2008 ANOTHER YEAR SURVIVED

So another year down the tube – guess I should do one of them best of lists that are so popular as the year draws its last breath. Trouble is the years go by so quickly now that I’m not sure half the time what happened this week let alone this year. So if I go back a little in time, don’t bug me about it…. Hell it’s all the same anyway… it’s a consumer culture, we’ll have forgotten all about this in a week or two and need something else anyway.

So for what its worth….

Fave Music – Well I gotta say that the highlights this year would have to include the discovery of Big Blood – a husband & wife duo that I discovered via the grown so ugly blog… this is a mess o’ psych folk madness with a keening voice that reminds me a little of Kate Bush on some really good mushrooms or perhaps even Julie Dahlia if she went down that path…
Another grown so ugly discovery (and both are on myspace too) was Buffalo Wings, this kid has a style all his own. This is fucked up folk music filtering charles manson thru syd barrett’s ghost, creepy, crazy but definitely original.
And my personal fave band of the last coupla years (has it been that long? – I can’t tell) Solaris Earth Pipeline hit me with 45 on 33 – another stirling effort of redneck hiphop lounging. And I shouldn’t let the moment pass without mentioning PSY/opsogist’s solo effort Suffused With Static… this guy knows his music, loves it and it shows in these haunting instrumental scenarios/dioramas…
Stuart Busby kept me relaxed too with Radiance & Decay (on Kindling) – a snapshot of his holidays in aural form… this man knows how to relax!

Words – well I guess the biggest thing this year past was the tenth anniversary of Paroxysm Press, my publisher and all round fucked up crazy son of a bitch. Being involved behind the scenes of TEN YEARS OF THINGS THAT DIDN’T KILL US gave me more understanding of just what Daniel does and it was an honour to be in the damn book (which I never took for granted) – getting Kaplowitz, Misti Rainwater-Lites and David Rat into the book was a personal highlight too.
Another find was Glen W Cooper. Damn this son of a bitch can write! I’ve got three of his chapbooks and he’s covered Muhammad Ali, Rimbaud and Neddy Smith! What a cast of characters!
And for music zine type stuff I can’t go past BIXOBAL. After the death of Bananafish and Forced Exposure and the dullness of The Wire I’d given up on finding an intelligent zine that covered the fringes of music properly but Eric Lanzillotta stepped into the breach and has produced a zine that always has me wanting more. He knows his music and his art – hell, he ran Anomalous Records he should know his stuff… and now he’s running a record store!! (Disonnant Plane) A man who loves what he does.

Movie wise I’ve rediscovered my love for the b-grade. Thanks mainly to Demons Among Us, Metal Heads and Isle Of The Damned. Three low budget to no budget labours of love by guys who love film and love the fun of it all. Thanks guys for putting the beer back into b-grade films! And I can’t go past Boxing Day – another low budget, Aussie film made in real time with a story that’ll rip yr heart out. Superb movie.

Let me see, what else? Oh yeah, the big highlight was my stint as ‘boxing expert’ for People magazine. Getting paid to talk to the likes of Danny Green, Jeff Fenech, Nader Hamden, Sakio Bika and Lester Ellis!!! Damn but that was sweet. It’s a pity that boxing itself became a game of “Which old guy can I add to my resume?” Thank Christ for the likes of Vic Darchinyan who was prepared to step up and put his fists not just his mouth to the test. Taking out Cristian Mijares in November (considered the man at superfly) – Vic now holds the IBF, WBC &WBA belts. While other fighters keep telling us they’re the best but refuse to actually fight anyone who might challenge them, Vic has proved he is amongst the best in the world, not just his own backyard. The Margarito V Cotto fight was a corker too – the belter at welter lived up to the hype, one of the fights of the year for me. And David Hayes V Enzo Maccarinelli purely because of the feeling behind the fight as well as the way the Hayemaker played them for fools, talking about weight problems and all and then came in looking chiseled and knocked Maccarinelli on his ass (And Enzo still can’t admit he was beaten by the better man! Damn straight you got suckered by a smarter man and a better boxer, just admit it)
The best fights were local bouts though – like Alex Leapai and Pieter Cronje’s Heavyweight bout in Qld. Ten rounds of heavyweights actually fighting, not holding or dancing but throwing punches. A great bout. Another great heavyweight contest was the OPBF title bout between Nathan Briggs and Colin Wilson. With brother Paul in his corner, Nathan has stepped up plenty and after losing twice to Wilson in the past, the difference was plain to see.
Ahmed Elomar’s one punch knockout of Cool Willie Kickett was a boomer too. Forget the ruckus after, that punch was a beauty. So really the local fights provided plenty, while the big ppvs just didn’t get my dollar this year. Put up fights for titles, legit titles, legit challengers and you can have my money until then – forget it.

Is that it? I guess so. Shit, if you want to know what was good just look back at my Top Ten lists… its all there… (well the bits I can remember anyway)

Personally the year finished on a low with more family deaths and I’m starting to take it personally now. If we can spend a fucking fortune just to create Viagra and bloody creams and pills to make you look younger why can’t we find something to cure cancer?! Or at least slow it down… the modern world with all its artificial colours, flavours, sweeteners, chemical enhancers, ‘roids, pollution and who knows what else is killing us all… and every night on the news they announce another ‘breakthrough’ but it’s always still in development and we never ever seem to see its release. Don’t worry about wars or Armageddon, we’re already poisoned. End of sermon.