Ruby Velour

I saw this in today’s newspaper and was relieved to see that I’m not the only person who feels this way. In fact I’d been planning to write an open letter to Brisbane City Council about the state of Fortitude Valley for some time, but never made the effort to sit down and write about it. But upon seeing this, I have been motivated to finally have my say:

Dear Brisbane City Council,

I live in Fortitude Valley and have done so for a number of years. I love the convenience and how close I am to everything in the inner-City. Plus I love the fact I can go out for a night on the town and it’s only a short stumble home afterwards. I don’t intend to move away from the Valley anytime soon, but there are days when I wonder why I live there when I am confronted with the worst this suburb has to offer, more often than not.

While I try to walk to work every morning, I sometimes have to catch a train which means taking the escalators from Wickham St up to Valley Metro and am constantly appalled by the state of things in such a small space. First of all, you have to avoid a close encounter with some of the Valley’s least desirable residents who take to sitting on the ground outside Cafe One, yelling at each other and in some cases, getting into fist fights and dealing drugs. Then you have to deal with the escalators which do not work 99% of the time and are caked in filth, only to be greeted with the disgusting mess that is the walkway between McWhirters building and the Metro food court. I have literally never seen it clean. There are inches of dust and grime coating old rubbish and fast food containers. I once saw a pie that has been smeared into the wall last about a month before it was cleaned (or most likely, fell off on its own accord). Considering Fortitude Valley station is the 3^rdbusiest in Queensland, this is appalling.

Imagine being a tourist, who has taken the train to the (in)famous Fortitude Valley and that is what they see. Or if they choose to enter the Valley via the main exit they get to witness another nasty side of the Valley which is Brunswick St between the five-ways and Wickham Street. This is another area that I’ve never seen clean and always has a range of dodgy looking people hovering around, asking for change and then abusing you if you refuse. On one side of the street you have dank old cheap shops that you can smell from a mile off and haven’t been updated since the building used to be a Walton’s, facing $1 peepshows, strip joints, nightclubs and the dingy Chopstix Arcade.

The rest of the Valley ain’t much better either. Footpath’s are in a terrible state (though some have been totally replaced near our unit which was a nice surprise), the Brunswick St Mall is ridiculously outdated and the TCB arcade that was probably meant to raise the mall’s profile echoes as it’s almost completely empty. The China Town mall has been updated and looks kind of cool (if not a bit barren) but otherwsie I haven’t seen anything in the public areas of the Valley updated since I’ve lived here. Most of China Town is revolting too. How most of those restaurants haven’t been shut down for health and safety violations is beyond me. Some mornings as I walk to work, I gag on the smell emanating out of the bins sitting out on the footpath and can only imagine what the kitchen’s look like if that’s what was taken out.

I’m not saying the entire Valley needs to be cleaned up, renovated and changed. All I’m asking for is a bit of a spruce up and disciplining the daggy shops for stinking up the place so badly. Fix the shitty footpaths’s, replace the devastated street furniture, jazz up the Brunswick St mall and make shop owners fix up their shit because seeing massive holes in the overhangs of shops, many of which still bear the names of shops from 25 years ago is nasty. The Valley should retain some of its slightly derelict charm, but overall it needs some serious updating, a good scrub down and if possible, PLEASE move the drunks and druggo’s elsewhere so I don’t have to fear for my safety anytime after 8pm. It’s shouldn’t just be about the nightlife on Friday and Saturday nights, it should be a place for people to visit at any time of the day, on any day of the week. After all, those Valley markets on Saturday’s aren’t even worth a second glance these days and every other retail outlet is having a closing down sale because no one wants to spend time in the Valley any more.

Thanks in advance,

Ruby Velour

Concerned Citizen

I have something I have to share with you all. I am absolutely obsessed with the idea of getting a dog. It is pretty much all I think about lately, and it’s totally consumed me. My poor friends and family have pretty much heard nothing from me unless it’s about puppies and how badly I want one. I spend hours looking up dogs online and accidentally discovered the most amazing site full of the tiniest teacup puppies you have ever seen (that’s one of them in that photo, awww). Believe me, if I had $5000 spare and the means to bring dogs over from the USA, I would have one of those guys right now. SO CUTE!

But realistically, I am looking for a small dog that can live in our unit who won’t be too yappy and won’t be too high maintenance. Not that I’m not willing to put in a lot of effort, but I nearly got a miniature poodle last week but when I realised it was 7 months old and hadn’t been trained at all, I realised I couldn’t commit enough time to get it used to a brand new home on top of going through all of the basic training when I don’t have the option of taking a lot of time off work.

So I am asking you guys to help me. Please tell me a breed of small dog that is well suited to living in an apartment, that doesn’t have a reputation to be yappy, that likes to go on walks but doesn’t have to have one every single day, and is generally going to be a an amazing friend. Although I’d love something super-duper, sickeningly cute, I have learnt through my mum’s dog Lily that it’s what’s on the inside that counts. I’d also love advice on how to train and look after dogs that live in inner-city apartments. I have a very large unit without a balcony (well we technically do have one but it’s fully enclosed and used mostly another room).

All advice will be greatly appreciated.

Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you’re bound to be aware that the final Harry Potter movie is coming out this week. If you also happen to read my blog regularly, then you may have noticed I have been MIA lately. These things are not just coincidence, I have been spending much of my spare time these last couple of weeks re-reading all seven books and re-watching the seven movies. Yes, I am a MASSIVE Harry Potter fan and I am not ashamed to admit it. I became a fan of the books back in 2000 after my mum bought the first three books (the fourth book, Goblet of Fire had only just come out at this stage) and spent the next two weeks gushing over them and begging me to read them. I figured it was some dumb fad and wouldn’t give in at first, but my mum was extremely persistent and so I decided to finally give them a go. And the rest, as they say, is history. I was obsessed almost immediately and devoured those books in no time. Shortly after I finished the fourth book, there was news that they were making the Philosopher’s Stone into a film. So for the next year I obsessed over these beloved books, and eagerly awaited the first film. I must have spent thousands on Harry Potter merchandise, in fact when I look back through photos at that time, I barely wore anything but my Harry Potter shirts. I bought ridiculous amount of collectibles off ebay and generally spent any time not at uni, obsessing over Harry and his magical world.

During my second year of Uni, I decided to start a Harry Potter fan club. I’d gotten inspiration from a local school that held weekly fan club meetings in the library and wanted something for adults to take part in, since I often got comments from other fans on my many shirts that I owned. I put up flyers around my uni and received a few emails from interested people. I even discovered a few people doing the same course as me were huge fans and quickly became good friends with them. The fan club was a pretty big deal back then, the first film had been a huge success and people were Potter mad everywhere you went. We got invited to the premiere of the second film at Movieworld and even got to meet Jason Isaacs, who plays Lucius Malfoy (he was here shooting Peter Pan at the time). I was on TV and in the paper all the time whenever a new film or book was released and lots of local book shops and libraries would get us to come act like characters and even hand out the new books. During my time living in the UK I saw the release of the Half Blood Prince (we lined up at Waterstones in Oxford Street for over 6 hours in a queue that ended up being about 10 blocks long and I’m now forever immortalised on getty images as a result) and the film release of the Goblet of Fire where I got to see all of the actors in the flesh and even got to shake the hand of Mark Williams.

And even after 11 years I am still a huge fan and find myself re-reading the books every year, I still finding them funny, sad, exciting and complete magic. I even have two Harry Potter tattoos (the dark mark and the Hogwarts crest) and still have ideas for others. I class myself as a Gryffindor and still have a rather vast collection of Harry Potter collectibles. I am a fan of the books first and foremost, but the films (even the 1st, 2nd and 4th ones which are pretty poor) hold a special place in my heart. I have gone through relentless teasing over the years for being such a big fan, and have even been called, stupid, childish, evil and a (god forbid) nerd for being so open about it. But it doesn’t matter, because I have helped so many other people discover the magic of Harry Potter over the years, and I feel that anyone who is so unwilling to give it a go is sad, boring and absolutely not worth any of my time.  If you can’t give the most famous series of books a chance and feel the need to tease anyone who likes them, then I have nothing more to say to you. If however, you’re willing to give them a go, I promise you they will at the very least be a very enjoyable read. And at most they will be the greatest books you’ve ever committed yourself to and will undoubtedly become as big a fan as million of us Harry Potters geeks around the world!

So I am nervous and excited and even a little bit sad about seeing the final film at midnight tonight. While I will always love the books more than the movies, the last three films have actually been really good and this will be the end of an era for many of us. Personally it’s been eleven years but I have friends who have grown up with harry Potter since the first book came out back in 1997 so it really is a big deal to many people.So it is with pride that I will be wearing my Gryffindor uniform once again, not for the last time but at the last proper launch of something this big and official. I’ve made some terrific friends and had some incredible memories as a result of my love for Harry Potter and for that alone it has been totally worth it.

Share your Harry Potter memories or stories. I’d love to hear them!

This is a little something I used to do back in the good old days of Livejournal (which I neglect very badly these days). After a big weekend I would do a “Weekend Roundup” which went through everything that happened on my weekend since I used my LJ as a personal diary more than anything and I did live a fairly hectic and fun-filled life in London which I wanted to remember forever. Since we just had a five-day weekend thanks to Easter and Anzac Day and I have been a tad slack with my blog lately, I thought I would run thorugh the events of my action packeed weekend for you all.

On Thursday night I went to my mum’s place as I am still getting used to being paid monthly and wanted to chill out with mum and spend as little money as possible. I knew there’d be people at my place all weekend since the boyfriend is a social butterfly, and I was looking forward to peace and quiet. Good Friday was fairly uneventful, we just lounged around reading, watching TV and hanging out with mum’s pup Lily who has just come on heat which means she had a few male callers which I had to chase off with a broom more than once. My sister and her boyfriend came over for dinner for a roast (can you tell we’re all atheists?) and I got a bit tipsy on fancy cider and black Sambucca.

On Saturday mum and I went shopping. As Borders stores are closing most of their stores, they’re selling all of their stuff for cheap. Including their ebook reader the Kobo which I desperately wanted. So we made the trek to the store which still had some and got one each for just $112 (mum already has an Amazon Kindle which she doesn’t like much because it’s tied to Amazon). Needless to say I love it and have already downloaded the Harry Potter series which I am re-reading right now. I might post a review once I get some more use out of it.

Later on Saturday night we went to the movies and saw Paul, which was hilarious. I highly recommend you go and see it, if you haven’t already. On our way home though, we came pretty damn close to death. A Commodore sped through a Give Way sign right in front of us, and had I not had a bad feeling as we approached the intersection and been looking for something, we probably wouldn’t have seen that car until too late and it probably would have been the end of all in both cars. It was a terrifying moment, and I’m so glad I have a little bit of ESP now and then for moments like these. We tried chasing the jerk but they’d long gone by the time we turned mum’s car around.

On Sunday morning we were woken up by one of Lily’s lover friends who the night before had found a way to dug under the house and get into mum’s backyard. He’d gotten much further than this though, and had managed to break in through the locked doggie door and got into the house! Mum almost had a heart attack when she got up to take Lily outside to pee! He was so stealthy, we hadn’t heard him and he’d managed ton squeeze through a doggie door that’s about 3 sizes too small for him AND WAS LOCKED FROM BOTH SIDES. It took us almost two hours but we managed to get a collar and leash on him, get him into mum’s car and take him to the pound. Luckily there were two guys there who helped us get him into the cage. He was a nice dog but we’re pretty sure he’s a stray and t was kind of scary wondering if he’d bite us at some point. Thankfully the most he did was snap at one of the men as he was locked into the cage at the pound.

After that we had a pretty lazy morning before I finally went home. That afternooa few of us went to a BBQ for a friend who had only breezed into town for a day, Janette Slack. Here she is having some post-nap milk (how very rock n roll, we all joked):

Afterwards I attempted to go out with a few girlfriends but due to the fact the next day was Anzac Day, everything shut at midnight. In retrospect I’m glad this was the case as I really couldn’t afford to go out drinking, thanks to my dear little e-reader purchase the day before.

And the last two days? Well, let’s just say not much has been done at all. Sleeping in late, watching movies, cooking enormous meals and lazing about has been all that’s really taken place, and it’s been wonderful. I managed to venture out of the house today to get my nails done in some cutesy colours, but that was about it:

How was your Easter long weekend?

Well Supanova 2011 is finally over and I am exhausted. If you thought attending for two days straight was exhausting, try having a stall there as well as going and getting your geek on. It was intense! We decided to get a booth for the Brisbane Zombie Walk, to help promote it and get some extra funds from donations and selling some merch. We got a lot of registrations and sold all our left over shirts from last years walk as well as the figurines and books we had from some of our sponsors. We’ve already started planning our stall for next year which may involve brain-icing cupcakes to draw in the crowds.

Things I observed over the last two days while surrounded by Brisbane’s biggest nerds:

• The girl in the stall next to us drew people as anime characters and was revoltingly good at it. She would have made thousands from her custom portraits on top of the pre-drawn pictures of manga and anime characters she was also selling. We are amused to see one man get her to draw his little doll which he had sitting on his shoulder as he walked around the convention. It was super weird and probably the highlight of the weekend for all who witnessed it.


• There is absolutely no such thing as body-shame at a convention like Supanova. Guys and girls were wearing some of the most revealing and skin-tight costumes I have ever seen and they walked around like they did not give a damn. Good on ‘em because god knows I’d have to lose about 20kg before I’d ever feel that confident without pants in public!


• Tiny top hats are pretty popular at the moment which is kind of cool but also makes me very jealous and possessive because I feel like it is my thing. There were some amazing ones there though and will have to start hunting them down to add to my collection.


• I was able to identify a lot more of the costumes than I thought I would. Maybe I spend too much time on the internet, or maybe I just have an excellent memory for useless crap. But at the same time there were just so many costumes I couldn’t identify at all so I just assumed they were all from anime’s I’ve never seen or heard of .


• People were cashing in on internet memes like Troll face, fffuuu guy and Forever Alone which was hilarious. One guy had a mask of Troll Face and pranced and danced around all the time. Too funny.


• Many nerds lack manners. The amount of times I was nearly knocked rotten by some pimply faced teen who was making for some stall was appalling. But then again, many of them are all super polite and in some cases extremely chatty. A couple of times I found myself in intense discussions about Lara Croft or dyslexia which was interesting albeit a little bit disconcerting.


• People actually recognised me and read my blog! I was shocked to say the least. I’m now going to have to up the ante knowing people who aren’t my friends read this thing. Thanks to those who came said hello, it was so nice to meet you :)

As a grande finale for the weekend, my sister and I went and got photos with Tom Felton (aka Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter films). Naturally I was excited because I’ve always had a soft spot for poor Draco and loved how Tom played the character. He was really, really lovely and such a good sport. Basically the scene played like this:

Tom: Hi there.

My Sister: *loud whisper* Show him your tattoo!

Me: Hi! Um, I want to show my tattoo off in our photo *suddenly very starstruck and giggly*

Tom: Oh my god, is that genuine? *strokes my Dark Mark gently*

Me: Yep! *dying on the inside*

Photographer takes a photo, Tom has his hand around me and points at my arm and I try to pout but am overwhelmed with giggles so don’t quite pull of the come-hither look I was aiming for.

Tom: Thanks, lovely.

Me: Thank you! *walks the wrong way, dying some more*

Click the pic for the larger version

All in all it was a great weekend, though I am officially not doing anything zombie-related all week lest I end up strangling someone! I am probably going to be all Tom Felton/Draco Malfoy obsessed instead :D

I would like you to meet my mum’s new dog, Lily. She’s a very new addition to the family as mum only got her last Thursday. She was rescued from the floods up near Grantham and no one claimed her so a lady from the SES took her home hoping to find a new home for the little girl. Mum heard about her and was allowed to “trial” her for a few days (the lady who found her had grown quite attached, but wasn’t able to keep her).  It was immediately apparent this is one amazing little dog and so it looks like she will be a permanent member of our family.

She’s very loving, well-behaved and absolutely tiny! We don’t know how old she is but we suspect she’s had pups and is fully grown. We also don’t know what type of dog she is but she looks like a mini foxie x cattle dog (god knows how that rendezvous came about). She can be a little bit timid, especially around men, so there’s  chance she may not have been treated very nicely at some stage, but that’s all in the past baby!

Oh and in case you’re wondering about her poodle Beau… well he sadly has to go back to the RSPCA. He had acute separation anxiety which meant he tore the house apart and/or found a way to escape out of even the smallest cracks the moment mum left his sight. It was sad as he was quite a sweet dog when he had company, but mum has to work and she really did get an older dog to avoid that sort of thing. I hope he managed to find a good home with owners who could commit to making him better with his medication and training.

So please welcome Lily into our lives. I will possibly keep you updated on how she goes, with as little crazy-dog-lady obsessing as possible ;)

I learned a very valuable lesson this week. While her suburb was flooded, my best friend had me look after her cat Seiko. Admittedly I was thrilled as she’s such a sweet little cat who I was very keen to cuddle as much as possible, plus I was helping out a friend in need. Getting her to my unit was tough as the nearest lift was broken so we had to go the long way to the other lifts, so by the time we got to my unit Seiko was petrified and managed to escape, which meant 10 minutes of chasing her around the building. OK so not a great start, but as my work was closed due to the floods, I had the chance to bond with the dear kitty. Except she refused to come out from under the TV cabinet until late that night when I manged to convince her to come out for  a few pats. But she was back under the cabinet the whole next day and then under my bed for a bit too. Yup, definitely not off to a good start.

Every now and then I’d get her to come out and hang with me, I’d brush her lovely long fur and she’s talk to me with her squeaky little meow’s and would follow me around the kitchen begging for tasty treats. But as soon as one of the boy’s walked in she’s go and hide again. Two days later I had to go back to work and from then on I was so busy, I was barely home, which meant Seiko basically spent the whole time under my bed. She’d only ever really venture out at night and then would drive me mad meowing and following me around the place as I got ready for bed. One morning she was meowing so much I decided I’d sleep on the couch to keep her company (admittedly this was because I knew it’d take about 45 minutes to clear the clothes off my bed and I was way too tired for that crap). But she decided my face and chest were great places to curl up which didn’t suit me very well, so I was forced to clear my bed at 5am on a Saturday morning to give us both room to sleep, but she ended up going back under my bed anyway! Thanks Seiko, thanks a lot.

So after a week with a cat, I had to come to the sad conclusion that cat’s are not for me. I have grown up with dogs all my life and the last time my family had a cat was when I was about 7 years old. My lifestyle doesn’t suit that of a affection-hungry kitty and I just felt cruel for not being able to look after her properly when she’s such a dear little thing. Also, I could not get used to all the fur, I was constantly gagging and felt like I had a nose full of it, which really sucks when you just so happen to have a  cold. Plus the fact she’s white and I wear mostly black was not a very attractive combination.

If you’re thinking of getting  a pet of any kind (let alone a cat), please do your research and if possible, spend some hardcore one-on-one time with the animal type you want to get. As Seiko had been adopted and I had been very close to adopting her myself until my friend stepped in, I would have been stuck with an adorable but totally inappropriate pet. Don’t take pet ownership lightly, that’s a little life you’re taking into custody and they deserve all the love they can get. Plus there’s the vet bills, the grooming and/or exercise, the feeding and let’s not forget the pooping! I see people haphazardly getting new pets all the time and I wonder if they considered how big a deal it is to own a pet. That’s why I don’t have one, I love animals too much and know I am not yet ready to commit to one properly (also I rent a unit in the Valley which is no place for puppies to live). Please make sure you are full prepared when the time comes to get yourself a furry little family member.

All of these adorable comics are from Cat Versus Human.

Wow, I cannot believe 2010 is almost over! I know I’m not the only one who think this year went ridiculously fast. I remember going to the Good Vibrations festival in Sydney, having my 10 year high school reunion and moving into my awesome unit like it was last week (all happened in February) and I can’t believe I have had three, if not four, vastly different jobs in the last 12 months. I didn’t go overseas once this year while I managed to be overseas three separate time in 2009. That’s probably why the year flew by so quickly this year, as I didn’t have major holidays to look forward to, which tends to make time slow down drastically.

If I was going to be honest I’d tell you that 2010 hasn’t been my finest year. As I said, I’ve changed jobs a lot this year with some moves being great and others being not-so-great. Recently I lost my job, a job I loved, only to find myself staying within the company and into a position that I now also enjoy. It was tough but I try not to dwell too much and move on with my life. It did help me realise I am not content with where I am in life and have vowed to do something creative, most likely graphic design, next year. So now I am saving up to do a full-time course or at least a part time one sometime in 2011.

It’s not all been bad though of course. I’ve done some good things which I am proud of. I maintained this blog all year which is a pretty big deal for someone as vague and forgetful as me. I got into nail art and got over my fear of posting photos of me wearing clothes on the internet. I am also the fittest and healthiest (and therefor, slimmest) I have been in years which is an awesome accomplishment which I plan to continue. I’ve done some dumb diets and lost weight but this is the first time I just ate healthy and exercised a lot and I am really toned and so damn healthy, it’s sickening!

I managed to go to a heap of festivals, I didn’t even let the fact two of them were on the same day up here in QLD and went on a road trip down to Sydney for Good Vibes and then got to see one of my favourite bands, Faith No More, play up in Brisbane (and I also got to meet the band Anvil who I was briefly obsessed with thanks to their doco). I also saw Lady Gaga twice in one weekend and Calvin Harris twice this year, both of whom I love very much. I also managed to run one of the biggest events in Brisbane – the Brisbane Zombie Walk. 10,000 people and $13k raised in donations later, we officially run the larehst zombie walk anywhere in the world.

OK so maybe it wasn’t that bad after all. I didn’t travel and I am still without a bangin’ career but I am working on both of those things. In fact I am working on a lot of things already, including getting more crafty with the new sewing machine my mum bought me for Christmas as well as my new found love of scrapbooking. I also intend to totally overhaul my blog soon and so some excellent things with it which I haven’t had a chance to do yet.

I wish you all a fun New Years Eve and hope 2011 is all you want it to be. Don’t forget to keep safe and if you’re heading out, be responsible and look how while doing so! (Just remember to hide the tacky plastic cups when posing for photos, as I quickly learned today. Ooops!)

For my last few days of 2010, I plan to relax a whole heap, sleep in late, catch up with old friends and then head down to the Gold Coast for some trashy NYE fun before the first festival of the new year – Summafieldayze! Catch ya’ll on the flip side!

Source

I love walking in cities at night. I love how much a city changes just by being lit up after dark. Tonight I went for a walk around and through Brisbane City because I haven’t done that in such a long time, and I loved it. I actually really miss working in the City, even though I’m sure I’m saving heaps of money by working in the most boring area on earth. As I walked I made a few observations:

• The boardwalk is crazy-busy at 7pm on a Tuesday night. You can hardly walk for runners, bicycles and couples strolling along the riverside. It’s nice to see people getting out and about and enjoying the beautiful weather warm weather tonight.


• There is this smell as you walk along the boardwalk, as you pass under Jade Buddha that smells like a thousand dead vagina’s. I’m serious, it’s just the worst smell ever. I try and hold my nose as I walk through there but it always manages to get me. Just FYI.


• There are a lot of bars and restaurants around Brisbane that I’ve never gone to that I’d really like to try someday. I think 2011 will be my year to try them all out.


• The Brisbane wigga’s still exist! They apparently hang out outside the Timezone on Albert Street. Or maybe they always did. Either way it was hilarious!


• There are some really pretty lights up across Queen Street (between Edward and Creek streets). They remind me of the ones they have around Oxford Circus in London. They need more though, only a couple of sets of them just aren’t enough.


• The City Cycle bikes are everywhere now, I really want to get a membership. This is why I should be working in the City! I can ride one to work and then walk or train it home without worrying about leaving my own bicycle unattended. I love it!


• They’ve really overhauled a few of the dodgy little parks, particularly the ones near the Valley. It’s good to see some landscaping and interesting street furniture instead of scary dark spots and angry drunk hobo’s.


• Brisbane is actually very quiet. As I walked I was impressed by how tranquil and peaceful it was. Of course there are traffic sounds but it was a dull hum in the background without car horns or loud engines hooning by. I doubt there are many cities in the world that can boast that.

I probably noticed a lot more but I was trying to exercise/didn’t have anything to write my observations down on. It was just really nice and I’m going to do it more often.

Tell me about your City and the  nice, strange, stinky and funny things you notice!

Let me tell you a little story about a cool thing that happened to me today. I was asked to grab something from the chemist by my boyfriend after work. Luckily for him I needed to needed to grab a few things so ran up before they closed. As I walked in I saw this guy with the above shirt. Now, unless you’re German or really into German music, you won’t have a clue what that shirt is about. Briefly, it is a shirt of my favourite band Die Ärzte who is a German rock band that I have worshiped since I was 15 years old. They’re the reason I made my way to German back in 2004 (where I saw them live 10 times!) and I actually happen to have three tattoos related to them. So seeing a guy in this shirt at the chemist near my house was pretty damn shocking. In fact the only other time I ever saw someone in a shirt of theirs was a German girl who was lined up before me at an ATM last year. Despite the fact I hate approaching strangers, let alone initiating polite conversation with them, I asked him “Is that a Die Ärzte shirt” and we had a bit of a chat about the band as we were both pretty excited that we’d randomly bumped into someone who knew this obscure German band in lil old Brisbane.

But that’s not even the best bit. he then asked me if I know Fettes Brot. Well, of course I do, they’re my favourite hip hop group of all times (and yes, also German). So much so my ringtone is their song Da Draussen! He then tells me about how something similar happened to him a few years ago where he was in a club wearing a shirt with their Demo tape icon on it when someone went up to him and asked him if he knew Fettes Brot. Now, it might just be a massive coincidence but I’m pretty sure that was me back in 2004, right before I moved to Germany at my work going-away party! Sure, there might be another Deutscher hip hop fan out there, but I doubt it. It was me, for sure!

So that was a cool and completely random twist to the end of my day. It makes me a bit sad and nostalgic for Die Ärzte as it’s really hand being a fan of  band that sing in another language that no one knows anything about. It’s such a shame too, because one look at their merch and you know they’re going to be an amazing band! Oh well I’ll just crank them up nice and loud on my drive to work tomorrow morning :)