BDO 2011 Line Up

The Big Day Out for me was once a tradition. The best festival with the best bands. A must do for the summer. These days though the tradition is broken and it doesn't look like being re-instated.

When I was 14 years old the BDO was coming back from a 2 year hiatus. The 1999 line up was more than a 14 year old girl could imagine. I begged and begged my mum to let me go. The headline acts in themselves were enough to make you want to pee your pants with excitement! Korn, Hole and Marilyn Manson. Then you had amazing local talent like The Living End, the Superjesus, Jebediah and Regurgitator. Powderfinger were also there and had only just released their most commercial album to that date 'Internationalist'. The band played at about 4pm if I remember correctly. I often laughed in years to come when they ended up headlining.

Following years line-ups were just as exciting and in later years when it started selling out in a few short hours the line up made your heart race in the hope you could snag tickets to see all these amazing bands in one place.

Year after year I was pumped at the announcement of the line-ups. I went to 10 BDOs and loved every single one of them. I have amazing memories from the bands, the people, the atmosphere. A trip to the Lilypad is an adventure in itself.

A few years ago the line up came out for the 2009 BDO and I was unimpressed. So unimpressed that I made the decision not to go. This is despite me once saying 'I'll always come no matter who is playing'. The day rolled around and I felt weird not being there. I felt sad that my tradition had been broken but I knew that it would be ok and next year I'd be back there at Olympic Park.

When the 2010 line up was about to be announced I felt excited again. There was a rumour the fabulous Mr David Bowie would be headlining. Instead when the announcement came we were given Muse.

Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE Muse, but they headlined just 3 years prior, so I was quite let down. Again I decided not to buy a ticket.

This year I was a little more wary of how the line up would look. I'd heard rumours of Soundgarden and Stone Temple Pilots. I didn't want to get my hopes up.

When the announcement was made I was very let down. Great bands, amazing bands! Tool, Rammstein and Iggy Pop are the headliners. But they've all done it before! I got the feeling that the BDO organisers were just giving us punters recycled goods. Why would I pay $150.00 to see bands I've already seen! When I was 14 I paid $70.00 to see one of the best, freshest line ups ever in Australia.

This will now be the 3rd BDO I've missed since I started going and I've come to the realisation that my tradition is over. Good bye BDO, it's been fun!

*Disclaimer: Should the 2012 line-up be an improvement my tradition may need to be re-instated

Me Running? A Complete 180!

If you had told me 6 months ago that I could run for almost 10km in under an hour I would have not only laughed at you but bet you $1000.00 that it was impossible.

So how the hell did I end up doing just that the other weekend?

What started off as a small personal challenge has turned into a normal part of my exercise routine.

It was hard, oh my God it was hard. I began running 5 minutes down the road with the stop watch and walking back. I slowly built up to also running the 5 minutes back.

As I started to gain confidence in running just for 10 short minutes I began to tell myself that I could run further. I slowly started running for longer and longer distances, setting myself routes I would try to complete. The challenge was to run as much of the route as possible before having to walk and next time try to beat it.

Over and over in my head I would remember what my former trainer Chris at Active Aussies would tell me. He had the confidence that I could run. He pushed me to run and sprint short distances. If he believed that I could do it then why shouldn't I?

I also took onboard advice I had read in Michelle Bridges 'Crunch Time' book. Michelle says not to stop. Even if you have to shuffle along slower than you would walk, do not stop. Stopping loses momentum and she is 100% right. Once I stopped to catch my breathe it was 100 times harder to start running again.

Motivation is hard when you're on your own. I needed some extra motivation (and still do).

I started by signing up to do the Bridge Run as part of the Sydney Running Festival. The course was an approximate 9-10km and was definitely much further than I would ever have imagined I could run.

Secondly I enlisted some running buddies. I got my boyfriend Aaron to sign up for the Bridge Run too and also began running a few afternoons a week with Lisa and Amanda from work. Having someone to go with you is the best motivation.  When one of you feels like piking out that day the other will drag them along.

And last but not least I downloaded the Map My Run app for my iphone. It tracks your GPS as you run so you can see the route and actual distance you have run. It's such a fantastic (and free) app to use.

With all this help I started getting into a regular pattern of going for a run 3-4 times a week. My area is very hilly and while the inclines really do suck, they are amazing for training for flat distance and I credit them with making my time as fast as it was.

Completing the Bridge Run last Sunday in 55:52 was one of my proudest moments. Especially considering I'm not a fast runner and my goal was 90 minutes! As an unco-ordinated ex-smoker with big boobs I honestly believed that it was not part of me to run. I proved myself wrong.

I've also proved that anybody can run. You just have to start small and not expect it to happen right away. Don't expect to be winning races. My pace is still very average but at least I'm running!

I've now set myself a goal to run 1000km in a year, just under 20km a week which is much more than I have been. It will be hard and certainly a challenge but I have complete faith that I will be able to reach that goal.

Underwear As Outerwear

Blame Lady Gaga!

Ever since Gaga burst onto the scene wearing little more than undies and a bra, underwear as outwear has become increasingly popular for everyday girls. Walk into just about any store in a Westfield at the moment and you'll find an assortment of leotards, corsets and lace dresses that leave little to the imagination.

And not to be outdone by Gaga, an assortment of celebs are also popping up sans pants. I have trouble remembering the last time I saw a picture of Rihanna wearing much of anything and even Sienna Miller has jumped on the bandwagon.

Bonds are even in on this fashion fad by bringing out the Tube Bra. The ad states that it's made to 'Be Seen', giving girls everywhere permission to flash her underwear.

But while celebs, who's job description involves looking super hot and trim, are getting away with this trend, what happens when an everyday girl from the suburbs, who sits on her butt for 8 hours a day in office starts losing her clothes?

Is it really a great look for an average sized girl to be strutting around in her undies? Do we really want to see half a butt cheek hanging out of a tight fitting pair of high waisted nanna knickers while we're picking up milk from the servo?

Not many people can pull off the underwear as outerwear look. Even Sienna looked odd.  It requires a big personality and a very clever stylist to make it work. Personally I'd rather the whole look went back to 80's and stayed there.

My advice - Leave the leotards to Lady Gaga or risk looking like your on your way to perform in a high school dance production.

Nastiness Is The New Black

When I was growing up my parents taught me to treat others the way I want to be treated. I have the saying 'If you don't have anything nice to say...' ingranied on my brain.

So why is it these days that bitchy is in fashion? It seems that everywhere you go someone is being rude or nasty to someone else. You can't read an open comments section on a news website without seeing some display of uncalled for meanness. Just today I clicked a link on the Daily Telegraph website for a new Lady Gaga song. There was only one comment that went something along the lines of "It would be better if she got a new head reconstruction'. It just made me think why bother being nasty? There was no need for it. Obviously some people get off on negitivity.

In the past few weeks I've been on two different buses changing drivers and had passengers on the bus yell at the driver to hurry up! Yes, it is annoying when they change drivers but these are scheduled into the timetable. These are people who are just doing their job. Where has the understanding in our society gone?

Why is being a bitch acceptable these days? Are we so used to living in a world where you can get everything in an instant that we have become so self-obsessed that we forget common courtesy to others? Are we taking examples from trashy reality tv like The Real Housewives of whatever city they are in that week, thinking that they are rich and on tv I want to be like them?

If everybody went back to their childhood lessons of getting along and sharing with others we might not be so stressed as a society. If everybody took the time to take a breath before telling someone off problems might get resolved better and quicker. If everybody just took a chill pill and relaxed for 2 minutes rather than flaring up we all might be happier.

I'm hoping that as with all trends, this fashion will fade. I want understanding back in fashion. I want a simple smile to be the new black.