Weekend wanderings

Last night Chris and I ventured out to Ruby's Lounge in Belgrave for the grand final of their unsigned band competition. We went to support Charles Baby, a friend of Jacinta from work, but some of the other acts were great too. It would have been a very difficult comp to judge, as the bands all played distinctively different styles of music. There were two great male bands, the first of which gets bonus points for use of a double bass, while the second played everything they could get their hands on, from the standard electric guitars and drums, to a tambourine and a whistle. There was also a grunge girl band, but we went outside while they were on, although I'm sure they'd be great if that was what you were in to. We had to go before the last act and the judging so I have no idea who won.

Apart from the chance to hear some different music, it was great to see Jacinta outside of work. She goes to Ruby's regularly, and Chris and I both intend to go there again, it's a great venue, the dress code, as stated on the wall, is simply "shoes", and, perhaps influenced by the location nestled up against the hills, this allowed for an interesting mix of bohemian and other alternative types, along with the jeans and t-shirt crowd. No drunken louts or bar fights, just a bunch of people looking for a good night out, and great original music. It was also a refreshing change to go to a pub and not come home reeking of cigarettes, with my eyes stinging from smoke. The only other pub I've been to since smoking was banned on July 1 was an Irish pub which stank of Guinness anyway.

Edited Tues 31/07 to add: I discovered tonight that Charles won the competition, the prize was studio recording time. If you want to check out some of his music go to his myspace.

On Saturday we saw the Simpsons movie at Century City with a few friends. I can take or leave the Simpsons generally, and had my doubts about whether they would be able pull off the movie after 20 years of exhausting their idea pool, but it was good for a few laughs. There were definitely some cringe worthy moments, but overall the movie came out on top. Afterwards we went out for coffee on Kingsway.

On a completely unrelated note I'd just like to say a big hooray big brother is over and done with for another year. I only know this because I accidentally stumbled onto the finale. The down side is that this means that Idol will be starting up again. There is no escape!