Not going, going, not going... etc.

Even in the days after the "last Carter gig ever" (my 30th birthday, Brixton, November 2007) there was speculation of more shows to come. The shows in Glasgow and Brixton had been a resounding success and offers were coming in from promoters to extend the Carter reunion fun a little longer. Even when the talk died down, the issue remained very much alive at Carter HQ, and when the band issued the "should we play again?" question to fans on their mailing list and message board, the momentum of the fan base response pushed them into planning two extra gigs for November 2008. During the feedback process I decided that whilst it would be great to go, I didn't really need to go, and couldn't justify it. As I said last year, after the 2007 trip I'd pretty much ticked everything off on my "bucket list".

The 2008 shows were announced for consecutive days in Birmingham and Brixton, and shortly afterwards the support acts were announced. EMF, one of my favourite bands of all time were playing both shows, and Vile Evils (half of Pop Will Eat Iself) and S*M*A*S*H were playing Birmingham and Brixton respectively. This was a bittersweet announcement knowing that I wouldn't be going, because I'd love to see all of those bands live and I was happy for those who would be able to see them, but I believed I would not go. Yet, never say never, as Jim Bob from Carter has since learned...

When Fruitbat toured earlier in the year with his band Abdoujaparov (I was going to say "new" band but a band of 10 years isn't quite new anymore), Fruity and Richy gave a bit of pester-power to the the cause as they gleefully cheered on any remote possibility that one or both of us may be able to make the journey. In April this year, Stephanie, Bennett and myself went to Daydream Island for my brother's wedding and a bit of a holiday. While there Stephanie said she wouldn't be averse to the idea of me going back again this year and the possibility of the trip stayed alive although we didn't really talk about it for a while afterwards. Somewhere along the line we decided that I could go if we could tack a short family holiday to Hong Kong, Singapore (or somewhere, anywhere overseas) onto the return leg from London. This sounded good in theory, but it became quickly obvious, with airfares the way they are that the whole thing would be very expensive. So maybe, maybe not.

In the meantime, time was seriously running out to buy tickets for the Brixton show. I'd been keeping a close eye on ticket sales but according to the Carter website there were now only about 10 more tickets for sale! Yes, no, yes, no.... in the end, we decided to buy a ticket, knowing I could always resell it and still weren't committed to going. Then it was the tickets for Birmingham that were getting low in supply... so again, a ticket was bought, with reselling it on eBay as the fallback plan. Then it was the ticket for the official aftershow in Brixton - the decision this time was a little easier because it was considerably cheaper - but again, I bought one... just in case. By this time the ledger had now switched from a "possibility" to a very real "probability" and I started tentatively organising what I could do, where I could go and how I could start to build an itinerary. I got in touch with a friend from Preston who I'd planned on seeing first time around but couldn't because of his dodgy car, organising accommodation with "Carter friends" in Manchester and lamenting the fact I didn't know anyone in Birmingham I could stay with.

There was a steady gnawing going on in my mind that if it was going to happen, it had to happen now... with flights becoming more expensive because of world oil prices and the need to book other accommodation and cross-England travel early in order to get reasonable rates, it was time to decide. Talking to my friend Lauren about the trip, flights, logistics and such brought it to a head and a discussion with Stephanie was again on the cards.

Another discussion with Stephanie and still no clear direction. It started to become clear that in a way Stephanie was torn too. On one hand she didn't want to stop me doing something I really wanted to do and on the other, it would be the third significant time I'd used annual leave to be away from my family (the other one being a meditation retreat in May '07) and that whilst the decision lay mainly in my hands, I should think about it also in the context of the family. Happy with that suggestion I gave it some thought - consciously and unconsciously, until one afternoon a few days later, I decided I would probably not go. In some ways I began to see that for all the positives (i.e. Carter & E.M.F - together!) there were a lot of things that would be a bit different this time around - and not necesarily different in a good way.

Primarily, the announcement of last year gigs came at a time when I never thought I would see Carter play ever. The only time they played in Melbourne was 6 months or so before I had even heard any of their songs and they split up while I was in my 2nd year at university. Not only that, it would be a real epic pilgrimage of the musical variety (which is quasi-religious in itself) to the heart and essence of Carter and to the heart of my interest in the UK and London. Last time I had quality time with Fruity in the lead up to the Brixton gig and really got to feel what it meant for him as a prelude to the homecoming Brixton show. In 2008 the trip would be a real rush job, trekking tiredly from a gig one night in Birmingham, with my luggage over to somewhere in or near Brixton in readiness for another helter-skelter night of all-night Carter fun.

Prior to the last visit I'd never been to the UK, despite having wanted to since I was a kid... in fact, I'd never been outside Australia so there was a real sense of adventure in that. I was also going to step through the door of actual real English music shops and visit my friend Scott from Scotland who had come to Melbourne and visited us in the previous year as well as staying with Aussie friends Leanne and Greg. This year, I don't have much left saved for music shopping, can't expect anyone to give me spending money for my birthday, would spend a lot of time and money travelling and buying accommodation and I wouldn't be able to justify staying for as long either... I would really be rushing in and rushing out. Long-haul flights and jet-lag... aaaaahhhhhhhh!

As you can probably tell from the endless string of commas in the previous few sentences, it all started to feel a little bit difficult, a little bit costly and not as vitally important as it was last time. I was also a little tired of having the "Yes or No" pendulum hanging over my head and it was starting to be a drain - the whole planning process itself was wearing me down to the point that cancelling it would actually be a rather liberating decision.

From a simple Buddhist perspective, it was so incredibly evident that my craving was the cause of much suffering and unease... and the sooner I could let go of that clinging, the happier I would be. I think now I've let it go, mainly because it's too tiring to hold on. That's not to say I've definitely decided on "No", but I've at least let go of any compulsion to go and I think the final "No" decision will become an evolutionary and natural process. I'll give it a couple of months, sell my tickets on eBay, keep my fingers crossed for a live recording (CD or DVD - take your pick) and send my best wishes to all those lucky people who will be experiencing the wonderful glory of Carter in November. I hope everyone has a fantastic time.

Shall we dance? Don't mind if I do...

Photos from UK trip viewable at Snapfish

I got a whole lot of pictures from my trip printed via Snapfish... an added bonus of which is that all these pictures are now available online if you're interested in seeing them.

http://www4.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=146159422/a=80146327/t_=80146327

If you don't have a Snapfish account, you'll have to register but I don't think it's a big drama and it certainly doesn't cost any money to register.

Name-checked by Steve Lamacq

I didn't know it at the time but it turns out I, along with other members of the Carter USM online forum (http://www.abdou.co.uk/forum/index.php), was name-checked on the radio (Radio One?) by Steve Lamacq in the lead-up to the first of the two Carter reunion gigs. Have a listen...

http://www.streaming-talk.com/pauldavy/CarterForum.mp3

I've managed to listen to a lot of the CDs from the trip, but there's still about half of them to go!

The upside of air travel

Despite the weariness of long-haul flights, airplane food and missing luggage, there are some upsides to air travel. One would be the lovely scenery that you get to see when approaching an airport. Here's two lovely shots of snow covered landscapes, just out of Helsinki. Then, when you finally get back, it's great to have someone be very excited about the fact you're now home. Here's a little boy I found at the airport who was jumping up and down with excitement because he had his daddy home. I finally got him to stop jumping for a moment so I could take a photo of him that wasn't blurry.

So many CDs

Along with my suitcase arrives the last of the silly amount of CDs I bought while I was away. Have a look at these pictures and you'll start to see why I was getting a little bit worried about baggage allowances during my trip!

Here's a list of what I bought in the UK...

CSS - Cansei De Ser Sexy (album)
Seafruit - Hello World (single)
Klaxons - Myths Of The Near Future (album)
Tahiti80 - Fosbury (album)
Delakota - One Love (album)
Carter USM - You Fat Bastard (2CD)
Gary Numan - Radio 1 Sessions (album)
Tim 'Love' Lee - Just Call Me 'Lone' Lee (album)
Embrace - This New Day (album)
Pulsars - Submission To The Master (EP)
Hybirds - The Hybirds (album)
My Life Story - Megaphone Theology (2CD)
Bannerman's Under The Bridge Downtown - vol.3 (compilation)
Cornershop - When I Was Born For The 7th Time (album)
Mega City Four - Sebastopol Rd. (album)
Embrace - My Weakness Is None Of Your Business (single)
Longcut - A Call And Response (album)
Saloon - Lo-Fi Sounds, Hi-Fi Heart (album)
Bernard Butler - Friends and Lovers (album)
Channel 3 - A Compilation of Output Records (compilation)
Jarvis Cocker - The Jarvis Cocker Record (album)
Fuzz Light Years - Masquerade (single)
Infadels - We Are Not The Infadels (album)
Mew - Frengers (album)
Enigma - MCMXC A.D. (album)
Mekon - Welcome To Tackletown (album)
Orb - U.F. Orb (album)
Komputer - The World Of Tomorrow (album)
Resque - Life's A Bonus (album)
Muki - Quiet Riot (album)
Bonde De Role - Solta O Frango (2tk remix single)
Bonde De Role - Solta O Frango (2tk single)
Bonde De Role - Solta O Frango (4tk single)
Mew - Why Are You Looking So Grave? (2tk promo single)
Joy Zipper - Baby You Should Know (single)
Carrie - Molly (single)
Groove Armada - At The River (single)
Hurricane #1 - Just Another Illusion - Mixes (single)
Family Cat - Steamroller (single)
Morgan - Miss Parker (single)
Pepe Deluxe - Going For Blue (single)
Mansun - Taxloss CD2 (single)
Arctic Monkeys - Who The F*ck Are The Arctic Monkeys? (EP)
Mull Historical Society - I Tried (single)
Ooberman - The Lost Tapes (album)
Brassed Off (DVD)
Charlotte Hatherley - Siberia (promo single)
Catatonia - Way Beyond Blue (album)
Camden Crawl 2007 (2Cd compilation)
Dragonette - Galore (album)
King Adora - Vibrate You (album)
Ikon - On The Edge Of Forever (album)
David Bowie - Outside (album)
All Seeing I - Pickled Eggs And Sherbet (album)
Bees - Free The Bees (album)
The Hacienda Classics (3CD compilation)
Nigel Clark - 21st Century Man (single)
Electronic - Vivid CD2 (single)
Polyphonic Spree - Soldier Girl (single)
Fuzz Light Years - Girl Song (single)
Shifty Disco 10 (2CD compilation - disc 3 is missing)
Elastica - 6 Track EP (EP)
Dodgy - Lovebirds (single)
Hurricane #1 - Only The Strongest Will Survive (single)
Hurricane #1 - Only The Strongest Will Survive - Mixes (single)
Hurricane #1 - Chain Reaction - Mixes (single)
Speedy - Time For You (single)
Rain Band - Knee Deep And Down (single)
Faithless - Sunday 8PM (album)
Broken Spindles - Green TS030 (album)
Hurricane #1 - Step Into My World EP (EP)
Sleeper - Vegas (single)
Dodgy - I Need Another (EP)
Boo Radleys - From The Bench At Belvidere (single)
Midget - Optimism (single)
Dodgy - Water Under The Bridge (single)
Pepe Deluxe - The Mischief Of Cloud Six (single)
Clearlake - Come Into The Darkness / The Mind Is Evil (single)
All Seeing I - 1st Man In Space CD1 (single)
CSS - Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above (single)
Sussed - Never Wanna See Your Face (single)
Cardigans - Erase/Rewind (single)
Clearlake - Amber (album)
Supergrass - Pumping On Your Stereo CD2 (single)
Clinic - If You Could Read Your Mind (single)
Performance - Short Sharp Shock (EP)
Boo Radleys - Find The Answer Within (6tk promo single)
These Animal Men - Light Emitting Electrical Wave CD2 (single)
Lionrock - Straight At Yer Head (single)
Family Cat - Wonderful Excuse (single)
Dubstar - I (Friday Night) CD1 (single)
Cable Street Spy Club - Listen To Me Carefully I Shall Say This Only Once (single)
Graham Coxon - Bittersweet Bundle of Misery (single)
Flaming Lips - The W.A.N.D. (promo single)
Dodgy - Making The Most Of (single)
To Rococo Rot - ABC123 (album)
Family Cat - Goldenbook (single)
Lightning Seeds - 3 Lions '98 (single)
Manic Street Preachers - The Masses Against The Classes (single)
Family Cat - Springing The Atom (single)
Honeycrack - Go Away (single)
Soup Dragons - Mother Universe (single)
Charlatans - Love Is The Key (single)
Rapture - Pieces Of The People We Love (promo single)
Heloise & The Savior Faire - Odyle (single)
Melody Maker Reading '98 (compilation)
Jamie T - If You Got The Money (single)
Glitterati - Heartbreaker (promo single)
Athlete - Hurricane (promo single)
Secret Machines - Light Blue Eyes (single)
Badly Drawn Boy - Guardian (6 track promo EP)
Rialto - Summer's Over (single)
Sunday Times Festival Fever '04 (compilation)
FCD11 (compilation)
Melody Maker - Maker's Dozen (compilation)
Super Furry Animals - Hey Venus! (album)
Bell X1 - Music In Mouth (5tk album sampler)
Operator Please - Just A Song About Ping Pong (EP)
Spacemonkeys vs Gorillaz - Laika Come Home (album)
Supergrass - St.Petersburg (promo single)
Simian - We Are Your Friends (album)
Bees - Listening Man (promo single)
Spiritualized - Electricity CD1 (single)
Spiritualized - Electricity CD2 (single)
Gene - Drawn To The Deep End (album)
Clor - Good Stuff (promo single)
Clor - Outlines (promo single)
Straw - Moving To California (single)
Shout Out Louds - Howl Howl Gaff Gaff (album)
NME The Best New Bands Showcase 2005 (compilation)
Boo Radleys - C'mon Kids (promo EP)
NME Spring Offensive (compilation)
Longcut - A Tried And Tested Method (promo single)
Ash - End Of The World (promo single)
Joy Zipper - American Whip (album)
Gene - Where Are They Now? CD2 (single)
Gene - Speak To Me Someone (single)
Shocking Pinks - Singles (7tk promo single)
Play - the best in new music 1 (compilation)
Beta Band - To You Alone / Sequinsizer (single)
Glitterati - Back In Power (promo single)
Digitalism - Pogo (promo single)
NME Love Music Hate Racism (compilation)
Synctank August 2006 (compilation)
We Start Fires - Play You (single)
Maps - Region 3 (single)
The Good, The Bad And The Queen - Green Fields (promo single)
Summer Festival Glastonbury 2003 (compilation)
NME The Glastonbury Broadcasts (compilation)
Zero 7 - Simple Things (4tk sampler)
Glitterati - Here Comes A Close Up (EP)
Astralwerks Follow Our Tracks (compilation)
Dears - Ticket To Immortality (promo single)
A couple more unnumbered FCD compilations
NME presents the Best New Bands From Reading and Leeds Festivals (compilation)
Awesome '80's Volume 2 (compilation)
Dykeenies - Nothing Means Everything (album)
NME presents a taste of Heavenly Records (compilation)
NME presents Radio 1 Sound City Newcastle-Upon-Tyne (compilation)
Longview - Mercury (album)
NME Clean Sweep Live at the London Astoria '98 (compilation)
Stars - Take Me To The Riot (promo single)
The Music Of Ennio Morricone (album)
Rainbow Family - The Is Not A Circular (album)
Senseless Things - Too Much Kissing (single)
Spiderbait - Tonight Alright (5tk album sampler)
Monaco - Sweet Lips (single)
Fat Les 2000 - Jerusalem (single)
Dears - 22: The Death Of All Romance (single)
Lightning Seeds - Change (single)
Sons And Daughters - The Repulsion Box (album)
Sunscreem - Secrets (single)
Dubstar - Anywhere (single)
Sunscreem - White Skies (single)
Divine Comedy - Bad Ambassador CD1 (single)
Poppy Factory - 7x7 (single)
Bonde Do Role - With Lasers (album)
Midget - The Day Of Your Life (single)
Cardigans - Hanging Around (single)
Orson - Ain't No Party (promo single)
Max Tundra - Mastered By The Guy At The Exchange (album)
Soho Dolls - Right And Right Again (single)
Electroset - How Does It Feel? (single)
Calvin Harris - The Girls (single)
Le Tigre - After Dark (promo single)
Candyskins - Monday Morning (single)
Bellatrix - It's All True (album)
Revenge - One True Passion 2.0 (2CD)
Spiritualizer - Amazing Grace (album)
Manbreak - Asphalt Culture (album)
Clinic - Walking With Thee (album)
Erasure - Storm Chaser (EP)
Astrid - Boy For You (album)
Seafruit - Seafruit (album)
Sunscreem - Change Or Die (album)
Soho Dolls - Ribbed Music For The Numb Generation (album)
Catatonia - Equally Cursed and Blessed (album)
We Start Fires - We Start Fires (album)

Item located, pending confirmation

Well, well, well. My luggage has been located in Hong Kong. It's strange because Suzanne and I checked in at exactly the same counter at the same time in Hong Kong, served by the same guy, so I'm tipping that he must have botched something up. As Bennett would say, he's a dingus.

Suzanne's missing bag says the same thing too, so it looks like they've found them both at the same time, just like how they lost them both at the same time. It looks as if they will be sent on Cathay Pacific flight CX135 which will leave tonight and arrive in Melbourne for the morning. Stephanie is going to be home tomorrow from 11:30am or thereabouts, so they should be able to courier it around some time during the day. I'm not in a massive rush to get it back, it's more that I wanted to know that it was safe and I would get it eventually.

The status "ITEM LOCATED, PENDING CONFIRMATION" sounds pretty sweet to me right about now.
______________________________________________
Postscript (9th November): The bag was delivered this afternoon