Tag Archive for 'sick of it all'

Ladies Ruling it #1 – Heidi Minx [11 February 2010]

Published on February 11, 2010 in Conversations With Punx and Inspiration. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .


Photo by Eric Vogel

I am incredibly lucky to have some very strong, creative, forward thinking, beautiful, innovative, independent, inspiring women in my life. I decided that I wanted to help raise the Universal awareness of their awesomeness. They’re ruling their Universe one day at a time, they’re being them and they’re making a positive contribution to their communities, the world and others lives. Let me introduce the first rockin’ lady: Miss Heidi Minx!

You see so much bad stuff in the world, or so many stupid things in the press; banal things that don’t make a difference in the world except to fuel a gossip fire. I have had so many people reach out to me since starting this – offering their skills, wanting to come and work with me while I am there. People I have never met, but who have found out about the project because of people spreading the word virally. I like people stepping up, and saying, “I don’t have a lot of money, but I can build a website, or pitch a documentary movie.” It is a very amazing reminder that we are a global community, one that’s not always dictated by language or lines on a map. ~Heidi Minx, Built On Respect (book extract)

10 Reasons Why Heidi is Ruling It:

1) Built On Respect. As part of Built On Respect it’s Miss Minx goal to embrace the DIY mentality, to personally work to raise funds, and also to directly oversee their disbursement while documenting it, working side by side with different community organizations. The majority of her work has been done in India working with Tibetan communities in exile teaching them sustainable business practices, English and helping at a free art school which works to help keep Tibetan Traditional art alive. For more info check out BuiltOnRespect.com.

2) Punk Rock Domestics is Heidi getting her Martha Stewart on. On PRD she says: Feel more like a home wrecker than a home designer? Tired of 10,000 shows on the home and garden network that DON’T include decorating with spray paint, or vegan recipes? Only know the names of flowers from your tattoo artist? Then you’re in the right place. Never mind Martha Stewart, we’re here to share recipes, decorating tips, even how to make your clothing better!” Check it out for your dose of D.I.Y.

3) Franky & Minx. Heidi has ran and created her own fashion line Franky & Minx. Every lady’s dream! They have super cute handbags (as rocked by Davey Havok, he has a PVC clutch, Mei-Ling Koller has a pink one & Camilla ex-Horrorpops rocks tartan print)! And the clothes & accessories have been worn by members of Sick Of It All, Agnostic Front, H20, Madball and more!

4) Home Rockanomics is a book Heidi has recently released. I just got my copy from Amazon.com in the mail! It’s an extension of Punk rock Domestics. Filled with d.i.y projects and recipes from your favourite bands. For more info on the book click here.

5) Inked For a Cause. Heidi does a regular column for US tattoo/culture mag Inked. She chats with awesome people that do awesome things. Inked For a Cause specialises in promoting people that are inked and that help others.

6) Rumor has it that Miss Heidi is hard at work on a project about Tibetan tattoos/tattooing while on her latest visit to India. Another feather in the cap, another way to bring attention to the cause :)

7) I admire Heidi for using her success for good. She’s been interviewed countless times, wrote for various mags and appeared in magazine spreads. Despite her rising profile Heidi remains grounded and continues to go about her business as usual.

8) I think it’s wonderful that she’s a business woman. She does business without selling her soul. Heidi has a super work ethic—she’s always doing a million things at once and always ready for new opportunities that arise.

9) She sees the world while helping it. As well as working in Dharamsala, India Heidi has also contributed her time and effort working as a volunteer in Haiti. Recently I came across the book 500 Places Where You Can Make A Difference. It’s a travel while helping people, animals and the planet guide. You can serve communities while exploring them in a unique, connected way. Care for orphans in Delhi, India, teach English on the beaches of Salvador, Brazil, track dolphins in Oahu, Hawaii, help build a school in Madagascar, care for baby elephants in Sri Lanka, or teach swimming to kids in Fiji. There’s 500 ideas, surely one will resonate with you!

10) Last but not least, she has cultivated a great network and support group of friends to help her on her adventures. Heidi isn’t trying to sell something to people, she’s trying to connect with them and share information. Finally is you don’t believe me about Heidi’s awesomeness have a listen to what Heidi’s pals have to say:

My & Heidi’s pals The Bouncing Souls:

Heidi visiting Tamding in his studio to hear about his art (he’s a tattooist and musican), how he uses it to promote a Free Tibet, and how he came to live in exile:

Sick of It All Inked for a Casue:

If you know any awesome ladies doing awesome things let me know!

Meow for now,

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The Friendship Manifesto [24 January 2010]

Published on January 24, 2010 in Inspiration. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .


Photo by Juliana Coutinho

“Your life will not go unnoticed, because I will notice it.” ~Susan Sarandon

When I was little girl my parents always told me ‘Don’t trust anyone or don’t put expectations on people that way your chances of getting disappointed will be a whole lot less.’ Hearing that from such a young age pretty much set me up for the life of a lone wolf. As I’ve grown and experienced life for myself, I’ve come to the conclusion that putting your trust in someone and in your friendship with them is the foundation for building a solid friendship. Having friends in your life make things a hell of a lot more fun and interesting.

Lately I’ve had ‘friend’ related challenges in my life and I decided to put together a Friendship Manifesto:

♥ Friends do not do favours for favours, a friend does something for you because they freely want to and they enjoy that giving. It’s something from the heart. They do it without expecting something in return.

♥ Friends are there to listen in your time of need but do not rescue you, only you can do this for yourself. Otherwise you get caught in a cycle of always relying on others to fix your problems. A real friend recognises and acknowledges your capability to help yourself.

♥ Friends take responsibility for their actions. Everything is not someone else’s fault…repeat… everything is not someone else’s fault! Your life is your responsibility. Each event is a result of the choices that you have made and are making. Friends don’t blame others if things don’t go exactly the way they want. Use your power of choice when navigating the people in your life.

♥ Friends don’t need to excuse their bad behaviour because there is no excuse for bad behaviour between friends. If you respect each other you’ll treat each other respectfully.

♥ Friends don’t have ulterior motives. They like you for who you are and enjoy your company. If you’re not enjoying someone’s company maybe they’re not your friend.

♥ Friends don’t need to hear from or see each other every day (but it’s appreciated and nice if they do). If you’ve been apart for any length of time you just pick up right where you left off the next time you see each other. There’s no ‘why didn’t you call?’ ‘oh well, you didn’t call either’ moments.

♥ Friends support and encourage each other’s positive growth and are there to help point you in the right direction. Friends love each other the times they least deserve it because they know that’s the time they usually need help most.

♥ A friend asks you the hard questions because they genuinely care for you.

♥ Friends don’t wait for you to come to them, they come to visit you too! They make the effort to hop in their car, ride their bike, catch the bus/train/whatever… friends make an effort to see you.

♥ Real friends know when it’s time to walk away from the friendship. Sometimes when good friendships go bad we stay in the friendships, out of obligation or familiarity and start to hurt one another. In my experience a lot of people in general sabotage things rather than take responsibility and go ‘hey this isn’t working!’ Things just run their course sometimes, this includes friendships; don’t hold onto friendships just because you’ve always been in each other’s lives. Ask does this friendship fit me anymore? People grow and (hopefully) evolve, hanging on to friendships that don’t fit anymore can stunt both your growth. Love each other enough to call it a day.

♥ Friendship is about reciprocal cherishing, loving and caring. Some of you may be surprised to know that to be a good friend you need to be able to receive loving care as well as give it. Love yourself, love someone else.

♥ Friends bring out the very best in you.

Songs in theme of friendship playlist…

Ben – Michael Jackson
Friend or Foe – Jay-Z
Rancid – Fall Back Down
Friend or Foe? – Agnostic Front
The Friendship Song – Fraggle Rock
Friends Like You – Sick Of It All
Best Friend – 50 Cent
Memories Remain – Dropkick Murphys
Always Be – LaRue
Umbrella – Rihanna
Best Friend – Queen
Here’s To The Night – Eve

My friends make up my own personal cheer squad! I am thankful for them every single day. How do you feel about yours? Have anything to add to the Friendship Manifesto?

My Pal by Australian band God… this is without a doubt one of my all-time favourite songs:

I leave you with the words of Kahlil Gibran “Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.”

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My Humps, My Humps, My Humps [20 January 2010]

Published on January 20, 2010 in Inspiration. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .


Photo by Future Shape

Hola friends! Happy mid-week!

If from reading the title you think this is a post about my lady lumps sorry to disappoint… however If you just groaned at reading ‘happy mid-week’ this post could be for you (ha,ha). It’s the time of the week where we’re half way from last weekend and halfway to our next weekend…

Live for the weekend, every night- Hardskin

I’ve heard many refer to this time of the week as the mid-week hump (or bump): by now some of you will be starting to feel tired (or bored) with your week and wish the working week was over, hence the importance of doing something you love for a living. My ma and pa, always told me that: If you do what you love with your days you’ll never feel you’re working a day in your life. And, when challenges arise you’ll rise to the occasion and rule it! I love my folks they’re so smart!

*Note: In the Urban Dictionary ‘mid-week hump’ is also a term for having sex on a Wednesday apparently. That’s something that could definitely work to cure the mid-week blues! He, he… ;)

Suggestions to help you reach the weekend:

Music. Listen to it! Make it! Share it! Go see it! Dance to it! No matter what my mood there’s always something in my record collection to suit. Music has never failed to cheer me up… perhaps the only constant in my life (but that’s a whole other story for another day).

When I need motivation out comes: Sick Of It All –Built To Last, Blackalicious – Blazing Arrow, Shelter – When 20 Summers Pass, Jay-Z – the Blueprint and Rancid – Indestructible, among oodles of others. What music kicks you in the butt when you need motivation? Please share, I’m always on the lookout for new tunes/artists to check out. One of my best friends in the entire world, Ant once told me that music can give us hope for a better tomorrow. My homie Efrem from Fullerton, Orange County also told me that, “I think writing songs is an attempt to be happy. It’s part of the pursuit of happiness.”

Check out what the planets are doing. After all, we are all connected—humans, animals, trees, the Sun, Moon, planets etc. My friend Vic shares some wonderful information on what the Universe is up to over at his Vedic Astrology site and his Astro-blog. You can check out what planet is ruling today! Vic did a reading for me about a year ago & seriously he was so spot on with so many things. The insight he gave me to where I’m at in my life cycle and where it’s headed helped me to better understand things in my life. I’ll be expanding on this idea more in future posts.

“Spirituality is basically that every living entity on planet Earth has some type of spirit. In that spirit, we are all connected. In the same way that every leaf of a tree—some big, some small, some still growing, some fully matured—is related to the roots of the tree. In that sense, there’s some sense to the universe, some intelligence behind it. We’re all products of that source. We’re all dependent on that. It’s not blacks and whites, girls and boys, Australians and Americans; it’s every living dependent entity on earth. That type of recognition gives us a sense of respect for all.” ~Ray Cappo (Conversations With Punx extract)

Practice gratitude. In my experience if you’re truly thankful for what you have you’re not worrying about the things you don’t have. It’s all a state of mindset. Did you wake up this morning? Do you have a roof over your head? Is there food in the cupboard? Clean water to drink? Are there people in your life that love you? If you answered ‘yes’ to the aforementioned let me tell ya, you’re a rich, rich person indeed, you have everything you need… all the other stuff is icing on top of the cupcake of your life. Maybe tomorrow morning when you first open your eyes ask yourself ‘what am I thankful for?’ I take the time to give gratitude for my wonderful life in the morning before I do my Morning Pages and/or meditation or at night. Why not every day think of just three things you’re thankful for. It’s not super hard and costs you nothing… give it a try!

A thought to carry into your day: Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful. ~Buddha

Do you guys do anything to help beat the mid-week hump? Please share…

A wonderful tune to inspire your day:

*(thanks Tizmond for introducing me to such an awesome band)

Up an early for the hope of a brand new day
See a homie you ain’t seen since back in the day
Fresh haircut fitted wit a fat ass fade
End of work, we chilling on a Saturday
How you felt when you first heard the Daddy Kane
Rakim, KRS hey I had that tape
Cooling out with ol’ girl on a fat ass date
Find a hundred dollar bill wow man that’s great
Get promoted at your job up to management
Plot a long time finally a plan has made it
Time I feel I wanna shout, man it’s real that way
Wanna think of things that make you feel that way
~Blackalicious

Wishing you greatness!

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Happy Weekend! [16 January 2010]

Published on January 16, 2010 in Inspiration. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .


Art by Jhonny Hobo

I love the weekend! It’s one of my favourite times of the week! I have all day to work on the things I love most and I get to hang out with my wonderful little family. Pure and total bliss!

Things to do with your weekend:

Start something you’ve been meaning to do forever. Whether that’s organising your desk (post coming soon!), cleaning out your wardrobe, painting a picture (with your sunglasses on!), learning a new language, writing a long lost friend, calling your parents, going on that nature hike, researching your business idea… Don’t wait one minute more! Go for it! Get motivated! You don’t want to miss your ship do you?

We all gotta make our decisions or take a back seat every time / And when you can’t figure out what you wanted / And you’re sick of playing of everything is fine / You don’t know what it is but you want it / You’re on your way there once you set your goals / Set your goals – CIV

Make a mix tape. It’s something hip hoppers, punkers & indie lovers have been doing forever! I used to LOVE when more people made mix tapes; for the most part I think it’s becoming a lost art form. Lucky for me I have awesome friends that still like to swap tunes (old school cassette style even!) with me. I’ve found out about so much rad music that way. It’s how I first heard of Bad Brains, A Tribe Called Quest, Spank Rock and so much more! I like to make mix tapes according to my moods. I have tapes that cheer me up when I’m down, tapes to lighten my mood and that are super fun for when I’m feeling angsty; I even have tapes for my more mellow moods that I listen to while I drift off to sleep.

A pal of mine, James, used to do a CD swap night at his bar once a week where you’d come in for tacos & beer and exchange mix CDs with other people there. Such a lovely idea. For more on mix tape culture check out the books: Mixtape: The Art of Cassette Culture (it has a foreword written by Thurston Moore) and Love is A Mix Tape. Send me a mix tape! Or even better learn to make mash-ups! My Honny is a mash-up king (listen to the below)…

If you like what you hear contact Hobo DJs (hoboobituaries@gmail.com) for a FREE mash-up party CD featuring over an hour & a half of awesomeness!

Volunteer. Do something to help someone else. Helping others helps you, it helps you to be less self-absorbed and the connections built through acts of kindness builds community and can give you a feeling of contentment & achievement. My lovely friend Craig Fairbaugh volunteers and promotes the Burrito Project.

“Tommy Towne and his buddy —they’re super bleeding heart liberals that want to make a difference in this world—got the idea to make a difference through a grassroots level in their community. They decided to make a really easy form of food, a burrito, put them in their backpacks and went riding through Skid Row in downtown L.A., handing them out to all of the homeless people. I wanted to get involved because I thought it was one of the coolest things that I’d ever heard of. It’s a way to show people that you can help someone so easily. Not being able to eat is one of the worst things in the world. You can make a huge difference.” ~Craig Fairbaugh (extract from my book).

My bud, Heidi Minx has taken volunteering to the next level by starting Built On Respect. She travels to India where she works within the Tibetan community helping folks learn sustainable business practices/models, teaches English and works with a free art school that helps keep traditional Tibetan art alive.

Go see live music. When was the last time you got out of the house, away from your stereo/IPod, television, gaming console, computer and went and saw a live music act? Nothing quite beats seeing a rockin’ live act. When you’re at a gig (I feel) you get to be a part of something really special. I find it can be a quite spiritual/ritualistic experience. I often marvel at the fact that when a show happens there’s an energy that is created by the people there—the performers and the audience—that wasn’t there before. Being front and centre at a show watching one of your favourite acts can encourage you to totally be in the moment, be truly present.

From my own experience going to gig I know that the minute the first chord is struck I can forget about the daily grind and relax and enjoy myself. I always find people complaining to me about there not being any good music out there, these are usually the people that stay home and aren’t out there even looking. There’s plenty of good music you just have to open your eyes, ears, mind and heart! I also find that a lot of musicians complain about people not coming to their shows yet they never go to a show unless their own band is playing… which = lame. Stop complaining and start supporting, peel yourself off that couch! One of my favourite bands to see live ever is Deathcage from Sydney, Australia.

Photo courtesy of Deathcage

Other notable ways to spend your weekend:

Have a fiesta at your house! Invite all your friends, dress in theme and gather around to smash the Piñata! Yay for sweet candy treats! Nachos! Sombreros!

Read a book (some suggestions can be found here). The older I get the shorter my attention span seems, so I tend to end up reading a million books at once, jumping between them. I just can’t get enough information. Sometimes I feel like a big sponge just sucking it all up. Any recommendations? I also adore comics! My collection is all bagged and boarded up (ha… ha).

Eat ice-cream with someone super sweet. Another favourite activity is getting ice-cream (chocolate-chip cookie dough yum!) with one of my homies and sitting and watching people go by while we chat and gawk! ha ha…

Make some iced herbal tea. I love, love, love the tea from Australian company T2. Their site has tips on brewing tea, what tea suits you & tea for you according to the Zodiac. Right now I’m crushing over the following tea flavours: Bright Night, Detox, Turkish Cherry & China Jasmine. I love nothing more than brewing herbal tea, adding a mother-load of ice and fresh herbs like mint from my garden and organic lemon on a hot summer’s day (which we’ve been experiencing here in Australia over the past few days). I love hot tea too! It’s so comforting. Plus tea also has a number of health benefits.

MISS B RANDOM STORY: I remember when I was eighteen going to see Good Riddance and Sick Of It All play in my hometown, before the show GR’s Russ was drinking chamomile tea for his throat… we chatted over a cup. At the time I thought it was really strange, I had the really retarded, narrow-minded view that drinking tea was not punk rock… thankfully I’ve become a lot wiser since then and realised how silly thinking like that is. Many years later I would find myself including herbal tea in little care packages I’d put together for touring pals, I once gave Nick 13 some chamomile tea & an Australian slang dictionary!

Take a road trip. I love hoping in the car on a Sunday morning and taking a trip somewhere. I love traipsing through the forest or exploring beach coves and little hidden spots of natural beauty. Australia is full of them. One of my favourite spots in Natural Arch it’s one of the best places in Australia to see a glow worm colony—it looks like a million stars in the sky. It always takes my breath away when I visit there. I feel when I get out in nature I come back to the city feeling a little more in touch with the planet.

Partake in city beautification. Make your neighbourhood pretty by learning stencil art. There’s a straight forward tutorial here to get you started. Maybe you could create something and take part in Stencil Fest!

I remember being super excited after I brought The Bronx’s first album and it came with a Bronx stencil. I got to stencil my own Bronx tee shirt. Get your creative on!


Photo by Robyn Gallagher


Photo by Adrienne Serra


Photo by Solid State

Hope you all have a great weekend! Be excellent to each other & do something fun!

PS- If you’re in my ’hood on the Gold Coast this weekend come hang with me & my family Hobo Obituaries at the Gold Coast City Art Gallery from 2pm. It’s all ages & free. Music, art & good people… what more could you ask for to make the perfect weekend?!

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D.I.Y, I Think I Can! [12 January 2010]

Published on January 12, 2010 in Inspiration. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .


Photo by Martin Kingsley

“The hardcore scene wasn’t just passive consumers—it was kids putting on shows, making zines, creating music and artwork. They were figuring out how to make things work either with their parent’s money or their own money or no money at all. Almost every person who was really a part of that early nineties hardcore scene seems to have gone on to do amazing things. The whole D.I.Y. aspect was really what got that going.” ~Scott Beibin, taken from the book Burning Fight by Brian Peterson.

As I’ve said to my dear friend Sophia on many occasions: Punk rock made me believe that I could do anything & hip hop gave me the confidence to do it.

While punk & hip hop reinforced my Do-it-yourself mindset, it is an idea, a world building view that has been around me my whole life. I come from a long line of hard workers with an entrepreneurial spirit. My family have had skateboard stores, Mexican restaurants, car yards, bicycle stores, motorcycle stores, hair salons, fish n chip shops—my parents were even hawkers in the Australian outback travelling from community to community selling the necessities to the locals in remote places. Once my dad even sold the boots off my mum’s feet because someone really took a shine to them (ha,ha!) My dad has never been one to miss an opportunity. Always ready for an adventure. Always making things happen. I admire my father’s D.I.Y spirit! My dad is punk rock & doesn’t even know it!

My grandfather, Jose Ramon Alfonso de Montelegion Valentino was a stand-up man too he would be the pin-up dude for ‘D.I.Y.’ he taught himself to speak six languages fluently, to write and read (he only had a third grade education) & about a million other things—he was a playwright & actor on the radio, worked on building the Story Bridge and wrote speeches for parliament.

Another do-it-yourself advocate is my pal Heidi Minx, she’s the Queen of D.I.Y. She recently released a book, Home Rockanomics, a spin off from her home of crafty guys & gals Punk Rock Domestics. There’s a whole load of D.I.Y. tips on everything from recycling your clothing to recipes from members of Sick of It All and Flogging Molly.

Super apt to the post theme = Beautiful Losers trailer. The film focuses on the careers and work of a collective group of artists who have since the 1990s began a movement in the art world using D.I.Y. aesthetics from skateboarding, graffiti and underground music such as punk rock and hip-hop

Also, here is a video, it’s part one in an eight part grassroots documentary from 2002 called D.I.Y. or Die that explores D.I.Y culture and ethics. Featuring: Lydia Lunch, Ian MacKaye, J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr, Jim Rose & more. It’s seriously right on!

Do you know any brave, courageous individuals rep’n the do-it-yourself ethos?

D.I.Y or Die man!

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