yes it is a bucket list as such but that is not exactly the spirit of what I was aiming for when I decided to publish this so as well as things I want to do - goals and dreams - it has things I have already done - memories and milestones - hence the word “life” in the title. 

The idea of a list like this is to have everything from immediate simple goals to the seemingly impossible so there is always something that can be achieved “now” and always something for “later”. The beauty lies in the areas for expansion, as time goes on and I learn more about myself and the world the list will be added to as well as having things crossed off. I can think of ten more things to add right now off the top of my head but, you have to start somewhere right? So be it whimsical or near impossible, stupid or noble there will always be something to add and always something to cross off.

I’ve had a few “I’d rather just do it than write about it man” remarks which is fine I wish you only the best, each to their own. I can only tell you that for me this has pin pointed my otherwise erratic focus and been hugely cathartic and motivational at the same time. I encourage anyone to at least think about it and if you do, I dare you…………………..go on, take the red pill!

So for now I just wanted to get this intro down and get back into some writing. I’ll be updating as things transpire or if I just feel the need to throw some thoughts out into the ethos. I welcome any feedback or suggestions and in particular any help in getting me through the list whether you are a drunken millionaire who wants to buy me plane tickets or someone who wants to tag along for an adventure. In the next Blog I will let you know what I'm working on right now and what's on the horizon,

Cheers,
Simon.

THE LIST

TRAVEL

Set foot on all seven continents

-         Australia

-         N America

-         S America

-         Europe

-         Asia

-         Antarctica

-         Africa

Travel to all Australian states/territories

Drive the Great Ocean Road

Road trip across America in a classic muscle car

Go to Mardi gras in New Orleans

See Machu Picchu

Travel the Channel Tunnel

Ride the London Eye

See Mona Lisa at the Louvre

Eat pizza in Italy

See a sunset in Santorini

See Red Square

Get drunk on vodka in Russia

Visit Auschwitz

Visit Jerusalem

See Petra

See the Sphinx and Pyramids

See Taj Mahal

See Citadel of Salah Ed-Din

See Hagia Sophia

See Potala Palace Tibet

Walk on the great wall

See sunrise over Angkor Wat

See the Cambodian Killing Fields

Smoke opium in the Thai mountains

Full moon party in Thailand

See the Plain of Jars

See Halong Bay

Ride the Ho Chi Minh trail

Go to cherry blossom festival in Japan

NATURE 

Swim the five oceans:

-         Pacific

-         Atlantic

-         Indian

-         Southern

-         Arctic

See the Northern Lights

See a Three Toed Sloth in its natural habitat

Fish for Piranha

See Iguassu Falls

See a full solar eclipse

Go whale watching

Swim with dolphins

Chase a tornado

Go Tubing under a mountain

See snow

See Victoria Falls

Bathe in the Ganges

See Perito Moreno Glacier

Walk on a glacier

Safari in Africa

Photograph lightning

Climb Ayers Rock

PERSONAL

Quit cigarettes

Donate blood

Run a 9km

Run a 10km

Run a half marathon

Run a marathon

Be famous for doing something good

Grow a moustache

Date a girl half my age

Date someone met on the internet

Meditate with monks

Have a letter published in a newspaper

Never grow up

Have a conversation with Richard Dawkins

Have a veteran tell me intimate war stories

Get a Mohawk

Grow hair down to my butt

Eat vegetarian for a week

Save a life

Work overseas

Live without a permanent address for six months

Win lotto to cross more off this list!

THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT

Finish writing a book

Write a script

Make a movie

Be an extra in a movie

Be on a TV game show

Appear in a video clip on TV

Tour with a band

Have a song of mine played on radio

Write and record my own album

Play a solo gig

Attend the Letterman show

Play a song in Greenwich Village

Stay in the Chelsea Hotel in NY

Stand outside Dakota building where Lennon was shot

Meet someone who knew John Lennon

Get a photo crossing Abbey Rd

See Pink Floyd (with Waters and Gilmour)

Get a million hits on YouTube

Be a subject for an art project

TRANSPORT

Leave the atmosphere – space flight

Travel at the speed of sound – fighter jet

Drive at 200kmph

Attend a formula one Grand Prix

Attend the Bathurst 1000

Road trip on a bike

Submarine ride

Fan boat ride

Jet ski ride

Hot air balloon ride

Helicopter ride

Mountain bike ride

Elephant ride

Horse ride

Camel ride

Skydive

Parasail

Scuba dive

 

Bungy jump


ODDITIES part 1

Make a bucket list

Stay in an Ice hotel

Live in a Hotel for a month

Stay in an over water bungalow

Spend a week in a silent retreat

Protest march for something I believe in

Release a bird from its cage on a mountain at sunrise

Take a random flight

Go without internet for a month

Own less than 200 things

Have a job that is not work

Sponsor a child

Change a stranger’s life significantly for the better

Volunteer in a third world country

Donate to Kiva.org

Marry two people as a celebrant

Qualify for a Guinness world record

Dine in a revolving restaurant

Send a message in a bottle

ODDITIES part 2

Shoplift

Buy a round for the whole bar

Bet $100 on red in Vegas

Start my own cult

Attend a tourette syndrome meeting

Go to Burning Man

Be the only white guy in a crowd

Ménage a trios

Censored

Censored

Trash a hotel room

See a ping pong show

Walk on water in a hamster ball

Eat something weird (rat)

Eat something I killed with my bare hands

Sleep on a park bench

Try peyote

Ayahuasca ritual with shaman

Get shot

Fire a:

-Handgun

-Rifle

-Shotgun

-M16

-M60

-M80

-Uzi

- AK47