writing

its a fucking bitch,
moments of inspiration come and go too often.

band rehearsals on friday,heck yes! its only been a fortnight since we last rehearsed but it feels like a month. Need to get our shit together and start gigging.
Jason's got his Ps and a car which makes matters all the more easy.

where music is made

Holy fucking jesus munchies it's been too long since I've blogged.
Should start doing it more often, what happened to this 'routine'?

Well the holidays are in full swing so I'll have plenty more time to do nothing.

quick post sadly as it IS rather late.

Life thus far, stolen off Lisa

Graduated High School.
Kissed someone.
Smoked cigarettes.Got so drunk you passed out.
Rode every ride at an amusement park.
Collected something really stupid.
Gone to a rock concert.
Helped someone.
Gone fishing.
Watched four movies in one night.
Gone long periods of time with out sleep.
Lied to someone.
Snorted cocaine.
Smoked weed.
Dealt drugs.
Taken a college level course.
Been in a car (motorcycle) accident.
Been in a tornado.
Done hard drugs (i.e. ecstasy, heroin, crack, meth, acid).
Watched someone die.
Been to a funeral.
Burned yourself accidentally.
Ran a marathon.
Your parents got divorced.
Cried yourself to sleep.
Spent over $200 in one day.
Flown on a plane.
Cheated on someone.
Been cheated on.
Written a 10 page letter.
Gone skiing.
Been sailing.
Cut yourself.
Had a best friend.
Lost someone you loved.
Shoplifted something.
Been to jail.
Dangerously close to being in jail.
Had detention.
Skipped school.
Got in trouble for something you didn’t do.
Stolen books from the library.
Gone to a different country.
Dropped out of school.
Been in a mental hospital.
Watched the “Harry Potter” movies.
Had an online diary. — tumblr?
Fired a gun.
Gambled in a casino.
Had a yard sale.
Had a lemonade stand.
Actually made money at the lemonade stand.
Been in a school play.
Been fired from a job.
Taken a lie detector test.
Swam with dolphins.
Gone to Sea World.
Voted for someone on a reality TV show.
Written poetry.
Read more than 20 books a year.
Gone to Europe.
Loved someone you couldn’t have.
Wondered about your sexuality.
Used a coloring book over age 12.
Had surgery.
Had stitches.
Taken a taxi.
Seen the Washington Monument.
Had more than 5 IM’s/online conversations going at once.
Overdosed.
Had a drug or alcohol problem.
Been in a fist fight.
Suffered any form of abuse.
Had a hamster.
Petted a wild animal.
Used a credit card.
Gone surfing in California.
Did “spirit day” at school.
Dyed your hair.
Had something pierced.
Got straight A’s.
Been on the Honor Roll.
Known someone with HIV or AIDS.
Taken pictures with a webcam.
Started a fire. (not too worry, it was contained and used as a marshmallow fire thing)
Gotten caught having a party while parents were gone away

Books and how not to read them

Don't buy them and leave them on your desk for about a month or so.
I got the great gatsby a month or so back and have yet to read a single page of it, not even because I don't have time but because I haven't bothered.
Quite sad really.

Has been awhile since I posted something on the bloggo-sphere and the last thing I did post was about a sentence or so long.

So let's catch up in the world that is Jim's.
I've started to use the recording studio which I have free access too and dear god it is a lot of fun to record music. Its nice to get locked away in a studio and think about nothing but music music music. The Bells will be heading into the studio today to record a few things and yes indeed it is nothing short of exciting! Then on Wednesday I'm heading back into the studio again to record my friend's band, The Analyte whom are very rocking.

I've been writing as usual and resurrected my old red hollow-body guitar which was out of use for a good 6 months. Tis nice to have a big chunky guitar strapped on again, sounds so fucking mean with new strings on it.

A new social norm for me and my friends is going to the pub. Not ANY pub but the Lions Hotel pub located at Melbourne Central. $12 jugs of beer?

HECK YES

So we usually head there on Thursday and drink the night away. Our last trip was quite grand as we managed to fill out the strangely large booths they have at the pub, we fit Linh Bircan Kiet Trang Tony Thong Nam July and myself into the booth and orders were for beer and food.

Have yet to plan the next trip but it will be soon, oh it will be soon.
I best be done with this so take care and thank you for reading.

Yes, I just effectively wasted a few minutes of your life.

J.Duong

women

having a conversation with a friend of mine, and dear god do you girls fuck us over and in the head.

J.Duong

music music music

heck yes!

WRITERS BLOCK IS FUCKING GONE!

words and music are just spilling out of me

in the background my guitar amp is still on with a loop pedal repeating these chord patterns that just bounce off each other. I'm going to start using both my amps at the same time to do some interesting work which has been a long time coming.

I'm sleeping earlier
I don't feel tired anymore
I've actually been able to save money

plus, since I'm doing a course that is all about recording music...
I get access to a studio close to whenever I want to.
its all free so hopefully Technicolour Bells will get their stuff together and start writing and recording again.

take care

learning to drive (and other things)

120 hours as set by Vic roads plus holding your Learners for at least one full year.
I've had my learners for about 2 and a half months?
and have completed 7 hours and 45 minutes worth of driving.

Not too bad I must say. Once I've done my 120 hours, I have a car to think about owning...that'll be a couple grand that COULD go towards a jazzmaster!

So while I sit in this comfy computer chair of mine, I grow tired and will decide to go off and write about whatever comes to mind, right about now.

So let's see, University isn't as bad as I thought it would be, the friends I've made a rather cool and easy to get along with which at first I thought otherwise.
I FINALLY got an Ipod...well its not really 'mine' but my younger brothers, mum bought it for him even though he doesn't really listen to music so I figured I'd put my music onto there and the trips back and fourth from Uni have been much more pleasant.

Last Band Standing is next Sunday and The Bells as we've become to be known as rehearsed just yesterday and damn that was a hell of a lot of fun.
I really can't wait to play a song called Smile which goes into this classically inspired/drum solo/delay pedal madness/feedback frenzy part of the song which ends it.

8 months I've been with her :D

COOKIE MONSTER



take care and wish me luck at the last band standing shindig.

J.Duong

there's a first for everything

today being
my first day of university.

Well, my first day was meant to be yesterday but due to the hella crazy storms Melbourne had, the recording studio my first class was meant to be at suffered some flood damage.

f u c k

So I'm here with my bag all set with pens, books, moleskine etc all packed for the first day.
Its odd since pretty much all my friends bar one started a few weeks ago.

Can't help but think of the morning where I received my enter score and thought
"oh dear, how the hell am I going to get into uni?"

Now I'm here a few months later geared for my first day.
Here comes the first dose of routine since November.

take care

J.Duong

The Pile

My song writing books, never leave anywhere without them.
9 books that I've filled out over 3 years.

Going through and reading them is like going back in time - don't mind the lameness of simile - reading the countless words that have been poured into these books just makes me feel all riled up and down. I really did write about anything I put my mind too.

I admit some of it does come off pretty lame, very actually. But I'm learning and finding my way of writing. One writer that I highly admire is Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys.

His way with words is like that of Barry White and women.

Sometimes my writing can sound too formal or too casual and it peeves me.
It's to much a fine line that's drawn.

Practice makes perfect I'm sure, being a guitarist I would know.

Well I'm back to writing right now, a song that for now can be called

"I Still"



take care.

J.Duong

writers block

it fucking sucks but its part of writing.

this is both in terms of guitar and words mind you.
But it's probably because I have done nothing the past few months.

To poke at my work, most of the songs are about experiences with girls.
Past & Present.
One thing that's awesome is that I've yet to write a piece about being crazy about a girl a'la crappy "punk" bands that live on the commercial radio stations.

That will NEVER happen.
it's always about the stages of relationships.

Should start having the moleskine on me again.


Inspiration, hit me already.


from the early morning of the the 27th of February.

J.Duong

wow

for the first time in months, I've never felt so low.

I've had all this spare time during these holidays, to do nothing but waste time and to think about it now. I live quite a sad existence,it feels as though I'm not going anywhere in "life"

I'm 18, I don't have a fucking job and do the same thing every single fucking day.
sleep,eat,play guitar,go on the internet and stay on till the early morning.

I wish that I was still in year 10. This was the time that I was truly carefree. Without worry of what to do when I finish school as the end of school was still two years away. Class was actually fun to be in cause we didn't have exams and sacs to care for and the teachers knew that too.
Teachers don't give a fuck till you hit VCE. This is when they hound you to do copious amouts of work in such small time. We're made out to be like adults when we're all only 16,17 or on the brink of leaving 17,18.

Some of my teachers we're cool enough to tell us that we're only kids and that the work load is silly. Sorry to say but the Principal has no idea as to what she/he was doing and from my knowledge a HUGE number of my teachers would just laugh when we talked about her/him.

What else has been on my mind?

The past is an odd thing. For me it has either, motivated me to improve myself in a certain area,show me how much things have changed and finally make me feel like I've hit rockbottom. Which is where I am right now.

I'm faced with growing up and letting go of certain things.

No more hormones and alcopops
No more laughing at the most immature things
No more or not many more memories to be made with my highschool friends

Fuck becoming an adult.

The past makes you also think about where others you once knew and were close with are at the moment.

I miss the old days,I really do.

2010 so far in pictures

As the title suggest, pictures that have been taken so far in 2010

- with the exception of the first picture -
l to r - Nam, Raf, Thong, Tyrone, Myself, Trang and Linh

My 18th - Myself with the guitar, Becker, Thao and Paula

My 18th again - My girlfriend and I

Generator party under a freeway

E.T shedding light on where there is none

2010 looks good

So I've been accepted to do technical production at VU. Enrolement is on the 27th.

In other news I've signed up for paypal and an ebay account...here I come rare finds of the guitar pedal kind!

Raybans for $50? heck yes


J.Duong

I need a job

Once I get a job, every bit of money I make goes towards the purchase of a guitar that will be my new main guitar.

The Fender Jazzmaster aka Jizzmaster ( see what I did there...ha-ha)

This is the picture of a japanese model which isn't THAT great in quality but cost $1550.

I've done my research and have come across an american made 66 re-issue for the same price. Knowing that it's a 66 re-issue means to me that its more faithful to the original specs of its debut. Enough guitar chit chat!

My band has a gig on the 28th of March at Bridie O Reilly's in Brunswick. Give me a yell if you want tickets which are $13 and you must be overage, sorry.

Take care now

GOODBYE

fuck

this always fucking happens.

and I'm fucking fed up with it.

thus far into the story

So I turn 18 in 5 days, scary thought really.

Lets see what the perks of momentous event are
- legal consumption/purchase of alcohol
- over age gigs/concerts/movies
- being able to play R18 games (I play games once in a blue moon)
yeah, I can't be bothered thinking of anymore perks for turning 18.

So let's see whats been happening 4 days into the new decade.
I'm a start off with New Years Eve

So my girlfriend is the first to show up to my house and we end up falling asleep in the lounge room watching How I Met Your Mother. I wake up and...shes disappeared?!
Turns out she was in my mums room playing tekken 3 with my younger brother, Jordan.
So I go shower and prepare the house for my two other friends who will join us in the festivities.

Namely, July and Thong.

July and Thong eventually come over and we start by flicking through the vast array of programs on the dearly beloved foxtel set top box.
Lord of the Rings, the Wizard of Oz, the 2009 American Music Awards.
Nothing to do with the looming new year a few hours away.

So we decide to whip out the monopoly set
*1 hour later*
Thong emerges the victor...bastard

Kill more time and finally the countdown is here!
we all enter 2010 with alcohol,hugs and sparklers.

July decides to go to another get together and my girlfriend is picked up by her older brother.
Thong and I end up watching the discovery channel to which Thong falls in and out of sleep watching.

Now comes 3am. Johnny and Keles call and ask to come over.
Lo and behold, when they come over they have an eski with BOOZE.
A few hours later they end up leaving and I cannot be bothered typing anymore right now.

I've been up since 3 50pm. So that's 16 hours with no sleep and I've got band rehearsals in a few hours.

Hooray for me.

Take care now,ya hear?